UO Hosts NC State in Super Regional
EUGENE, Ore. – After sweeping through the Eugene Regional last weekend, the Oregon softball team will play host to North Carolina State in Super Regionals starting Friday night at Howe Field.
Oregon and NC State will meet at 6 p.m. on Friday and again at noon on Saturday. A final game, if needed, will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday. All three games will be aired live on ESPNU.
Tickets will cost $28 for a two-day ticket. Only if those do not sell out will single-day tickets be offered for $14. Buy tickets HERE.
The Ducks (49-6) advanced to Super Regionals after defeating North Dakota State twice and BYU once in the Eugene Regional. Pitcher Cheridan Hawkins was named regional MVP after earning two wins to go with a 1.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 14.0 innings pitching. Hawkins and righty Karissa Hovinga allowed just six combined hits over three games in the regional. Oregon is 18-0 now in regional games under head coach Mike White, in his sixth season at the helm. Overall this year, the Ducks sport a .366 team batting average with a 2.37 ERA.
NC State (38-20) won the Harrisonburg Regional after knocking off Fordham twice and host, No. 15 seed James Madison, once. Pitcher Emily Weiman tossed a one-hit shutout of JMU with eight strikeouts in NC State’s second game of the regional. She allowed just one unearned run on four hits in seven innings with eight more strikeouts in a 2-1 win over Fordham in the regional final. On the season, NC State is hitting .271 as a team with a 2.48 ERA.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Oregon and NC State have met just once prior, a 5-0 win by the Ducks on Feb. 8, 2014. Hawkins and Weiman squared off in the game. Hawkins tossed a one-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and Weiman struck out 11, but walked six and allowed five runs on 10 hits in seven innings. The Ducks left 13 runners on base. Janie Takeda went 2-for-5 with two runs scored while the now graduated Courtney Ceo went 5-for-5, matching the UO record for hits in a game.
HOWE FIELD FINALE
The Super Regional series with NC State will be the final games played at Howe Field, which was constructed in 1936 as a baseball field and converted to softball use in 1987. The Ducks will tear down Howe Field and replace it with Jane Sanders Stadium for the 2016 season. Robert Sanders, who donated $10 million to start the process, met his late wife Jane at the UO where Robert was a fullback on the football team and Jane was a cheerleader. After graduating, the couple enjoyed great success in the lumber industry, with businesses in California, Oregon and Washington.
