A 1-2 weekend against two teams ranked in the top 10 kept Oregon moving ahead in the polls.
Instead of dropping from the No. 11 spot the Ducks held last week, Oregon moved up in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll released Tuesday.
Now, the No. 10 Ducks round out six Pacific-10 Conference teams ranked in the top 10.
“Strange, isn’t it?” Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “Strange that we break the top 10 when we lose two out of three. I believe that we have been a top 10 team for a few weeks now. It’s great for promotional stuff and recruiting, but ultimately what counts is, can you win when you get to regionals?”
Today, the Ducks (35-14 overall, 9-6 Pac-10) take their No. 10 ranking into Howe Field for a nonconference doubleheader at 2 p.m. against Portland State (19-34 overall, 10-10 Pacific Coast Softball Conference).
“The games against Portland State are really big for bringing people ready to play for the rest of our games for the rest of the season,” pitcher Ani Nyhus said. “We can’t look over Portland State. We had two really close games against them in Portland.”
Oregon needs to win one of today’s two games to win the state competition. The Ducks took two of three from Oregon State and have already taken two games from Portland State. On Wednesday, the Vikings upset the then-No. 18 Beavers, 4-2, for their first win against a top 25 team this season.
The two games against Oregon are the final games of the season for Portland State.
“We can’t underestimate them,” second baseman Erin Goodell said. “Those are two games that we need to win. They’ve got nothing to lose, so they’re going to be coming in here ready to win. We can’t let that happen.”
Last year, the Ducks swept the Vikings in four games, shutting out Portland State in both games in Portland, 4-0 and 5-0. The Vikings managed two runs during each game in Eugene, but Oregon made sure to stay ahead of Portland State, 7-2 and 3-2.
Portland State head coach Teri Mariani makes sure the Vikings are ready every year for their games against Oregon State and Oregon, giving her players the chance to beat top 25 teams each year.
“Their pitchers shut us down when we were in Portland,” Arendsen said. “We have the chance to get momentum back offensively. I’d like to see more consistency offensively (against Portland State).”
When the teams faced off in Portland, Oregon took the doubleheader, 5-2 and 1-0. Nyhus pitched a one-hitter in the second game, facing the minimum number of batters with the help of a double play.
“For us it’s going to be a chance for us to get some extra games in, for people to get some innings that they haven’t been getting, but mostly it’s just a start to the end of our season,” Nyhus said.
The Ducks are coming off a 1-2 weekend to close their eight-game homestand. So far Oregon is 3-3, including wins against No. 1 Arizona and No. 7 Washington.
Friday, Oregon lost to No. 3 UCLA, 2-0, on a pair of home runs in the fourth inning.
The Ducks had an offensive outpour Saturday with a 10-2, five-inning victory against then-No. 7 Washington. Shortstop Breanne Sabol hit a three-run home run in the midst of a seven-run second inning.
Oregon lost Sunday’s game 1-0 in eight innings off a home run by Husky Sarah Hyatt. The Ducks won the series with Washington, 2-1, taking back-to-back series’ against the Huskies for the first time in program history.
“We had a pretty lethargic weekend,” Nyhus said. “We need to come out and use the Portland State games as extra innings for us to come out and be competitive and play the way we know we can.”
Nyhus became the fifth Duck since 1976 to win 20 games in a season with Saturday’s victory.