The Oregon softball team travels to San Jose, Calif., this weekend for its last preseason tournament.
The No. 23 Ducks (12-5 overall) will face Georgia Tech and San Jose State today in the National Invitational Softball Tournament, while three games Saturday and Sunday will be determined by today’s results.
Fellow Pacific-10 Conference teams Arizona State, Oregon State and California will also compete in the tournament.
Oregon received an unexpected vacation when the Feb. 28 Red Desert Classic was canceled due to inclement weather. The Ducks were scheduled to play five games and are trying to schedule some of those teams to play in Eugene at a later date.
The last time the Ducks saw action was on Feb. 23 when Oregon won its fourth tournament title in five preseason tournaments. The Ducks finished the Houston Invitational with a 3-1 record, after rains canceled the first two games of the six Oregon was supposed to play.
While each player on Oregon’s roster has played in at least one game, freshman shortstop Breanne Sabol is the only Duck to have started all 17 games. Sabol is also the only Oregon player to have started the same position in each start. Every player, with the exceptions of freshman pitcher Amy Harris and junior pitcher Anissa Meashintubby, has at least one hit on the season.
Oregon has stolen 18 bases in 21 attempts this season, after stealing only 20 bases during the entire 2002 season. Senior outfielder Alyssa Laux leads the squad with five, while senior outfielder Amber Hutchison is a perfect four for four.
The Ducks are ranked in the NFCA top 25 for the second consecutive week at No. 23. Before the Ducks earned their first ranking of the season on Jan. 29, they had not been ranked in the top 25 since March 8, 2001. On Feb. 25, the Amateur Softball Association released the first-ever ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. Oregon premiered at No. 22, but fell to No. 23 in this week’s poll.
All eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in both polls, with No. 1 UCLA leading and Oregon bringing up the rear.
After the National Invitational, the Ducks return home for a doubleheader against Portland State on Thursday afternoon at Howe Field.