It was a great final weekend for the seniors — especially roommates Jill Robinson and Andrea Gustafson.
Robinson set two new records, one for career home runs (32) and another for single season homers (15). But, for Gustafson, it was the second of the two records that was especially sweet.
“I knew it was gone right when she hit it,” Gustafson said. “I was so happy for her. It’s especially nice because I was on second. It was a relief to score in the first inning.”
As one of four seniors on the team, Gustafson is sad to see her career coming to a close. But she also realizes that it has been a wild and exciting ride for them in their final campaign.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Gustafson said. “But Sunday’s win has hopefully taken the monkey off our backs and we can now play more relaxed.”
Gustafson said Sunday’s pregame ceremony for the seniors was nice, but capturing the win was even better. With the final game at Howe Field finally over, she realized how emotional that last contest turned out to be.
“It was hard to stay focused for the whole game — it was really emotional,” Gustafson said. “I had this feeling for a couple of weeks now, and now that it’s over, it’s kind of sad. But it was great that everyone pulled together and got the win.”

On the horizon
While Gustafson and her fellow seniors had time to reflect Sunday, they know they have some work to be done. The Ducks still have to play No. 1 Washington and No. 3 UCLA on the road. But Sunday’s win does a lot for Oregon’s confidence for the final weekend.
“Mentally, it takes the pressure off us,” Gustafson said. “Hopefully we can go there and steal a few wins.”
Stealing a few wins will give the Ducks one last chance to impress the NCAA selection committee. Even though Oregon is ranked No. 16, Gustafson is still nervous about her team’s chances. Last season the Ducks found themselves in a similar situation in which they were the final team posted on the board.
This year, however, Oregon has a certain factor in its favor: sitting one game ahead of the No. 9 California Golden Bears in the conference standings.
“I think our chances are pretty good,” Gustafson said. “But you never know what the committee will do. We’ve been playing tough opponents in our conference all season. Hopefully they’ll take that into consideration because we’ve all knocked each other off all season long.
“Right now, we are the only team in the conference on the bubble. But if they take Cal, then they have to take us.”

The future
With four important components of this year’s team are leaving, three new players are ready to step up.
Danielle Haag, Lindsey Welch, Robinson and Gustafson have provided the Ducks with steady production and will leave some gaping holes in both offense and pitching. Robinson and Welch are at the top of numerous categories in the school record book, while Gustafson is second on the team in batting average and Haag has provided some key pitching performances.
Freshman Alyssa Laux, Amber Hutchison and Andrea Vidlund have more than provided depth to this season’s roster. They have all developed during the course of the season and earned spots in the starting lineup.
Vidlund leads the team in wins (16) and has been a constant offensive threat toward the bottom of the lineup. In Sunday’s game she delivered a two-out single with the bases loaded to drive in two runs.
“I’ve seen her grow immensely,” Gustafson said. “She had no confidence in the beginning. Her second half of the Pac-10 season has been amazing. I can see a huge difference.”
Laux has also had a admirable second half. Injuries plagued her for most of the preseason and in the beginning of the Pac-10 slate.
But now she is healthy, and she has moved into the starting shortstop position, batting behind Gustafson at the second spot in the batting order.
“She’s done a great job,” Gustafson said. “She’s a really hard worker and will be a great player.”
Gustafson is not worried about the team’s future with quality players like Laux, Vidlund and Hutchison.
“I definitely see this year’s class as the leaders down the road,” Gustafson said. “They have the potential to lift the team to the level of a Washington or Arizona.
“When I saw Andrea get the hit to score Alyssa and Amber, I knew that the team is in good hands.”