There is little debate that the Oregon softball team is struggling against the rest of the teams in the top softball conference in the country – their record of 1-17 tells the story of a long Pacific-10 Conference season. So first-year head coach Brent Rincon has been trying to shake things up.
“The lineup has changed dramatically over time,” Rincon said. “We as coaches try to find the right combination of kids that are hot and can
be productive.”
Throughout most of the season, Rincon and his two assistant coaches kept the top four spots somewhat steady with Alyssa Laux, Lynsey Haij, Andrea Vidlund and Jenn Poore. In the past few games, Rincon’s lineup changes have included moving Vidlund, who leads the team with eight home runs, down to the No. 7 spot and Poore down to No. 8. Freshman Mari Lyn Petrick and junior Janell Bergstrom – who was 2-for-3 with a run scored in a 2-1 loss to No. 1 UCLA on Friday – have been hitting well lately, so in the last game against Washington on Sunday, they hit in the third and fourth slots, respectively. Oregon failed to score a run.
Lakeesha Eversley, who was hitting near the top of the order at the start of the season, now fights for playing time with Amber Hutchison.
“We haven’t had the kind of productivity from some of the players that has allowed us to have a set lineup,” Rincon said. “We’d still, with three games remaining, like to settle on a set lineup, but we play who coaches think are hot and who can be productive.”
Although Oregon’s conference record is 1-17, many of the contests have been close. Kristi Hall, who was honored with fellow senior Connie McMurren prior to the Ducks’ final home game Sunday, said the Ducks will be heading down to California for their last three games with an intense determination.
“There’s a lot of teams that doubt our record, and that is fair to say considering our record,” Hall said. “But we have some of the best hitters, best defensive players and best pitchers in the country, and we are going to go out whether our record is 40-2 or 2-40 and play just as hard as if it was a championship game.”
For the second week in a row, UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman was named Pac-10 Player of the Week.
In the Bruins’ three games – one against Oregon and two with Oregon State – Nuveman swatted for a .571 batting average (4-for-7) with one double, two home runs, five walks and an on-base percentage of .750. She has helped the Bruins to a top national ranking, and continues to help as they remain tied for first in the conference.
Nuveman’s season totals now stand at 17 home runs and 58 RBI with a .555 average, a 1.066 slugging percentage and a .674 on-base percentage. Earning the Pitcher of the Week honors in the Pac-10 was Arizona’s Jennie Finch, who went 3-0 from April 29 to May 5 against No. 4 Arizona State, No. 5 California and No. 8 Stanford. The 6-foot senior, who was recently featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd,” ended the week with a 0.67 ERA with 18 strike outs.
Finch is second in the conference in strike outs with 293 and has
posted 17 shutouts this season.
E-mail sports reporter Chris Cabot at [email protected]