Home Debut Upcoming For Prodigious Freshman Class

Before she stepped into the box for her first career collegiate at-bat, Oregon freshman catcher Emma Cox checked in with UO assistant coach Sydney Romero.

The Ducks were in Las Vegas for the season-opening UNLV Desert Classic, and began the year by facing Buffalo on Feb. 7. Understandably, Cox was experiencing some nerves.

Romero eased her mind.

"She was like, you know what,'" Cox recounted later, "once you have your first at-bat, and you see some good pitches and get on base, you'll be fine after that."

Cox didn't have to wait long to get that experience under her belt. Hitting in the No. 5 spot in the batting order, she came up in the top of the first. The Ducks already led thanks to a two-run double by her fellow freshman, Stefini Ma'ake, and Cox drove a single into center field to advance her teammate. Both came in to score two batters later, on a grand slam by Kedre Luschar.

How prophetic was Romero, that Cox would settle down after her first at-bat? All the freshman did over the totality of the opening weekend was hit .500 (9-for-18) with four extra-base hits and six RBIs. That earned her Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, the first of three straight weeks that three different Ducks earned that award, entering the team's home-opening weekend that starts this Friday night.

Oregon will host San Diego and Portland State in the Oregon Classic at Jane Sanders Stadium on Friday evening, then San Diego and Loyola Chicago on Saturday before closing out the weekend against Loyola Chicago again Sunday. Games Friday and Saturday featuring the Ducks begin at 3:30 p.m., while Sunday is a matinee at 1 p.m.

For fans who pack the stands of The Jane, it will be the first chance to see this freshman class that is off to such a remarkable start — and trying not to get ahead of itself in the process.

"I would say I wasn't expecting to do as well as I did," Cox said after the first weekend of the season. "But I got to this place where I was like, you know, good or bad we're not going to worry about the outcome. I'm going to focus on what I can control, and whatever happens, happens."

That process-oriented approach has paid major dividends for Cox and her fellow freshmen. Ma'ake was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for her exploits during the second weekend of the season, and entering the Oregon Classic, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week is Rylee McCoy.

Through three weeks of play, that trio has combined to hit .385 (52-for-135) with 18 of the Ducks' 28 home runs, and 52 RBIs. McCoy and Ma'ake lead the team with seven homers each, Ma'ake is first among the Ducks with 22 RBIs and Cox and McCoy are tied for second with 15 each.

"This group is very special," Ma'ake said. "Version 7 (of UO softball under head coach Melyssa Lombardi) is special, and with our energy as the freshman class, we're a different class. Having all of us be as hungry as we are and being able to show that on the field means a lot."

Ma'ake earned her Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor for her production at the Littlewood Classic. In six games at the tournament in Arizona that began Feb. 13, Ma'ake hit .438 (7-for-16) with four homers and 11 RBIs.

Like Cox, Ma'ake said her approach in the batter's box was simple — in her case, see ball, hit ball.

"I just wanted to hit some home runs, if I'm being honest," Ma'ake said with a laugh.

The latest Big Ten Freshman of the Week from Oregon is McCoy. In helping the No. 14 Ducks go 5-0 at the Mary Nutter Classic last week and improve to 15-1 overall entering this week's Oregon Classic, McCory hit .438 (7-for-16) with four homers.

With seven home runs each, Ma'ake and McCoy already are almost halfway to the total for last year's season leader for the Ducks, Ariel Carlson with 16.

That kind of production surely will lead to adjustments from future opponents, who will look to limit Oregon's powerful freshmen. They're prepared for that eventuality.

"We just have to stay in our process and what we're working on," McCoy said. "Yes, pressure will be there. But I think from playing in travel ball and playing against other good teams growing up, we're used to it."

Looking back to the opening weekend of the season, it was two days after Cox's talk with Romero prior to her first at-bat when the Ducks were preparing to head home to Eugene with a perfect 5-0 record at the UNLV Desert Classic.

Lombardi, the UO head coach, surprised the team with a couple of fun rewards following the successful opening weekend.

"We got to wear slides to the airport," Cox recalled, "and we got to get Prince Puckler's."

The comfortable footwear for the flight home was most welcome. So too was the trip to the venerated campus ice-cream parlor.

Cox's joy at recounting the trip to the dessert spot was a reminder that, for as precocious as Oregon's freshmen have been through three weeks, they remain kids, after all. Even if they're putting up grown-up numbers entering their Jane Sanders Stadium debut this weekend.