This weekend marks the beginning of spring in Eugene.
No, it doesn’t say so on a calendar, or in the Farmer’s Almanac. Spring begins because the No. 23 Oregon softball team has its first Pacific-10 Conference homestand starting today.
And what better way to open up the home season than against the defending national champions and the No. 1 team in the nation. Something that senior Lindsey Welch said the Ducks are ready for.
“We just need to make sure our bats are working,” Welch said. “We need to keep each other pumped up and not have a let-down.”
Oregon will open the homestand against defending national champ No. 3 UCLA today at 2 p.m. at Howe Field, before hosting No. 1 Washington Saturday and Sunday.
The Ducks are coming off a weekend trip to Arizona in which they either scored ten runs in a game or were held to three or less. It’s something that head coach Rick Gamez would like to see change during the homestand.
“We’re playing No. 1 and No. 3, so runs are going be hard to come by,” Gamez said. “We’re going to try to manufacture runs as best we can.”
During an offensive outburst that saw the Ducks explode for ten runs against Arizona State last Saturday, sophomore Christi Shelton, this week’s Pac-10 player of the week, hit her first home run of the season and knocked in five runs. However, the very next day, Oregon came back against the same Sun Devils and dropped a 7-3 decision, something that Shelton points to as a motivation.
“[The loss] will make us more hungry,” Shelton said. “We’re going to be ready to go and make up for that last game.”
While Welch and senior Jill Robinson, who leads the team in home runs (10) and runs batted in (33), need to continue their offensive attack, Gamez said he wants his whole lineup to produce.
Offensive consistency is not the only concern.Gamez would also like continued improvement from his pitchers.
Sophomore Connie McMurren (9-9) pitched a complete game in the 3-2 extra-inning loss to the Wildcats, while senior Danielle Haag (3-0) pitched a two-hiter against the Sun Devils.
“Connie pitched a great game against Arizona, held them to three runs, and anytime you can do that, you know you have done something right,” Gamez said.
The Bruins are led by senior Julie Marshall, who went 5 for 9 last weekend with three runs scored and four RBIs. Amanda Freed batted .600 with a double and three runs scored.
The Ducks have to contain Husky lead-off hitter Rosie Leutzinger, who has a school-record 20-game hitting streak and is also career leader in stolen bases with 106.
“We’re playing real well right now,” Shelton said. “We’re getting good pitching performances and infield and outfield both have stepped up their games a little bit.”
Ducks seek stability against top-ranked teams
Daily Emerald
April 6, 2000
Emerald
0
More to Discover