Softball Goes North And South To Continue Pac-10 Play
COMING UP
Heading North....And South
Oregon (30-10 overall, 4-2 Pacific-10 Conference) will drive up North to face the streaking Huskies (28-7, 4-0) on Friday at 1 p.m. before flying South to take on UCLA (27-5, 0-4) -- a team that will be looking for its first conference victory this season. Oregon plays at UCLA Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK
With a 2-0 win on Friday at Oregon State, the Ducks clinched the series vs. the Beavers for the second consecutive season. Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen has led the Ducks to the series win over Oregon State in her first two seasons and is 4-2 all-time vs. her in-state rival. Ani Nyhus tossed her second one-hitter and fourth shutout in conference play in Friday’s win. Oregon State came back to win 7-4 Saturday. Sophomore Dani Baird was 3-for-6 with a double and a run scored over the weekend while freshman Suzie Barnes was 2-for-6 with three RBI.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.
AT WASHINGTON LAST SEASON
Oregon won two games at Seattle (6-5; 6-5) last season, sweeping the Huskies at home for the first time since 1993. In the first game, Oregon catcher Jenn Poore hit a game-winning home run in the top of the eighth inning to lead Oregon to a 6-5 win. Pitcher Amy Harris picked up the save while senior Andrea Vidlund got the win. Poore was 2-for-3 in the game. In the second game, the two teams combined for 20 hits as Oregon took a 4-0 lead in the first inning before allowing Washington to score four runs in the second. The Ducks added a run in the third and fourth innings to secure the win. Anissa Meashintubby picked up her first career conference victory, allowing just one run scored in four and a thirds innings pitched. Harris got the save for the second day in a row.
AT UCLA LAST SEASON
Oregon battled, scoring a run in the top of the seventh inning, but fell 4-3 at Easton Stadium. UCLA used three home runs to secure the victory while pitcher Michelle Turner picked up the win. Breanne Sabol was 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI double to the center field fence that scored Erin Goodell. The Ducks led 2-1 in the third, but the Bruins hit two home runs in the fourth inning.
A LOOK AT WASHINGTON
Pitcher Ashley Boek was named Pac-10 pitcher of the week after leading the Huskies to a sweep over UCLA last weekend. At 4-0 in conference play, Washington is off to its best start in school history. Junior catcher Kristen Rivera leads the Pac-10 with 14 home runs.
A LOOK AT UCLA
The Bruins have struggled out of the gates, starting 0-4 in Pac-10 play. It is the longest such losing streak for UCLA since 1998. The team gets off to an early start, outscoring opponents 38-1 in the first inning. Caitlin Benyi is second in the conference with 12 home runs. As a team, UCLA’s 1.10 ERA leads the conference and its .519 slugging percentage is second.
ARENDSEN VS. UPCOMING OPPONENTS
Washington: 2-2
UCLA: 1-3
Notes
*12 of Oregon’s 30 games have been against opponents in the top-25, including its last five games; Oregon is slated to play teams ranked in the Top-25 in 12 of its final 18 games
*Oregon is 8-4 vs. ranked opponents this season
*Five of Oregon’s players are hitting above .300 with runners on base -- Suzie Barnes (.325); Beth Boskovich (.315); Kristi Leiter (.326); Ashley Richards (.446); Breanne Sabol (.409)
*Oregon has won the series against the Beavers in back-to-back seasons (2003, 2004) for the first time since taking the series in 1994 and 1995
*At 4-2, Oregon is off to its best conference start since starting 4-2 in 1999
*Breanne Sabol leads the conference with 20 sacrifice bunts and as a team, Oregon leads the Pac-10 with 53; Oregon State is second with 33
*Junior Ashley Richards hit her first career home run against then-No. 15 Texas A&M on Feb. 13 and has since added six more to bring her season total to a team-high seven home runs.
*Sophomore Beth Boskovich hit the first two triples of her career this season
*Sophomore Dani Baird recorded her first double as well as her first RBI this season; she currently has three doubles on the season to go along with 16 RBI
*Senior Julie Jaime hit her first career double this season and has four total on the year; also drove in her first career run and has eight RBI on the season, including the Ducks’ lone RBI at Stanford April 4.
