Notes: Ducks Host Regionals
EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 2 seed Oregon softball team begins postseason play this week with NCAA Regional competition at Howe Field.
The Ducks host North Dakota State, Fresno State and BYU at the Eugene Regional. Fresno State and NDSU open the regional at 2 p.m. on Thursday with Oregon and BYU following at 5 p.m. NCAA regionals are double-elimination with a maximum of seven games played over three days.
BROADCAST INFO
Every game at the NCAA Eugene Regional will be streamed live for free at GoDucks.com/live. KWVA 88.1 FM will provide the commentary on the streams in addition to their radio broadcast.
NO. 2 OVERALL SEED
Oregon is the No. 2 overall seed in the 2015 NCAA Championships, behind No. 1 seed Florida. The Ducks were the No. 1 seed last year when they lost to Alabama, 2-0, in the semifinals of the WCWS.
NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
Oregon is 15-0 in NCAA regional games under head coach Mike White. The Ducks are 40-21 all-time in regional games. Oregon’s last defeat in the regional round was in 2008 at Oklahoma, when they were eliminated after an 11-0 loss. The Ducks have hosted either BYU, Wisconsin or both in regional action for four straight years.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
Oregon is 50-38 all-time in postseason play and 23-11 under head coach Mike White. The Ducks are making their 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament overall, not including two AIAW tournament trips in 1976 and 1980 before the NCAA sponsored women’s sports. Oregon’s first NCAA regional appearance was in 1989, when the Ducks also advanced to their first WCWS in Sunnyvale, Calif. Oregon has gone on to the WCWS twice since, in 2012 and 2014. Since the Super Regional round was added in 2005, the Ducks have advanced to supers five times.
UO VS. NDSU, FRESNO STATE AND BYU
Oregon is 8-4 all-time against BYU, while it is 1-0 against North Dakota State and 6-30 versus Fresno State. The Ducks beat the Bulldogs 3-0 this year on March 7 at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Oregon has won five of the last six meetings with Fresno State. Oregon’s last meeting with BYU was a loss, 6-5, last season in Provo, Utah. Oregon met BYU in Hawai’i earlier in 2014, posting a 3-2 win with Cheridan Hawkins in the circle. Hawkins allowed two runs on six hits and four walks in seven innings with eight strikeouts in seven innings. She threw 118 pitches in the game. Oregon got two runs off BYU starter Ashley Thompson in the first two innings before ace McKenna Bull entered the game. UO tallied one more run on four hits in five innings against Bull. Oregon is 1-0 against NDSU, with the only meeting a 6-1 win by the Ducks early in the 2007 season.
RPI BRACKET ANALYSIS
Oregon enters the tournament No. 4 in the NCAA RPI rankings. In the Eugene Regional, BYU is No. 60 in the RPI, Fresno State is No. 44 and North Dakota State is No. 36. BYU is the second best four seed in the entire bracket, with only Cal State Northridge, the four seed in the UCLA Regional, higher in the RPI (48). On the flipside, NDSU, at No. 36, is the worst two seed, based on RPI, in the bracket. No. 1 seed Florida has Hofstra, which ranks No. 13 in the RPI, as its No. 2 seed, the highest in the bracket. Florida State has No. 15 Central Florida as its No. 2 seed. ULL has No. 22 Baylor and No. 33 Mississippi State in its regional.
THREE STRAIGHT PAC-12 TITLES
After tallying a program record 21 conference wins, the Ducks won their third straight Pac-12 title. Oregon softball had never won a conference championship before its current three-year run. With a UCLA loss on May 9, the final day of the regular season, Oregon clinched its third straight outright championship. The Ducks found out about a half hour before they were set to play Arizona that ASU had hit a walkoff to beat the Bruins, 11-10. Oregon is the first team to win three-straight Pac-12 titles since Arizona did it from 2003-2005. UCLA holds the record with four straight league titles from 1988-91.
TAKEDA OWNS THREE UO RECORDS
After breaking the program’s career marks for hits and stolen bases on back-to-back pitches against No. 9 Louisiana Lafayette on April 24, senior OF Janie Takeda became Oregon’s all-time runs leader on senior day, May 3, against California. Takeda went 4-for-4 with four runs and four RBIs in the game, including a solo home run to cap her day. She tied the record with her first run of the day and broke it on her second run, coming on a RBI single by Hailey Decker. Takeda has 196 career runs, breaking Courtney Ceo’s previous record of 193. Takeda is now taking a run at the program’s all-time doubles record as she has 40 doubles in her career and Missy Coe holds the UO mark with 41.
THE WINNINGEST SENIOR CLASS
Oregon’s class of four seniors - Janie Takeda, Karissa Hovinga, Jamie Rae Sullivan and Sara Goodrum - have won 197 games over their four-year careers, the most in any four-year stretch in UO history.
TOP NOTCH COMPETITION
Oregon has played 25 times against a ranked opponent this season. The Ducks are 19-6 against top-25 foes, with wins in 13 of the last 14 games. Of Oregon’s final 21 games in the regular season, 18 were vs. ranked foes.
OREGON IN THE POLLS
Oregon debuted at No. 2 in both the NFCA and USA Softball top-25 polls in the preseason. The Ducks are No. 1 this week in the NFCA poll and No. 2 in the USA Softball poll.
HAWKINS PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Cheridan Hawkins was named a top-10 finalist for the USA Softball player of the year award, the organization announced. Hawkins leads the Pac-12 and ranks 10th in the nation with a 1.39 ERA and also ranks 10th with nine shutouts. Her 3.38 hits allowed per seven innings is the third lowest in the NCAA and her 27 victories is the 13th most. The final three be announced on May 20. The winner will be announced on May 26 prior to the start of the Women’s College World Series in OKC.
LILLEY NFCA FROSH OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Third baseman Jenna Lilley is one of 10 finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award. Despite being a rookie, Lilley is the only player on the Oregon roster to start and play in every game this year. Lilley is hitting .448, second best in the Pac-12, with team-highs in doubles (15), runs (56), walks (33) and on-base percentage (.550).
WHITE OWNS OREGON WINS RECORD
After the first weekend of the 2015 season, head coach Mike White jumped to first on Oregon’s all-time coaching wins record list. White, now with 275 wins, jumped Kathy Arendsen (2003-09), who had a program-best 231 wins in seven seasons with the Ducks. White reached the milestone in his sixth season. UO’s 8-0 run-rule win over Northwestern on Feb. 7 was his 232nd win, breaking Arendsen’s previous record. To honor the achievement, White was presented with a commemorative engraved bat by SWA Lisa Peterson prior to the Oregon State series in March.
THE DUCKS UNDER MIKE WHITE
- 12-6 vs. Arizona, 8-12-1 vs. Arizona State, 12-7 vs. California, 15-3 vs. Oregon State, 13-5 vs. Stanford, 10-8 vs. UCLA, 12-0 vs. Utah (2-0 vs. Utah in non-conference play), 10-7 vs. Washington.
- UO swept ASU this season for the first time since 1989.
- Oregon has outscored foes 2,138 to 1,010 under White.
- Longest losing streak is just four games (2010)
- Longest winning streak is 15 games (2014 & 2015)
- The Ducks are 31-11-3 overall in Pac-12 series.
- Won 24 of last 26 Pac-12 series.
- Lost just three Pac-12 series over the last four years
- Ducks have been swept three times in Pac-12 series under Mike White while sweeping opponents 17 times.
HITTING TEAM NOTES
- The Ducks rank third in the nation and are second in the Pac-12 with a .368 batting average.
- Oregon hit a school record .342 as a team last year.
- UO’s .468 on-base percentage is fourth in the nation and second in the Pac-12.
- Oregon’s .616 slugging percentage is sixth best in the nation and second in the Pac-12.
- Oregon ranks eighth in the NCAA averaging 7.69 runs scored per game.
- The Ducks lead the Pac-12 with 86 stolen bases.
- Oregon ranks 26th in the NCAA, averaging 1.65 stolen bases per game.
- Oregon ranks 16th in the nation, averaging 1.48 home runs per game.
- Of Oregon’s 77 home runs this season, eight have been grand slams.
- Oregon leads the Pac-12 with 13 triples, tied with Cal and UCLA.
HITTING INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Janie Takeda leads the Pac-12 with 33 stolen bases. She is 33-for-35 on the season. Second best in the league is just 17.
- Takeda is averaging 0.73 stolen bases per game, which ranks 15th in the NCAA.
- Freshman Jenna Lilley is second in the Pac-12 with a .550 on-base percentage. Her .550 OBP is 23rd best in the nation.
- Lilley is fourth in the Pac-12 with a .441 batting average. Her 54 runs scored is sixth in the league.
- Freshman Gwen Svekis is second in the Pac-12 with an .843 slugging percentage and is third with a .443 batting average.
- Janie Takeda is fifth in the Pac-12 with a .439 batting average.
- Janelle Lindvall has been hit by 14 pitches this season, tied for the second most in the Pac-12.
PITCHING TEAM NOTES
- The Ducks rank 26th in the NCAA and lead the Pac-12 with a 2.45 team ERA.
- UO’s .208 opponent batting average also leads the league.
- The Ducks are second in the league with 350 strikeouts despite having pitched the fewest innings in the conference at 323.0.
- Oregon pitchers have allowed just 254 hits this season, the fewest in the conference. Oregon has also issued the fewest number of walks in the conference at 103.
- Oregon has allowed the fewest runs in the Pac-12 this season at 149.
- The Ducks have hit 46 batters, most in the Pac-12.
- Oregon opened the season with three straight shutouts (8-0 vs. Cal Poly, 9-0 vs. #25 Texas and 8-0 vs. Northwestern).
- Oregon is 40-0 this year when leading after four innings.
PITCHING INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Cheridan Hawkins is 10th in the NCAA with a 1.39 ERA, which leads the Pac-12.
- Hawkins is third in the country in hits allowed per seven inning, averaging just 3.38.
- Hawkins is 10th in the nation with nine shutouts.
- Hawkins ranks 16th in the nation averaging 9.5 strikeouts per seven innings.
FIELDING NOTES
- Oregon’s .964 fielding percentage ranks 93rd in the NCAA. However, Oregon has made just two errors over the last nine games.
DUCKS ON THE POND
Oregon’s ability to both hit for average and draw walks has put an incredible number of Ducks on the pond. Oregon is averaging 15.2 baserunners per game and 2.6 baserunners per inning this season. The Ducks have tallied roughly 788 baserunners total this season (509 hits, 226 walks, 53 HBP), not counting errors, in 52 games and 309 innings.
RUN RULES
The Ducks have won by run-rule 19 times this season, including No. 25 ranked Texas on opening day, all three games against rival Oregon State, once at No. 10 UCLA and twice against then-No. 9 ranked Louisiana. Oregon run-ruled No. 18 Cal twice and No. 17 Arizona once.
WALK THIS WAY
The Ducks had a school record 13 walks against Oregon State on March 15 and nearly matched that with 12 at Utah on March 23. Oregon took a season-high 24 walks in the OSU series.
GRAND SLAM SLUGGERS
Oregon has hit eight grand slams this season, all since the Oregon State series on March 13-15. Freshman Gwen Svekis crushed a grand slam on March 15 against the Beavers as part of her school record nine RBI outburst. That was the Ducks’ first grand slam of the season. All but one have come against Pac-12 opponents and the Ducks hit two in a 10-0 five-inning run-rule win at then-No. 10 UCLA.
