After a weekend away at the Mary Nutter Classic, Oregon softball is on the road again for its fourth of five preseason tournaments beginning Friday.
This weekend, the Ducks are heading to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Alexis Park Resort Classic where they will take on Drake, Saint Mary’s, Florida Atlantic, Southern Utah and New Mexico State.
The Ducks are 12-4 this season, but in the Mary Nutter Classic, Oregon finished 4-1, with its only loss of the weekend to Nebraska. The Ducks fell one run short to the Cornhuskers in their first game of the tournament last Friday. But Oregon bounced back in the following days with wins over the No. 20 and No. 17 ranked teams.
This weekend, the Ducks are looking to make a clean sweep at the Alexis Park Classic, taking on unranked teams and possibly trying out their newest pitcher.
Last weekend, freshman pitcher Megan Kleist helped Oregon take home a 7-0 win over Oklahoma State with a complete game two hitter. She also recorded five strikeouts for the Ducks while the right-hander stepped in for Oregon’s usual pitcher Cheridan Hawkins.
Oregon has shown stellar defense through its first three tournaments of the season, including just one game before when Hawkins threw 12 strikeouts against Missouri to earn Oregon the 8-7 victory.
The Ducks will need that defensive power for their first game of the weekend against Drake. Last week, the Bulldogs took home a 9-2 win, scoring six runs in the sixth inning alone to take down Arkansas.
But Oregon’s biggest competition of the weekend will be against Florida Atlantic. The Owls are 13-1 this season, with their only loss last weekend against Maryland.
Last weekend, Florida Atlantic shut out Michigan State not once but twice with a 3-0 followed by a 6-0 victory the following day.
Play for the Ducks at the Alexis Park Classic begins Friday at 6 p.m., followed by the game against Saint Mary’s at 8:15 p.m.
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01