Notes: Ducks Open Regionals Friday

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 3 seed Oregon softball team begins play in the Eugene Regional on Friday night against Illinois-Chicago.

In addition to UIC, the Ducks host Missouri and Wisconsin in the double-elimination regional at Jane Sanders Stadium. The winner of the Eugene Regional meets the winner of the Lexington Regional in the super regional round next weekend.

#3 SEED OREGON DUCKS (47-6, 17-6 Pac-12)
Regular Season: Finished second in the Pac-12 standings, half game back of Arizona
Team BA: .325 | Team ERA: 1.31 | Head Coach: Mike White (8th Season)
Postseason History: 21st postseason trip, advanced to WCWS in 3 of last 5 years
Notable: The Ducks bring one of the nation's elite pitching staffs into the 2017 postseason. Oregon's 1.31 team ERA ranks fifth in the nation while freshman RHP Maggie Balint (1.13, 10th), sophomore RHP Megan Kleist (1.26, 19th) and freshman RHP Miranda Elish (1.61, 42nd) all rank in the top-50 of the NCAA and top-6 of the Pac-12 in ERA. Balint and Kleist were named all-Pac-12 by the league's coaches on Monday.

MISSOURI TIGERS (29-26, 7-16 SEC)
Regular Season: Finished 11th in the 13-team Southeastern Conference
Team BA: .283 | Team ERA: 3.26 | Head Coach: Ehren Earleywine (11th Season)
Postseason History: Making 11th straight regional appearance
Notable: Oregon and Missouri met twice in Columbia, Mo., this season, with the Ducks winning both games, 10-3 and 7-2. The Ducks saw Mizzou ace Cheyenne Baxter in a relief role in the second game, posting four runs on five hits in five innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Baxter owns a 2.30 ERA in a team-high 155.1 innings with 111 strikeouts. Madi Norman started both games against Oregon, taking the loss in each.

WISCONSIN BADGERS (33-15, 11-11 Big Ten)
Regular Season: Finished sixth in the Big Ten standings, lost in B1G tourney quarters
Team BA: .286 | Team ERA: 2.64 | Head Coach: Yvette Healy (7th Season)
Postseason History: Last NCAA trip was in 2014, losing to Ducks in regionals
Notable: Pitcher Kaitlyn Menz has been the Badgers' workhorse this season, with a 23-10 record and a 2.34 ERA in 215.1 innings. Offensively, Chloe Miller leads Wisconsin with a .424 batting average, nine homers, 16 doubles, three triples and 43 RBIs. Miller ranks 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten with a .546 on-base percentage

ILLINOIS-CHICAGO FLAMES (38-20, 20-4 Horizon League)
Regular Season: Won third straight Horizon league title, also won league tournament
Team BA: .285 | Team ERA: 2.05 | Head Coach: Lynn Curylo (1st Season)
Postseason History: 10th NCAA Tourney appearance, went to WCWS in 1994
Notable: UIC has continued its recent success under new coach Lunn Curylo, a member of the school's WCWS team in 1994. The Flames won both the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles in 2017, led by a pitchin staff with a 2.05 ERA. Elaine Heflin has a 2.03 ERA in a team-high 141.1 innings with 151 strikeouts. Karissa Frazier has thrown 128.0 inning with a 1.53 ERA. Allie Trudeau has a 2.00 ERA in 98.0 innings.

BROADCAST INFO
- The ESPN family of networks will broadcast every game at the Eugene Regional. The Ducks' game against Illinois-Chicago on Friday will be on ESPNU. TV assignments for games on Saturday and Sunday is TBA.
- Trey Bender and former Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie will call the games for ESPN.
- KWVA 88.1 FM will broadcast Oregon's games.
- Live stats for Oregon's games are available via the softball schedule on GoDucks.com.

NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
- Oregon is 21-0 in NCAA regional games under head coach Mike White and 46-21 all-time.
- The Ducks have outscored opponents 116-24 in regional play in White's first seven seasons.
- Oregon has run-ruled three opponents while tossing eight shutouts in that span.
- Last year the Ducks run-ruled Fordham, 8-0, in the first game before defeating No. 17 Baylor twice, 6-0 and 8-1, to clinch the regional win.
- Oregon's last defeat in the regional round was in 2008 at Oklahoma, when they were eliminated after an 11-0 loss

POSTSEASON HISTORY
- Oregon is 59-42 all-time in postseason play and 32-15 under head coach Mike White after reaching Super Regionals in 2016.
- Oregon is 21-0 in NCAA regional play under White after sweeping through last year's games against Fordham and Baylor.
- In 2017, the Ducks are making their 19th appearance in the NCAA tournament overall, not including two AIAW tournament trips in 1976 and 1980 before the NCAA sponsored women's sports.
- Oregon's first NCAA regional appearance was in 1989, when the Ducks also advanced to their first WCWS in Sunnyvale, Calif. Oregon has gone on to the WCWS three times since, in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

SWIPE SISTERS
Sophomore Alexis Mack (24) and senior Danica Mercado (23) are first and second in the Pac-12 in stolen bases, respectively. As a team, the Ducks have a Pac-12-high 88 stolen bases this year, 40 more than Cal in second place.

UDRIA ATTACKING THE RECORD BOOK
Nikki Udria is working her way into contention for multiple Oregon career records. Udria is currently third in UO history with 188 career runs with the record of 204 held by Janie Takeda (2015). She's also third with 172 RBIs with Janelle Lindvall setting the record of 195 in 2016. Udria is also fourth in UO history with 238 hits and fifth with a .375 career batting average.

RPI CHECK
After sweeping Florida State, Oregon jumped from No. 7 to No. 2 in the NCAA RPI. Going into the postseason, UO is still at No. 2 and the Pac-12 features four teams in the top-5 (No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Washington and No. 5 Arizona). All of Oregon's six losses this year came to those three top-5 RPI teams.

THE DUCKS UNDER MIKE WHITE
- Oregon is 16-8 vs. Arizona, 14-12-1 vs. Arizona State, 17-8 vs. California, 24-3 vs. Oregon State, 19-5 vs. Stanford, 13-15 vs. UCLA, 16-1 vs. Utah and 14-9 vs. Washington under Mike White.
- Longest losing streak is just four games (2010)
- Longest winning streak is 35 games (2017)
- The Ducks are 43-15-3 overall in Pac-12 series.
- The Ducks have been swept three times in a Pac-12 series under White while sweeping opponents 27 times.
- 4-11 against No. 1 ranked teams
- 32-15 in the postseason, 21-0 in regionals.
- UO has advanced to Supers every year under White.
- Including 2016, White has coached 26 first team all-Pac-12 selections in his eight seasons in Eugene.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR FINALIST
RHP Maggie Balint is a finalist for the NFCA national freshman of the year. She is one of 11 players to make the most recent cut. Balint owns a 1.13 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 33 walks in 111.2 innings pitched.

#BACKTHEPAC
The Pac-12 had eight of its nine times earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, including five teams - No. 2 seed Arizona, No. 3 Oregon, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Washington and No. 11 Utah - hosting regionals this weekend. Arizona State is in Ole Miss' regional, Oregon State is in Baylor's regional and California is in Auburn's regional. If the seeds hold, Washington and Utah will meet in super regionals.

OREGON'S PAC-12 TITLE RUN ENDS
When Arizona clinched the 2017 Pac-12 title on March 7, the Ducks' run of four-straight league titles came to an end. Even with the Ducks' sweep of Stanford to close out the regular season, they finished a half game back of the Wildcats due to UO having a game rained out at Utah earlier this season. The four straight league championships tied UCLA (1988-1991) for the longest in Pac-12 history.

FLORIDA STATE SWEEP
Then No. 5-Oregon swept then-No. 2 Florida State in a three-game series on May 6-7 in Eugene. The Ducks run-ruled the Seminoles, 11-0, in five innings to open a Saturday doubleheader and then rallied in the sixth to win the second game of the day, 3-1. Oregon closed out the sweep with a 2-1 win on Sunday. The Ducks allowed just one earned run (two total) over the three-game series against the big-hitting Seminoles. Oregon's pitchers walked five batters while striking out 23 in the series. Jenna Lilley hit .714 against FSU with three RBIs and a run scored. Florida State is the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

STRIKEOUT-TO-WALK RATIOS
Oregon's young pitching staff has racked up the strikeouts this season without allowing many free passes.
- Freshman RHP Miranda Elish has 89 strikeouts but only 20 walks for a 4.5-to-1 ratio.
- Sophomore RHP Megan Kleist has 131 strikeouts and just 30 walks, a 4.4-to-1 ratio.
- Freshman RHP Maggie Balint has 135 strikeouts this season compared to just 33 walks, a 4.1-to-1 ratio.

IN THE CIRCLE
Oregon's young pitching staff has shined all year long.
- With a 1.31 team ERA, the Ducks rank fifth in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12.
- Oregon owns three of the top-6 ERAs in the Pac-12 this season, highlighted by Maggie Balint's 1.13 ERA, second-best in the Pac-12. Megan Kleist is fourth with a 1.26 and Miranda Elish is sixth with a 1.61.
- Maggie Balint leads the Pac-12 with a .165 opponent batting average.
- Oregon pitchers have struck out 355 batters, the second most in the Pac-12.

EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
Oregon has been one of the best hitting teams in the nation over the last few seasons and this year is no exception.
- UO ranks 11th in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with a .325 batting average.
- The Ducks are eighth in the country and rank second in the league with a .422 on-base percentage.
- Oregon is seventh in scoring in the NCAA, averaging 6.55 runs per game.
- Oregon owns two of the top-4 batting averages in the Pac-12. Alexis Mack is second with a .415 while Nikki Udria is fourth with a .400. Mack is third in the conference with a .500 on-base percentage with Udria just behind her in fourth with a .492.