Implications Abound In Top-5 Showdown
04/27/18 | Softball, @GoDucksMoseley
No. 2 Oregon faces No. 4 Washington in Seattle this weekend, with a chance to remain atop the Pac-12 and exorcise some demons from 2017.
With last week's stirring shutout of Oklahoma, the No. 2 Oregon softball team slayed a major demon from the 2017 season. This weekend, the Ducks could exorcise a whole horde of them.
A week after knocking off the team that ended their 2017 season at the Women's College World Series, the Ducks this weekend face the team that handed them their other loss in Oklahoma City last spring, Washington. Not only did the Huskies beat Oregon in their WCWS opener, they also took two of three at Jane Sanders Stadium last spring, a stinging series loss that factored into the Ducks' four-year run as Pac-12 champs coming to an end.
"I'd like to see a different result this year, for sure," UO coach Mike White said.
In the wake of UCLA's sweep of UW last week, Oregon headed to Seattle on Thursday tied with the Bruins for the fewest losses in the Pac-12 so far this season. The Ducks (38-7, 12-3 Pac-12) hold a tiebreaker after winning a series from the Bruins (40-3, 15-3) in Eugene earlier this season, but must hold serve against No. 4 Washington (41-5, 12-5) when their three-game series begins Friday at 5 p.m.
Games Saturday and Sunday begin at 1 p.m., and will be televised on ESPN2.
Oregon won the Pac-12 four years in a row from 2013-16. Arizona ended that streak last season, beating the Ducks by a half-game in part due to a rainout at Utah that wasn't made up. That wouldn't have been a factor had the Ducks won their series at home against UW; instead, the Huskies rallied to tie the rubber match in the seventh before winning in extra innings.
"We feel like we got cheated last year, because we lost by a rainout; who knows what would have happened if we'd had that other Utah game?" UO senior catcher Gwen Svekis said. "But the bottom line is, we weren't conference champions. … This year it's completely in our control. We just need to take care of what we need to take care of, and if we do that, we'll be conference champions again."
UO junior pitcher Megan Kleist was on the mound for UW's rally to force extra innings and then win the series clincher last season. She was also the hard-luck loser to the Huskies in OKC, allowing only four hits over seven innings of a 3-1 loss in which Oregon's offense repeatedly squandered opportunities against UW ace Taran Alvelo.
It figures to be Alvelo vs. Kleist again Friday in Seattle. Kleist is pitching with supreme confidence after her one-hit shutout of the two-time defending national champion Sooners last week, and with extra motivation to get the UW monkey off her back.
"Last year kind of left a rock under my pillow," Kleist said. "Obviously you don't want to get bumped down and fight up through the loser's bracket (of the WCWS). We're just going to come out and play our best game, and whoever plays the best on that day is going to end up with the 'W.' "
Kleist isn't the only Duck who feels they have something to prove to Washington. After three losses in four games to the Huskies last season, Svekis said Oregon wants to "show them that the Ducks are here to play" over the next three days.
"I think we do (have something to prove)," Svekis said. "And I think we have something to prove to the country right now; Washington is having a great year, but they're not the only ones having a great year. It's time to show them that the Pac is back. We're ready to dominate each other, and then we're all ready to dominate at the end."
Given Oregon's success on the national stage, winning an NCAA title has become their ultimate goal each season. But, players said, it's just the second in a two-pronged focus – the first being a Pac-12 title.
Only three weekends remain in the regular season for the Ducks, who return home next week to face the Utes (20-22, 2-13) before wrapping up at Cal (29-13, 4-10). UCLA has a weekend of nonconference play this week, before playing at Cal and then hosting Arizona State (35-9, 9-6).
Right now, Oregon's fate is in its own hands. To keep it that way, the Ducks will need to avenge last season's results against UW this weekend.
"It's never a good feeling to get bumped down in the World Series," Kleist said. "So I think we have a little bit of fire in our bellies."
