Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Super Regional At Hand For Ducks
05/25/23 | Softball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon opens a best-of-three series at Oklahoma State on Thursday (6 p.m. PT, ESPN2).
STILLWATER, Okla. — On the list of accomplishments for Oregon softball's seniors, a new box has been checked.
There's still a great big one the Ducks also would like to check before this season ends.
The Ducks arrived in Oklahoma on Tuesday, and had a practice day Wednesday for their NCAA Super Regional series against Oklahoma State that begins Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN2). For UO seniors Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan, advancing to this round of the NCAA Tournament is uncharted territory in their careers.
That makes just reaching this weekend an accomplishment worth celebrating. But of course, the Ducks hope their stay in Oklahoma extends beyond this weekend, with the Women's College World Series beginning next week in Oklahoma City.
"Playing softball your entire life, you're always chasing what's next but also staying present at the same time," said McGowan, one of three fifth-year seniors who have been with the program throughout the tenure of head coach Melyssa Lombardi. "So obviously, this weekend is what's next; we're very present, we're excited to be here. This is something new under the coach Lombardi era, (so we want to) just take it all in — but do what we need to do."
The Ducks (38-15) are making the 10th Super Regional appearance in program history, after a 3-0 run through the Fayetteville Regional hosted by Arkansas the week before. Fueled by the season-long embrace of a "postseason mentality," Oregon is looking to win a best-of-three series with Oklahoma State and advance to the WCWS for the seventh time ever.
The Cowgirls (44-14) are looking to make their fourth straight WCWS appearance. Like Oregon they entered NCAA Regionals on a slump — losing 10-of-12 to close the regular season and also in their Big 12 Championship opener — but also like the Ducks they took care of business last week, going 3-0 in a regional they hosted.
Oklahoma State beat Oregon earlier this season, 3-0 on Feb. 10 in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. The Cowgirls swept a three-game series at Jane Sanders Stadium in 2019, and the next year the Ducks lost a 5-4 extra-innings game in Stillwater — a game Bunker, McGowan and current fourth-year seniors Ariel Carlson and Vallery Wong all started for Oregon.
"Similar to Arkansas we already have a feel for the environment, the stadium," McGowan said of Cowgirl Stadium, where the Ducks practiced Thursday. "Kind of a similar trip where you're looking around and kind of recognize things. So it's nice to be in a comfortable environment."
Bunker had four hits in the 2020 matchup in Stillwater. She also had one of the Ducks' two hits in the meeting with Oklahoma State earlier this year, not that she's putting too much stock in that matchup at this point.
"It's anybody's ballgame in postseason," Bunker said. "Teams in any Regional or Super Regional are going to be different than they were earlier in the season. Because postseason softball, everything is completely different."
There's at least one aspect of the regular season the Ducks hope will continue. Part of their "postseason mentality" involved treating each weekend of Pac-12 play like a Super Regional. They put a premium on winning the first game of the series, and successfully did so six times in eight conference weekends.
More of the same Thursday would be most welcome.
"Game one is definitely a really important part of this week; it kind of sets up the rest of the weekend," Bunker said. "We're just focusing on one game at a time, and regardless of the outcome, focusing on that game that's coming up and just playing our hardest and playing Oregon softball."
That formula got the Ducks this far. That's worth celebrating in its own right. But they hope it takes them a little farther, too.
"This team plays for us, they play with joy and they're competitors," Lombardi said. "It's been a fun ride, and I'm excited to see what we're going to do this weekend."
There's still a great big one the Ducks also would like to check before this season ends.
The Ducks arrived in Oklahoma on Tuesday, and had a practice day Wednesday for their NCAA Super Regional series against Oklahoma State that begins Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN2). For UO seniors Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan, advancing to this round of the NCAA Tournament is uncharted territory in their careers.
That makes just reaching this weekend an accomplishment worth celebrating. But of course, the Ducks hope their stay in Oklahoma extends beyond this weekend, with the Women's College World Series beginning next week in Oklahoma City.
"Playing softball your entire life, you're always chasing what's next but also staying present at the same time," said McGowan, one of three fifth-year seniors who have been with the program throughout the tenure of head coach Melyssa Lombardi. "So obviously, this weekend is what's next; we're very present, we're excited to be here. This is something new under the coach Lombardi era, (so we want to) just take it all in — but do what we need to do."
The Ducks (38-15) are making the 10th Super Regional appearance in program history, after a 3-0 run through the Fayetteville Regional hosted by Arkansas the week before. Fueled by the season-long embrace of a "postseason mentality," Oregon is looking to win a best-of-three series with Oklahoma State and advance to the WCWS for the seventh time ever.
The Cowgirls (44-14) are looking to make their fourth straight WCWS appearance. Like Oregon they entered NCAA Regionals on a slump — losing 10-of-12 to close the regular season and also in their Big 12 Championship opener — but also like the Ducks they took care of business last week, going 3-0 in a regional they hosted.
Oklahoma State beat Oregon earlier this season, 3-0 on Feb. 10 in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. The Cowgirls swept a three-game series at Jane Sanders Stadium in 2019, and the next year the Ducks lost a 5-4 extra-innings game in Stillwater — a game Bunker, McGowan and current fourth-year seniors Ariel Carlson and Vallery Wong all started for Oregon.
"Similar to Arkansas we already have a feel for the environment, the stadium," McGowan said of Cowgirl Stadium, where the Ducks practiced Thursday. "Kind of a similar trip where you're looking around and kind of recognize things. So it's nice to be in a comfortable environment."
Bunker had four hits in the 2020 matchup in Stillwater. She also had one of the Ducks' two hits in the meeting with Oklahoma State earlier this year, not that she's putting too much stock in that matchup at this point.
"It's anybody's ballgame in postseason," Bunker said. "Teams in any Regional or Super Regional are going to be different than they were earlier in the season. Because postseason softball, everything is completely different."
There's at least one aspect of the regular season the Ducks hope will continue. Part of their "postseason mentality" involved treating each weekend of Pac-12 play like a Super Regional. They put a premium on winning the first game of the series, and successfully did so six times in eight conference weekends.
More of the same Thursday would be most welcome.
"Game one is definitely a really important part of this week; it kind of sets up the rest of the weekend," Bunker said. "We're just focusing on one game at a time, and regardless of the outcome, focusing on that game that's coming up and just playing our hardest and playing Oregon softball."
That formula got the Ducks this far. That's worth celebrating in its own right. But they hope it takes them a little farther, too.
"This team plays for us, they play with joy and they're competitors," Lombardi said. "It's been a fun ride, and I'm excited to see what we're going to do this weekend."
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