This year, the Speedline Invitational in Clearwater, Fla., is more than just a tournament for No. 16 Oregon.
After the Ducks (13-4) play five games in the tournament, they will face their toughest competition yet: Team USA.
“We’re just going to take them one pitch and one inning at a time,” Oregon pitcher Anissa Meashintubby said.
Team USA is 10-0 in its “Aiming for Athens” tour. The team of Olympic hopefuls is in the midst of a national tour, playing collegiate teams at tournaments across the country.
In comparison, the Ducks are on a 10-game winning streak. After starting the season 3-4, Oregon has picked up steam and finished its past two tournaments undefeated.
“We are a better team than all the teams, other than Team USA, that we’re playing (in Florida),” Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “But that doesn’t guarantee you anything. It just means that there’s some expectation there.”
Oregon has moved up the rankings during the past weeks. After starting the season at No. 13, the Ducks dropped to No. 20 and No. 21 after their first two tournaments. With the winning streak in action, Oregon is back up the charts to No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and No. 14 in the NFCA/USA Today poll.
The Ducks finished the Aggie Invitational on Sunday with a 5-0 record. Oregon racked up two wins against Southern Mississippi, two against Penn State and one win against then-No. 23 Texas A&M, the tournament host.
“It was a really wide variety of teams,” Arendsen said. “We had to show up to play in every game and we did. We also demonstrated some real killer instinct, getting on top of teams and continuing to stay with it, not resting on our laurels. We finished games well.”
Oregon is picking up steam from the beginning of the season. With
a considerably younger team than 2003’s squad, Arendsen had some early concerns about finding consistency.
Now the Ducks are on the attack. In the Aggie Invitational, they outscored their opponents 35-5 in the five victories. After posting an impressive fielding percentage last season, Oregon is fielding .972 right now.
“That (percentage) puts you as one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Arendsen said. “It’s another big step up. We’re awfully proud of that.”
There was also early concern about offensive production. Three hitters have improved their batting averages from last season by at least .150, including infielder Ashley Richards. Richards is batting .412 this season after ending last season with a .185 average.
“Right now (our hitting) is pretty solid,” Richards said. “People are being pretty consistent and that’s all we can ask for.”
Team USA is the first of two Olympic teams that Oregon will play this preseason. The Ducks open play at Howe Field on Wednesday when they host Team Canada.
“It’s a chance for us to kind of see where we measure up,” Arendsen said. “We’ll actually be a valuable team for Team USA as far as a scouting report for Team Canada. For our players, it’s a dream come true to play against these national powers.”