Tournament Time!

Friday, May 17

Norman, OK

2:30 PM

University of Oregon

Boston U.

Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com

05/14/24 | Softball

Week 15 - NCAA Norman Regional NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket

NCAA Norman Regional Game Notes

THIS WEEK
Oregon is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. The Ducks will be the No. 2 seed at the Norman Regional, hosted by Oklahoma. Oregon will face third-seeded Boston University Friday at 2:30 p.m. PT (ESPN+) followed Game 2 between the Sooners and Cleveland State.

SINICKI NAMED PAC-12 CO-DEFENSIVE POY
Paige Sinicki was named the 2024 Pac-12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year. She is just the second Duck to win that honor, joining Janelle Lindvall (2016).

CARLSON, LUSCHAR LEAD ALL-PAC-12 PICKS
Ariel Carlson and Kai Luschar were named to the all-Pac-12 1st team. Elise Sokolsky was named to the 2nd team, while Alyssa Daniell and Hanna Delgado were named to the 3rd team. Katie Flannery and Taylour Spencer were all-freshman picks.

BY THE NUMBERS
1,527 - Combined, Oregon's 9 seniors have played 1,527 career games entering the week.
27 - Kai Luschar leads the Pac-12 in steals with 27. She's also 2nd in batting (.423).
86 - Oregon leads the Pac-12 and ranks 30th nationally with 86 stolen bases on the season.
15/15 - Ariel Carlson is the first player in program history to post a 15 home run/15 stolen base season.
43 - Ariel Carlson now has 43 career home runs and is fourth on the UO career list.
6 - Ariel Carlson is the one of only 6 players in Division I with 15+ HR and 15+ steals.
13 - Oregon has 13 upperclassmen who have previously played in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA NORMAN REGIONAL THREE DOT NOTES
• Oregon has never faced Boston U or Cleveland State ... The Ducks and Oklahoma have played 16 times with the Sooners holding a 10-6 advantage. Oregon won the last meeting between the two schools (5-0, April 19, 2018) ... The Ducks and Sooners have met four times previously in the NCAA Tournament - 2005, 2008, 2014 (WCWS) and 2017 (WCWS).
• This is the fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the Ducks under coach Melyssa Lombardi and the 24th NCAA appearance all-time in program history.
• Current Duck head coach Melyssa Lombardi spent 21 seasons with the Sooners, first as an assistant coach and later as associate head coach, helping guide her alma mater to four national championships and 15 combined Big 12 regular season and conference tournament titles.

CARLSON, LUSCHAR, SINICKI AMONG EIGHT DUCKS HONORED BY PAC-12
Oregon has the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year for just the second time ever – Paige Sinicki - while Hanna Delgado made the all-Pac-12 for the fourth time in her career, becoming the first Duck outfielder to earn that distinction. The two were among eight Ducks recognized by the Pac-12. Outfielders Ariel Carlson and Kai Luschar were named to the all-Pac-12 first team while pitcher Elise Sokolsky was a second-team selection. Infielder Alyssa Daniell joined Delgado on the all-Pac-12 third team. Infielder Katie Flannery and pitcher Taylour Spencer were selected for the all-freshman team. Delgado is just the third position player to be a four-time all-conference selection for the Ducks. She joins former teammate Allee Bunker, who was honored by the Pac-12 four times at second base between 2020-23, and infielder Kathy Stahl, who was a four-time all-conference selection between 1993-96. Sinicki, who shared top defensive honors with Arizona's Tayler Biehl, is just the second Duck to be named the Defensive Player of the Year, joining Janelle Lindvall (2016). It is the first all-conference honors for everyone except Delgado and Sinicki.

OREGON LUMBERYARD
Oregon natives Ariel Carlson and Alyssa Daniell have combined for 25 home runs, 23 doubles and 90 RBI.

CARLSON CHASING PAC-12 HOME RUN, RBI CROWNS
Ariel Carlson s the only player ranked among the Pac-12's top 5 in 2B (3rd - 13), HR (3rd - 15), RBI (3rd - 52), SB (5th - 17), slugging (3rd - .766) and total bases (2nd - 111). Oregon's lone conference home run champion is Ann Marie Topps with her school-record 19 home runs in 2007. The Ducks have had the league's RBI leader twice - Jenn Salling in 2007 (73) and Anna Poor in 1991 (44). Carlson was 28-for-75 (.373) in league games with 10 home runs and 24 RBI. She also has seven stolen base in Pac-12 play.

CARLSON CAREER WATCH
Ariel Carlson recently became just the fourth player in program history to reach 40 career home runs and now has 43. She is two behind Gwen Svekis (45, 2015-18) for third. Carlson also recently entered he school's top 10 in career RBIs and is now sixth at 156.

COMBINATION OF POWER & SPEED SEPARATES CARLSON
Ariel Carlson's combination of speed and power sets her apart. She is one of only six players in Division I - and the only one in the Pac-12 - with 15-plus home runs and 15-plus stolen bases.

Player, Team                            HR   SB
Billie Andrews, Nebraska        18   15
Ariel Carlson, Oregon              15   17
Miah McDonald, Marist            20   17
Cori McMillan, Virginia Tech 20   20
Corine Poncho, McNeese        15   16
McKayla Timmons, Ball State   25   17

LUSCHAR LEADING OFF
Kai Luschar leads the Pac-12 in steals (27) and is fourth in hits (69), second in average (.423) and sixth in on-base percentage (.481). Nationally, she's 26th in batting average and 23rd in steals. Her career average of .398 is second in program history, while her season average is currently eighth all-time. She's also now in the single-season top 10 for stolen bases (ninth).

SOKOLSKY THROWS GEM AT NO. 6 STANFORD
Elise Sokolsky threw a two-hit, 1-0 shutout at Stanford on May 5. She allowed just two hits, struck out six and walked one. She faced just two batters over the minimum. She became the first Duck to throw a 1-0 shutout against at top-six team since Jessica Moore did it against No. 1 California on April 21, 2012. She threw her first complete game as a Duck March 17 at Utah in Oregon's 5-1 win, going the distance to help the Ducks win the series. She allowed one run on three hits, striking out four and walking three. She didn't give up a hit after the third inning and struck out the side in the fourth inning. She also retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh innings. Since then, she picked up wins against Washington, Arizona and Oregon State before the shutout against Stanford.

NO FREE PASSES
Oregon has issued the fewest walks in the Pac-12, 93, which is also the 18th fewest free passes given out nationally.

SCOTT CLIMBS SAVES LIST
With a save April 28 versus Northern Colorado, Morgan Scott now has 12 saves in her Oregon career, which is second on the UO career list. Oregon's career saves leader is Cheridan Hawkins, who had 17 saves (2013-16). With the three saves she recorded at UNC Greensboro, Scott is now fourth in the NCAA among active player with 15 career saves.

ELITE LEVEL DEFENSE
A hallmark of coach Melyssa Lombardi's program, Oregon is again one of the best defensive teams in the nation. The Ducks are 27th nationally and third in the Pac-12 and in fielding percentage (.974). Two years ago (2022), Oregon led the Pac-12 and ranked 10th nationally with a .977 fielding percentage. That mark tied the program record set the year before (2021).

GLOVE WORK
Oregon committed two errors in the season opener against Maryland and then had a stretch of 23 games committing one error or less. The streak ended when the Ducks had two errors March 16 at Utah. Oregon has 22 error-free games, 18 single-error games, six two error games and one three-error game in 2024.