Veterans Lead Ducks into 2024 Opener

THIS WEEK
No. 15/13 Oregon opens the year at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The 2024 season gets underway Thursday versus Indiana (4 p.m. PT). The Ducks will then play Kansas (2 p.m. PT) and Liberty (5 p.m. PT) on Friday, Missouri State (10 a.m. PT) and No. 5 Clemson (4 p.m. PT) on Saturday and Army (7 a.m. PT) on Sunday. The Oregon-Clemson game will be part of the first live softball broadcasts on MLB Network.

GAME NOTES

NUMBERS TO KNOW
56 - The Ducks have now made 56 consecutive appearance in the Top 25. The streak dates back to the 2020 preseason poll.
14 - Oregon is a veteran team featuring 14 upperclassmen and 13 players who have NCAA Tournament experience.
98 - Oregon returns 98 percent of its innings pitched from 2023, including all of its wins and saves and 96 percent of its strikeouts.
44 - Oregon and Missouri State will play for the first time since the 1980 AIAW World Series (44 years). UO won that elimination game 2-1.

DUCKS A PART OF HISTORY
Oregon's softball program will make history during the season-opening NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The Ducks will be one of the teams featured in the first-ever collegiate softball games to be broadcast live on MLB Network. No. 15/13 Oregon and No. 5/7 Clemson will play in the nightcap of a triple-header on MLB Network at 4 p.m. Pacific on Feb. 10. Utah and Notre Dame will lead off coverage at 10 a.m., followed by Liberty and Missouri at 1 p.m. The three games mark a first for MLB after the network aired a tape-delayed softball game for the first time last season.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
Oregon will face Kansas in the second game of the 2024 season. Melyssa Lombardi got her first career win as Oregon's head coach in the 2019 season opener against the Jayhawks by a score of 14-5. Hannah Galey led Oregon's offense with a pair of home runs and 5 RBI, while Jordan Dail struck out 10 to earn the win.

BIG TEN OPPONENTS
In addition to UCLA and Washington, Oregon will play three future Big Ten opponents this season beginning with Indiana in the 2024 season opener. The Ducks will also play Nebraska at the Many Nutter Classic and Maryland (twice) at the Jane Sanders Classic.

DUCKS IN THE POLLS
Oregon currently sits at No. 15 in the NFCA Coaches' Poll and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll. It is Oregon's 56th consecutive appearance in the polls, dating back to the 2020 preseason poll.

BIRD, CARLSON SHINE AT REGIONAL
Ariel Carlson had two homers and 10 RBI (including a UO tourney record 7 in the Regional final) at the 2023 NCAA Fayetteville Regional, while Tehya Bird had two homers and 7 RBI. Carlson hit .333 last season and was third on the squad in both home runs (9) and RBI (37). Bird hit .268 on the season - .378 with runners in scoring position - and was fourth on the team with 35 RBI.

DELGADO PEAKS IN PAC-12 PLAY
Hanna Delgado hit .400 or better in four-of-eight Pac-12 series, as well as the NCAA Regional. She was 4-of-9 (.444) in the Fayetteville Regional, 4-for-9 against Arizona (.444), 4-for-10 at ASU (.400), 4-for-8 against Stanford (.500) and .467 at Washington (7-of-15). Delgado missed eight games early in 2023 after running into a fence while making a catch against Wisconsin Feb. 10 in Puerto Vallarta.

LUSCHAR PROVIDES A BOOST AFTER BEING CLEARED TO HIT
Kai Luschar hit .419 (31-of-74) after being cleared to resume hitting on April 1 and scored 28 runs with 14 stolen bases. The team went 18-7 following her return to the plate.

KK COMBINES SPEED AND POWER
KK Humphreys was 14-for-14 in stolen bases in 2023. In fact, she's a perfect 22-for-22 in stolen base attempts as a Duck. During that span, Humphreys has also clubbed 14 home runs with 53 RBI.

KAUF DOUBLES DOWN
Emma Kauf comes to Oregon following a career at Georgia Tech that saw her hit 50 doubles. She enters the 2024 season ranked second on the NCAA's career active doubles list. (The active career leader is Sara Vanderford of Texas State with 52). The three-time all-ACC selection at catcher had a career batting average of .344 in 175 games with the Yellow Jackets, In addition to the 50 doubles, Kauf also had 196 career hits with eight triples, 29 home runs and 114 RBI. She led the NCAA in doubles per game - 0.45 - in 2022.

VERSATILE VALLERY
No one has been a more versatile player for the Ducks than Vallery Wong. She's seen action at nine different positions - catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field, right field and designated player and has started at least one game at every one of those positions except shortstop. The only position Wong has yet to play is pitcher. During the Ducks' 2023 trip to Seattle, Wong hit .583 (7-for-12) with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 6 RBI. She slugged 1.250.

TOP LINE DEFENSE AT SHORTSTOP
Shortstop Paige Sinicki has been named to the Pac-12 all-defensive team in both of her first two seasons in Eugene. With one more honor over her final two years, she would become just the second three-time Pac-12 al-defensive player at Oregon, joining former teammate Allee Bunker.

FRESHMAN CLASS RANKED No. 13
Oregon's current freshman class was ranked 13th nationally by Extra Inning Softball. The six-player class included infielders Katie Flannery (Birmingham, Ala.) and Abby Steffen (Chula Vista, Calif.), outfielders Regan Legg (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) and Ayanna Shaw (Lemon Grove, Calif.), pitcher Taylour Spencer (Murrieta, Calif.) and catcher/utility player Braiesey Rosa (Waianae, Hawaii). The class has three players ranked among Extra Inning Softball's top 100 (No. 8 - Flannery, No. 23 - Rosa and No. 91 - Legg) as well as two of the top 100 players in the state of California, according to MaxPreps (No. 53 - Shaw and No. 68 - Steffen).