After being crowned Pac-12 champions for the third consecutive year, the Oregon softball team acknowledges that there’s still more to the journey.
Enter the NCAA softball tournament, in which 64 teams battle over the next three weeks to determine who will be crowned as 2015 NCAA champions.
The Ducks received the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed and look to be in prime position to challenge for the title. But first, they’ll have to navigate through the Eugene Regional.
“I think for the most part we are pretty healthy,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “I feel good about out chances — we’re obviously very deep because we have kids on the bench who are hitting the ball extremely well so it’s going to be tough to make a lineup that first day.”
Oregon opens up the four-team, double-elimination regional with a game against BYU at 5 p.m. on Thursday. North Dakota State and Fresno State play each other in the first game of the day at 2 p.m. at Howe Field in Eugene.
“We are fortunate with BYU that we were able to get quite a bit of video on them,” White said. “Finding reports on Fresno and North Dakota State are a little more difficult — that’s the challenge.”
Here’s a breakdown of each team:
No. 2 Oregon (46-6, 21-3 Pac-12): The combination of a dominating pitcher and a high-powered offense have been the recipe for success for the Ducks and they hope to it’s what leads them to the Super Regionals.
Senior Janie Takeda and freshman Jenna Lilley are the catalysts to the Oregon offense. Takeda (.421 batting average) and Lilley (team-high .448 batting average) bat first and third in the Oregon lineup and have combined for 132 hits, 106 runs, 72 RBI’s and 24 doubles. By season’s end, Oregon’s offense should break the season records in batting average, slugging percentage, run scored, runs per game, doubles, homeruns, walks and total bases. Koral Costa, Oregon’s No. 7 batter, leads the team with 14 homeruns on the season while Hailey Decker has 10. Every batter in Oregon’s lineup has the potential to hit the long ball with Danica Mercado and Takeda bringing up the rear with four homeruns.
All-American Cheridan Hawkins leads the pitching staff with a 1.39 ERA and a 27-3 record. In her 165.2 innings pitched, Hawkins has struck out 224 batters while giving up just 80 hits. Hawkins uses her rise ball to concisely strike out batters but it’s her location and mental toughness that makes her so tough.
No. 25 North Dakota State (43-9, 16-2 Summit League): The Bison emerged from the Summit league tournament with a championship after being crowned regular season champs also. North Dakota State is led by pitcher Krista Menke and her 32-4 record on the year. Menke finished the regular season with a 2.05 ERA while throwing 239 innings with 362 strikeouts. Offensively, Logan Moreland leads the Bison with a .436 batting average while Alyssa Reina and Cheyenne Garcia provide the pop with a combined 27 homeruns.
Fresno State (40-14, 20-4 Mountain West): The Bulldogs enter the tournament as one of the hotter teams, winners of 11 in a row. For what Fresno State lacks offensively, they make up for it in the pitcher’s circle. Jill Compton is the ace of the team and her 2.10 ERA proves her success. She’s 28-10 on the year and has recorded 235 strikeouts in 233 innings. Brenna Moss (.446 batting average) is the only Fresno State batter with a batting average over .380 while Kierra Willis leads the team with eight homeruns and nine triples.
Oregon defeated Compton and Fresno State 3-0 earlier in the season.
BYU (39-12, 13-2 West Coast Conference): The West Coast Conference tournament champions are led by a dominant pitcher in the circle. McKenna Bull is in the midst of a record-breaking season as her 34 wins is a BYU record. Overall, Bull is 34-7 with a 1.96 ERA in 239.1 innings thrown. Gordy Bravo (.463 batting average) and Lacey Hofstedt (.442 batting average) are the players that make the Cougars offense go while Coco Tauali’i has a team-high 11 homeruns but just a .252 batting average.