It is one of the stranger road trips in the Pacific-10 Conference.
In Pac-10 softball, there is no Southern California and no Washington State, which means that No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 Washington are travel partners.
So when it comes time, as it will this weekend, for No. 14 Oregon to face the schools on the road, the Ducks have a long weekend of traveling in store for them.
Oregon (30-10 overall, 4-2 Pac-10) faces
the Huskies (28-7, 4-0) at 1 p.m. today before flying to Los Angeles. The Ducks face the Bruins (27-5, 0-4) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and then at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“It’s the most bizarre road trip that I’ve ever gone on,” Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “To know that you’re going from Eugene to Seattle, and then flying after the game the same night to LA, to play the next afternoon against the defending national champions is incredible. But everyone does it, so we’re all at the same disadvantage.”
One of the more enjoyable parts of this wacky roadtrip is how many of the players will return to their home state in the same weekend.
Six Californians — Beth Boskovich, Julie Jaime, Lindsey Kontra, Jenn Poore, Breanne Sabol and Ann Marie Topps — and four Washingtonians — Dani Baird, Suzie Barnes, Kristi Leiter and Ashley Richards — will be a bit closer to home for at least one day this weekend.
Baird, a Mt. Vernon, Wash. native, will have her parents at the game, although they aren’t strangers to Oregon softball. Baird said that her parents travel to most of her games in Oregon and even to some in California.
“It’s always a nice feeling to look up in the stands and see familiar faces,” Baird said. “Last year, my whole high school team came down and supported me, so I have a lot of hometown support.”
Last year, Oregon swept the Huskies in two games in Seattle. This year, the Huskies are 4-0 in the Pac-10 for the first time in Washington history, coming off a two-game sweep of UCLA.
“(This weekend) is scary because
Washington is playing incredibly well,” Arendsen said. “We beat them twice in Seattle last year, I’m sure they haven’t forgotten that.”
The trip to Easton Stadium, the Bruins’ home, won’t be any easier. While the 0-4 start makes UCLA look like the weak link in the Pac-10, the defending national champions are still one of the more feared teams in the NCAA.
“UCLA, 0-4 in the conference? You’ve got to be kidding,” Arendsen said. “They’re the defending national champions. We just hope they can struggle another weekend and take out their frustrations on somebody else next week.”
The Bruins face Oregon’s travel partner Oregon State on Friday.
Regardless of other matchups, the Ducks are confident heading into the weekend. Their first goal is to shake off Saturday’s 7-4 loss to Oregon State.
“We’re a little upset about Saturday’s loss, but we feel really confident with what we know about Washington and UCLA,” second baseman Erin Goodell said. “We know we can win all three games. Our competition is going to get tougher and tougher. We know we have the ability to play with anybody, so that’s going to be a key factor is having the confidence.”
It is a formula that has started to take hold in the Oregon dugout.
“We’re going to go out there and try to be the best Oregon team that we can be,” Arendsen said. “That’s all we can do.”