Already having played seven nationally ranked opponents in its first 23 games, the Oregon softball team is preparing for the schedule to ramp up.
Starting on Friday, the No. 2 Ducks (20-3) will open Pac-12 play with a three-game series against rival Oregon State. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Howe Field in Eugene.
Eighteen of the Ducks’ next 33 games will be against nationally ranked opponents, including nine consecutive games to finish out the regular season.
“Conference play is about winning the series — if we win every series, we’ll be in the hunt for the championship,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “It’s about being consistent over the next seven or eight weekends.”
The Ducks enter Pac-12 play sporting a vastly different squad than the team that went 20-3-1 in conference last year. Led by returning all-Americans Cheridan Hawkins and Janie Takeda and freshman-phenom Jenna Lilley, Oregon will try to win the Pac-12 conference for the third consecutive year.
Takeda and Lilley, along with shortstop Nikki Udria, are the three Ducks who’ve started every game this year.
Takeda leads the team in batting with a .432 average while rotating between spots No. 1, 2 and 3 in the Oregon lineup. Lilley and her .392 batting average has seen time mainly in the second and third spots of the lineup. She also leads the team with 16 RBIs and eight doubles.
Combined, Takeda and Lilley are what make the Oregon offense go, and with these two getting on base often, it’s no wonder the Ducks are averaging 6.7 runs per game.
If the Ducks are going to compete and win in the Pac-12, they’re going to need much more production from the middle of the lineup.
“We’re still not quite firing on all cylinders,” White said. “Our four, five, six — middle of the order — is not giving us the run production we’ve been looking for.”
The back-end of the lineup has been powerful as Koral Costa and Danica Mercado, the usual seven and eight batters in the lineup, have combined for eight of the team’s 23 homeruns.
Freshmen Gwen Svekis and Lauren Lindvall have performed well throughout the preseason and give Oregon some much needed depth off the bench. Svekis is batting .545 in just 33 at-bats but has four doubles, two triples and two homeruns. Lindvall is coming off a weekend where she had five RBIs in one game, and combined with her defensive versatility, she’s able to help out in multiple ways.
While the offense is performing at a high rate, the defense is where the Ducks need to improve.
“We’ve had a pretty hard past few weeks and it’s shown through our defense,” White said. “We really need to improve on our communication with one another if we’re going to take the next step forward.”
The pitching staff is led by Hawkins and returning right-hander Karissa Hovinga. With these two combined leading the Ducks to the Women’s College World Series and the added depth of Geri Ann Glasco, the Ducks are stronger this year.
Hawkins is 8-2 thus far with five saves and just a 0.45 ERA. She has accounted for 90 strikeouts in 62 innings, and according to White, is getting better every week.
Glasco and Hovinga have combined to go 10-1 on the year and boast a 2.80 ERA.
Hawkins’ only losses of the year have come against No. 1 Florida and No. 7 Baylor, while Hovinga earned the loss in the rematch with the Gators.
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