An important weekend in Pac-12 softball kicks off when the No. 17 Oregon team opens a three-game series against No. 14 Stanford in Palo Alto Thursday at 7 p.m. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205408275@@
The Ducks (23-7, 2-3 Pac-12) currently sit in sixth place in the league standings, two places above the Cardinal after two weeks of conference play. Oregon is coming off a series split with Arizona State at home last weekend after the third and final game was rained out. Oregon also lost its Pac-12 series opener, 2-1, to Oregon State in Corvallis in late March. @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Softball/Standings.aspx@@
The Cardinal (27-8, 1-5), which joined the Ducks in reaching the NCAA Super Regional round last spring, has experienced its fair share of struggles early this Pac-12 season. Stanford lost two of three games to Arizona in Tucson last weekend and was swept by league-leading California at home two weeks ago. However, before the start of conference play Stanford had won 19 straight games. @@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-softbl/sched/stan-w-softbl-sched.html@@
Today, two of the top pitchers in the conference will face off in a battle between Oregon’s Jessica Moore and Stanford’s Teagan Gerhart. Moore is coming off a record-setting weekend, having broken the Ducks’ career strikeout record with 586 fanned batters in less than three complete seasons. She also moved into fourth and fifth all-time for Oregon in career wins (56) and shutouts (15), respectively. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205406830@@
Moore (15-5) carries a 1.63 earned run average with 124 strikeouts in 137 1/3 innings pitched this season. Meanwhile, Gerhart (22-4) leads the Pac-12 in wins in 2012, and holds a 1.98 ERA with 145 strikeouts in a league-high 155 1/3 innings pitched.
Another interesting matchup to follow will be between the game two starting pitchers — Oregon freshman Karissa Hovinga (7-2) and Stanford freshman Nyree White (5-4). White is the oldest child of Oregon head coach Mike White, and was the starting pitcher for two-time state champion Marist High School in Eugene. @@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/white_nyree00.html@@
In her 22 appearances this spring, White has recorded 53 strikeouts against 12 walks and holds a 3.38 ERA in 68 1/3 innings pitched. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/softball/stats/2012/HTML/stan.htm@@
Offensively, Stanford freshman Hanna Winter is off to a stellar start to her collegiate career. Winter’s .461 batting average is the second-highest mark in the Pac-12 among players with more than 60 at-bats, and she is also leading the conference in hits with 59. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/softball/stats/2012/HTML/lgsumm.htm@@
Oregon sophomore Courtney Ceo leads the Ducks in batting average (.381), runs scored (29) and hits (37). @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/softball/stats/2012/HTML/ore.htm@@