Notes: Ducks Take 14-0 Record to Missouri

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 4 ranked Oregon softball team takes its undefeated record back on the road this weekend at the Mizzou Tournament.

Oregon's two games against Missouri will air live on WatchESPN via the SEC digital network. A cable login with access to the SEC Network will be required to watch.

All of Oregon's games this weekend will air live on KWVA 88.1 FM in Eugene and online at kwva.uoregon.edu.

#4 OREGON DUCKS (14-0)
Team BA: .355 | Team ERA: 1.07 | Runs Scored: 94 | Runs Allowed: 21
Last Weekend: The Ducks went 5-0 at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational
National Rankings: UO is No. 4 in both the NFCA and USA Softball top-25 polls
Notable: Oregon's young pitching staff has been superb so far this season and its collective 1.07 ERA ranks third in the Pac-12 and 10th in the NCAA. The Ducks also rank 10th in the nation with a .442 on-base percentage.

#24 MISSOURI TIGERS (7-5)
Team BA: .273 | Team ERA: 3.38 | Runs Scored: 56 | Runs Allowed: 32
Last Weekend: Went 2-3 at the Mary Nutter, beating Notre Dame and Washington
All-Time Series: Missouri leads, 6-3. The Ducks won last year, 8-7, in eight innings.
Notable: The Tigers are averaging 1.17 homers per game, good for second in the SEC and 19th in the NCAA. Kirsten Mack is hitting a team-high .412 with 11 runs scored. Braxton Burnside has a team-best four homers.

MARYLAND TERRAPINS (2-11-1)
Team BA: .279 | Team ERA: 5.07 | Runs Scored: 32 | Runs Allowed: 84
Last Weekend: Went 1-3-1 at ULL's Mardi Gras Classic, with a win over Bowling Green
All-Time Series: Oregon leads 2-0. The Ducks won 7-2 last year.
Notable: Maryland has just two wins but one came against then-No. 1 ranked Floida, 4-2, in Gainesville. Pitcher Hannah Dewey picked up the victory after allowing just two runs (one earned) on four hits in 5.1 innings.

BUTLER BULLDOGS (4-6)
Team BA: .342 | Team ERA: 5.34 | Runs Scored: 52 | Runs Allowed: 68
Last Weekend: Did not play last weekend
All-Time Series: Oregon leads, 1-0. Only meeting was a 6-0 win in 2012.
Notable: Butler has not played since Feb. 19, a loss to Murray State. Jenna Foreman is the team's top hitter, with a .500 batting average in 30 at-bats. Sarah Dixon has driven in a team-high 10 runs.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN LADY JACKS (5-11)
Team BA: .256 | Team ERA: 2.69 | Runs Scored: 40 | Runs Allowed: 46
Last Weekend: Went 2-2 at the South Alabama Invitational, wins vs. MTSU, Tenn Tech
All-Time Series: Oregon leads, 1-0. Only meeting was an 8-1 win in 2013.
Notable: Stephen F. Austin has its home opener on Wednesday afternoon before heading to the Missouri Tournament. Pitcher Callee Guffey has a 1.18 ERA in a team-high 38.0 innings with 20 strikeouts.

MIZZOU TOURNAMENT
The Ducks will break in Missouri's brand new softball stadium, Mizzou Field, this weekend at the Mizzou Tournament. The Ducks will face No. 24 ranked Missouri twice and play one game each against Maryland, Butler and Stephen F. Austin.

LAST YEAR AGAINST MISSOURI
Oregon and Missouri played a thriller last year at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs. No. 12 ranked Missouri took a 7-0 lead with two runs in the first, four more in the second and one in the fourth. The No. 7 ranked Ducks battled back, however, scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth and tied it with a Geri Ann Glasco homer in the fifth. The game went to extra innings tied up, 7-7, before C Gwen Svekis, now a junior this year, singled in a run in the eighth for the walk-off win. SS Nikki Udria, now a senior, went 3-for-4 in the game. RHP Megan Kleist, now a sophomore, started for the Ducks and was touched up for six runs (four earned) on eight hits in just 1.2 innings.

LONGEST WINNING STREAK
At 14-0 so far this season, the Ducks have a chance to break the program record for consecutive wins. Oregon won 18 straight games last season, which matched the longest streak in UO history. The Ducks also won 18 straight games in 2007.

LAST WEEKEND
Oregon went 5-0 over the weekend at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.
- The Ducks opened the invite with an 8-2 win over host Hawai'i. OF Danica Mercado and SS Nikki Udria each homered while freshman RHP Maggie Balint went the distance with two runs allowed on four hits with 10 strikeouts and just one walk.
- In the second game, Oregon blanked Montana, 1-0. RHP Miranda Elish tossed 6.1 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. RHP Maggie Balint picked up the save with two strikeouts in the seventh. Freshman 1B Mia Camuso drove in the only run.
- In the third game of the weekend, the Ducks defeated UNLV, 4-2. RHP Megan Kleist tossed a complete game with two runs allowed on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
- The Ducks tossed another shutout against Montana in the fourth game of the weekend, this time winning, 6-0. RHP Maggie Balint struck out five batters while allowing just three hits in six innings. RHP Miranda Elish tossed a scoreless seventh. SS Nikki Udria tallied three RBIs to lead the Ducks.
- Oregon exploded in the finale against Hawai'i, run-ruling the hosts, 17-0. The Ducks hit five homers, including two in the first inning and two more in the fifth. RHP Megan Kleist threw her first career no-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks. Only an error and a HBP kept her from a perfect game.

STRIKEOUT-TO-WALK RATIOS
Oregon's young pitching staff has racked up the strikeouts this season without allowing many free passes.
- Freshman RHP Maggie Balint has 56 strikeouts this season compared to just seven walks, an 8-to-1 ratio.
- Sophomore RHP Megan Kleist has 37 strikeouts and just six walks, a 6.2-to-1 ratio.
- Freshman RHP Miranda Elish has 17 strikeouts but only four walks for a 4.3-to-1 ratio.

STAT RANKINGS
- Oregon is one of six undefeated teams in the NCAA.
- The Ducks rank 10th in the nation in both ERA (1.07) and on-base percentage (.442).
- Oregon is hitting .355 this year, 17th-best in the nation and third-best in the Pac-12.
- Oregon is slugging .538 as a team this season, which ranks 19th in the NCAA and third in the Pac-12.
- The Ducks are averaging 6.71 runs per game which ranks 23rd in the NCAA and fourth in the Pac-12.
- RHP Maggie Balint has 56 strikeouts this season, the second-most in the Pac-12 and 23rd in the NCAA.
- SS Nikki Udria is 14th in the NCAA with 39 total bases. She leads the Ducks with five homers and also has three doubles, 13 singles, seven walks and one HBP.
- SS Nikki Udria is 25th in the NCAA with 17 RBIs.
- SS Nikki Udria's five homers are 19th-best in the nation this season.

OREGON IN THE POLLS
The Ducks finished the 2016 regular season ranked No. 4 in both polls, but after falling to UCLA in Super Regionals, the Ducks ended the year ranked No. 10 by the NFCA and No. 11 by USA Softball. They were No. 9 in both polls to start the season. After going 5-0 last weekend in Hawaii, the Ducks have jumped up to No. 4 in both polls.

TOP-25 STREAK
Oregon softball has been ranked in the top-25 of the NFCA poll for 107 straight weeks (preseason and postseason polls included). The Ducks climbed to No. 23 in week 10 of the 2010 season and have never dipped below that mark since.

KLEIST FIRES FIRST NO-HITTER
On Feb. 25 at Hawaii, sophomore RHP Megan Kleist tossed her first career no-hitter in a 17-0 five inning run-rule win against the Rainbow Wahine. Kleist wet five innings with six strikeouts plus no walks and no hits. Only a hit-by-pitch and an Oregon error kept her from posting a perfect game.