The No. 21 Oregon women’s softball team makes its first trip of the season to California this weekend.
In the annual Campbell/Cartier Classic, the Ducks face five teams, including three schools hailing from California.
Opening the weekend, Oregon (5-4) plays Hawaii (5-6) at 10 a.m., then has the afternoon free until 5:30 p.m. when the Ducks play No. 14 Fresno State (4-1).
Oregon faces two more California schools Saturday — Sacramento State (2-5) and Long Beach State (7-3) — before closing the tournament against Ohio (0-0) on Sunday.
“This is going to be a real test for us as we try to find a way to be more consistent in our game,” head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “Our pitching is getting better, our hitting is getting more consistent. We need to produce more runs; we’re getting people on base.”
After a day playing inside and out of the rain, the Ducks practiced on a mixed dirt and mud version of Howe Field on Wednesday before they left for the San Diego State-hosted tournament. Last season, the tournament fields were pretty muddy and well-used, according to Arendsen. The tournament’s 11 teams play on city-owned fields for the weekend.
In last weekend’s Fiesta Bowl Tournament, senior catcher Jenn Poore led the offense with an 8 for 16 weekend. Transfer pitcher Ani Nyhus went 2-1 during the tournament to improve her record to 4-2.
“We kind of were up and down,” Poore said. “When our pitching was on, our hitting wasn’t. When we got people on, we didn’t get them around. Overall, it went pretty well — we beat some teams we needed to beat.”
The Ducks won their tournament opener Friday against then-No. 14 Cal State Fullerton, 10-1, but then lost two consecutive games — an 8-3 loss to then-No. 15 Texas A&M and a 3-1 loss to Ohio State. Oregon came back Saturday afternoon and beat Cal State Northridge, 6-1, and carried the momentum into Sunday with a 4-1 victory against then-No. 11 Texas.
The Fiesta Bowl Tournament was Oregon’s first opportunity to have the entire pitching staff available. Sophomore Amy Harris made her first appearances of the season, picking up an 0-1 record and four strikeouts in three appearances.
“It’s good to get back out there because it’s been so long,” Harris said. “I was ready for it.”
The Ducks face just one ranked team this weekend after playing three top-25 teams in Arizona. Regardless of rankings, the Ducks know they need to find their game for an entire day — not just one game. Part of their inconsistency stems from many players switching positions in the offseason. The other main factor in Oregon’s struggling focus is having such a young team. Although the Ducks have 11 returning players, they have six newcomers, including Nyhus and outfielder Suzie Barnes.
“I think at first, everybody was trying a little too hard,” Poore said. “They weren’t being themselves. Now, they’ve found what their roles are going to be on the team and they’re doing a real good job.”
It’s the first of three trips to California for the Ducks, who also travel to UCLA and make a trip to California and Stanford.
The Campbell/Cartier Classic is held every year in memory of former San Diego State softball players Susanne Campbell and Karin Cartier. Campbell and Cartier lost their lives in a car accident during the 1991 softball season.