Ducks Finish Pac-10 on the Road; Await Postseason Destination
On The Horizon
Oregon has just one more weekend of regular season competition, heading to the Bay Area to finish up two season series with 16th-ranked Stanford and Cal, which is receiving votes in both national polls.
Stanford and Oregon split their two games in Eugene, with the Ducks run-ruling the Cardinal 8-0 in Game No. 1, before Stanford unloaded a 15-4 victory in Game No. 2. If Oregon wins, it would be the second straight year the Ducks would take the season series. The game is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
On Friday, Oregon will cross the Bay to and head to Berkeley for a 1 p.m. start with the Bears. Other than fourth-ranked Arizona, the Bears may be the hottest team right now in the Pacific-10 Conference. Seventh place in the standings, the Bears have won four of their last six, posting two consecutive 2-1 weekends. In Eugene, Cal came back from a three-run deficit in the seventh, before the Ducks scored the game winner in the bottom of the inning. Oregon has not one a season series with Cal since 2000.
Selection Sunday
The softball team will gather at noon in the Pittman room, located in the Casanova Center, on Sunday to watch the 2007 Selection Show on ESPNews and wait to hear where they will head for the Regionals.
Fans are welcome to join the coaching staff and players on Sunday as they find out their first postseason destination. The Ducks are scheduled to return to Eugene on Saturday night.
Regionals are scheduled from Fri., May 18- Sun., May 20, with 16 different sites hosting. Oregon has advanced to the postseason three times in the last four years, missing out last season.
Air Time
Live stats will be provided on www.GoDucks.com for all three games this weekend. On Saturday, KWVA will also have a live audio broadcast with Erick Olson providing the play-by-play.
It’s the Pac-10
Fourth-ranked Arizona (38-10-1, 14-3-1) clinched the regular season Pac-10 title last week, sweeping all three games against Oregon and Oregon State. Ninth-ranked Arizona State (47-14, 11-7) remained in second place defeating the Beavers in a single game before splitting two games with the Ducks.
No.11 Washington (34-19, 11-7) is now third in the standings after sophomore Danielle Lawrie pitched in two victories over Stanford and California. Caitlin Noble took the lone loss for Washington, 7-1, to the Bears.
Stanford (32-16-1, 10-7-1) went 1-2 last week, suffering a loss at Washington, before splitting two games with UCLA.
The Bruins (34-15, 10-8) also dropped their single game with Cal, 3-1, before splitting with the Cardinal.
Oregon State (36-21, 7-11) was the only team to go winless last weekend, dropping its first game to ASU in eight innings, before suffering two losses to the Wildcats.
Cal moved to seventh place in the standings, and has won four of their last six. On the road, the Bears defeated UCLA. Before splitting with Washington. Despite picking up its 40th victory of the season with a 6-5 victory over Arizona State on Sunday, Oregon (40-16, 5-13) remained in eighth place in the conference standings.
Awards Banquet
The University of Oregon softball program held its annual awards banquet last Saturday, taking a look back at the 2007 season and looking forward to what is yet to come.
In addition to handing out the team’s annual awards as voted on by the players, seniors Suzie Barnes, Kristi Leiter and Ann Marie Topps were honored with a video cataloging the trio’s last four years at Oregon, including testimonials from the seniors themselves and their teammates.
Freshman shortstop Jenn Salling was named the team’s Outstanding Player of the Year as well as Offensive MVP. A native of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Salling is currently batting .496 on the season, which ranks second in the nation.
Barnes was voted by her teammates as this year’s most Inspirational Player. Known as the heart and soul of the team, Barnes has produced her best season yet. The Ducks’ leadoff hitter, Barnes broke two Oregon single-season records with 57 runs scored and 38 stolen bases, both those marks are also second in the Pac-10.
Junior third baseman Joanna Gail was selected by her teammates as this season’s Defensive MVP. A starter in all 56 games, Gail has a .971 fielding percentage, committing just five errors in 175 chances. She has 136 assists and has been the team’s top defensive playmaker.
Sophomore Melissa Rice was named Pitcher of the Year. With junior Alicia Cook under the weather, Rice shouldered the pitching load for the majority of the Pac-10 season, appearing in 17 of 18 conference games, and starting 14 of those contests.
Academic honors for players maintaining a 3.0 gpa or better were also handed out to redshirt senior Kayleen Hudson, junior Amie Morris as well as Leiter, Barnes, Gail and Rice.
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