With just two weeks remaining on the schedule, the season cannot end soon enough for the Oregon softball team.
Scarred by injuries — both physical and emotional — the Ducks (25-33 overall, 1-14 Pacific-10 Conference) have dropped nine straight games heading into today’s non-conference matchup against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.
The brutal Pac-10 schedule, which has all of Oregon’s conference opponents ranked in the top-15 nationally, has taken its toll on head coach Rick Gamez’s team, and even the opportunity to pick up a much-needed win against a non-conference foe appears to mean little to the team at this point.
“Of course we’re frustrated,” sophomore pitcher/outfielder Lisa Wangler said. “[Non-conference games] don’t count for NCAA selection, and we’ve been so busy, that we were hoping to get it canceled.
“But I just look at it as a chance to have some fun and try not to be so stressed.”
Following today’s 2 p.m. contest with Loyola Marymount, the Ducks will stay in town to face No. 2 UCLA Friday. The team will then hop on a plane for two games in Seattle against Washington on Saturday and Sunday.
Gamez has led the Ducks to three straight NCAA tournaments, but the chances of making a last second run are only getting slimmer.
“I can’t find an explanation,” Wangler said. “We have the potential to compete against all of these teams, but for some reason we don’t.”

Stealin’ the show
Wangler is first in the Pac-10 in plate appearances and third in hits. In her first season with the Ducks, the transfer from Mesa, Ariz., is batting .373 in the leadoff spot. She is also fifth in the Pac-10 with 16 steals.

Defensive woes
As a team, the Ducks have had more fielding chances than any other team in the Pac-10. Fittingly, the Ducks also have the most errors. In 1,751 chances, Oregon has committed 85 errors this season.
The Ducks, however, are second in the league with 19 double plays turned.

Too tough
Except for Oregon, all seven Pac-10 teams are among the nation’s best. In this week’s National Fastpitch Coaches Association/USA Today poll, Arizona tops the chart at No. 1 while UCLA is No. 2, Stanford is No. 3 and California No. 5. To round out the list, Arizona State comes in at No. 11, Washington at No. 12 and Oregon State is 14th.
Oregon fell out of the polls on March 16.

Too tough, part deux
Behind Arizona’s success in recent years is senior pitcher Becky Lemke, who broke the Wildcats’ career strikeout record against the Ducks Sunday. Lemke has 168 strikeouts this season and 880 in her career.
She also became just the sixth pitcher in Pac-10 history — and the fourth Wildcat — to tally 100 wins. Lemke is an impressive 100-18 with a 1.12 ERA in her career.