No. 17 Softball Heads To Texas For Aggie III Tourney
COMING UP
St. Joseph Aggie Invitational III - College Station, Texas. The 17th-ranked University of Oregon softball team heads to College Station, Tex., for a three-day tournament hosted by Texas A&M. The Ducks will face off against Penn State, Southern Mississippi and the Aggies. Oregon will look to avenge an 8-3 loss to Texas A&M earlier this season.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK - CAMPBELL/CARTIER CLASSIC
The Ducks continued to gain momentum last weekend, going 3-0 at the rain-shortened Campbell/Cartier Classic. Oregon has won five straight games and defeated Hawaii, No. 14 Fresno State and Sacramento State, allowing just two runs scored all weekend. In the opener against Hawaii, the Ducks scored a run in every inning except for the second and third and catcher Jenn Poore hit her second home run of the season. Senior pitcher Anissa Meashintubby (Monroe) improved to 2-1 with the win. Against Fresno State, junior pitcher Ani Nyhus went head to head with All-American Jamie Southern as the game remained scoreless through six innings. Oregon freshman Kayleen Hudson drove in Ann Marie Topps in the top of the seventh to score the only run of the game. Nyhus struck out six batters and walked just one. In their final game of the tournament, the Ducks shutout Sacramento State, 3-0, after a three-run home run by Ashley Richards. Meashintubby struck out a career-high nine batters and walked none in 5.1 innings pitched.
HEAD COACH KATHY ARENDSEN
Now a member of eight different Halls of Fame, second-year head coach Kathy Arendsen brought her success as both a player and a coach straight to Oregon when she led the Ducks to a 10-11 (T3) Pac-10 record in her first season, which is Oregon’s highest finish since the 1990 season. The Zealand, Mich., native returned the Ducks to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2000 and the team went 5-2, falling one game short of a trip to the Women’s College World Series. Her presence at Oregon was felt immediately as Oregon knocked off four ranked opponents in the preseason and was 16-13 vs. top-25 foes despite being picked to finish last in the Pac-10 Conference. Along the way, senior Andrea Vidlund earned third-team all-america honors and three players earned Pac-10 player of the week honors. Arendsen was inducted into the Michigan Hall of Fame and is the only American in the class of 19 who will be inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame on Nov. 11, 2004.
ASSISTANT COACHES, J. GAUDREAU AND MIKE WHITE
Gaudreau is entering her 11th season as Arendsen’s top assistant. In her first season with the Ducks, Oregon’s improved offense was evident as the Ducks owned the top five spots in hits at the NCAA Regional, had the highest individual batting average, second-highest team hitting percentage, scored more runs than any other team and had the highest individual home run output at the tournament (4 by Andrea Vidlund). The Ducks hit 43 home runs to their opponents 35 and held the advantage in average, hits, runs scored, RBI and slugging percentage over their 2003 opponents. In his first season with the Ducks, White helped guide a young pitching staff to great success as freshman Amy Harris finished the season with the single-season strikeout record (180) and junior Anissa Meashintubby picked up her first two career Pac-10 wins in back-to-back games. And senior Andrea Vidlund, who did not pitch a single game in 2002, came back last season to lead the nation in saves (11). Oregon’s team ERA improved from 3.01 in 2002 to 2.12 ? its lowest ERA since 1994 ? in White’s first season and the Ducks had 347 strikeouts last season compared to 223 in 2002. As a player, White has won five ASA national titles and five ISC World Club Championships while being selected to nine ASA All-American and nine ISC All-World teams. He was the 2002 ASA male player of the year in men’s fastpitch.
A LOOK AT PENN STATE
Penn State is 0-5 this season after opening the year with games against No. 1 UCLA (L, 5-2), No. 2 Arizona (L, 10-0), No. 6 Georgia (L, 3-0), No. 15 Stanford (L, 1-0) and Pacific (L, 3-0). Jackie Dabrowski leads the team with a .312 average (5-for-16) while pitcher Shana Riggleman is the teams top pitcher with a 4-2 record and a 1.88 ERA.
A LOOK AT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
The Lady Eagles (5-7) enter the event after a second-place finish in the LSU Purple and Gold Challenge, last weekend, in Baton Rouge, La., where the team sported a 3-3 record in the six games. Senior outfielder Heather Bell leads Southern Miss in batting with a .318 average, including seven hits and three RBIs. Seniors Danielle Hatfield and Jessica Holaway lead the team in the circle, combining for all five wins and 39 strikeouts. Hatfield sports a 3-1 record and a team-best 3.76 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched, while also walking just five batters
A LOOK AT TEXAS A&M
The Ducks dropped an 8-3 decision to the Aggies at the Fiesta Bowl tournament two weeks ago. Rocky Spencer leads the team with a .423 average while Sharonda McDonald is hitting .291 in the lead off spot. McDonald is 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts. The Aggies’ four pitchers combine for a 1.65 ERA and 108 strikeouts.
