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Home Opener; UNLV Mini-Tournament
The University of Oregon softball team (17-5) will make its first home appearance this week, hosting Team Canada in an exhibition game at Howe Field on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Oregon will then head to Las Vegas, Nev., for a two-day tournament -- its final preseason tournament.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK - Speedline Invitational
The Ducks won their 14th-consecutive game against Northwestern last Friday -- the longest win streak in school history. Lindsey Kontra picked up the victory against the Wildcats to improve to 1-0 on the season. The Ducks fell behind 5-0 in the game before freshman Suzie Barnes hit a two-RBI single followed by a three-run home run by freshman Kristi Leiter to tie the game. Junior Erin Goodell drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Oregon also picked up wins vs. Rutgers and Jacksonville before falling, 2-1, to Coastal Carolina. On Saturday, Oregon took on the USA Olympic Team and kept with the worlds best, trailing just 3-0 after six innings. The USA went on to score four runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Ducks were one of just four teams to play seven innings vs. Team USA. Sophomore Dani Baird was 1-for-1 in the game, accounting for Oregon’s lone hit of the game.
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 TEAM CANADA
Having already selected eight Olympians, Softball Canada is continuing its quest to fill in the last seven roster spots for the Olympic Team. Oregon junior Ani Nyhus (P, Surrey, B.C.) is one 10 athletes looking for a spot on the Olympic team that will travel to Athens, Greece in August for the 2004 Olympics. Team Canada is 5-1-1 since beginning a Pacific Northwest Tour March 4. The squad fell 7-6 to No. 7 Washington in eight innings before ending their second game of the series in a 3-3 tie due to darkenss. Nyhus tossed a one-hitter in a 10-0 win over North Dakota State and picked up a save vs. Central Washington, allowing no hits, no runs in three innings pitched.
A LOOK AT SOUTHERN UTAH
Southern Utah (9-4) is on a four-game win streak after sweeping two doubleheaders vs. Northern Colorado. The team will take on Colorado State in a doubleheader Weds., before heading to Vegas. Against Northern Colorado, Southern Utah scored 42 runs in the four games and allowed 11 total. Lacee LePrey and Kristen Carmicheal lead the team, hitting .500 and .405, respectively and Lepree is also the team’s top pitcher with a 5-1 record and 2.21 ERA.
A LOOK AT JACKSONVILLE
Oregon will face off against Jacksonville University for the second time in as many weeks after defeating the Dolphins 4-1 at the Speedline Invitational. In the game, Oregon catcher Jenn Poore hit a home run and Oregon had seven hits while allowing just two. Sophomore Amy Harris picked up the win. JU is 8-18 after going 1-5 last week at Speedline.
A LOOK AT UNLV
After finishing fourth with a 2-3 record at the Speedline Invitational, UNLV is currently 12-13 overall. Jacquel Kerrigan leads the team with an 11-9 record and 1.35 ERA while Bridget Byrne is hitting .390. The Rebels are 0-2 vs. the Pac-10 this year, losing to Arizona and California by a combined score of 22-1.
A LOOK AT LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY
Long Island University is 1-11 this season and most recently picked up its first win of the season -- a 6-5 win over Coastal Carolina at the Speedline Invitational -- last weekend. Freshman Jessie DePippo belted a three-run home run to pace the victory. DePippo leads the team offensively with a .455 average. Defensively, the team has a 4.92 ERA and has given up 52 earned runs thus far.
