For the first time in 23 years, Oregon will be represented at the Women’s College World Series when the 11th-seeded Ducks take on defending national champion and No. 3 seed Arizona State during the first round of the final eight in Oklahoma City. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205434487@@
It will be the third meeting between the two Pac-12 programs this year, which split the previous two contests held in Eugene two months ago. Thursday’s game will be the fourth and final matchup of the day with a tentative 6:30 p.m. start time on ESPN2.
Oregon (44-16) claimed its second-ever Women’s College World Series berth by taking two of three games from sixth-seeded Texas in Austin last weekend, while the Sun Devils (51-9) won two of three against No. 7 Louisiana in Tempe to secure their 10thoverall Women’s College World Series trip. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4374@@
“I know it has been 23 years since the Ducks have been to the College World Series,” Oregon head coach Mike White said Wednesday in an NCAA press conference. “Cheers to every single player on our team that has dreamt about being in this situation. We are super excited to be here. It’s definitely what we call ‘the show.’ It’s first class. It’s put on by ASA, NCAA. We can’t thank them enough. And again, I reiterate about ESPN. That’s what drives this sport and is getting the sport bigger and bigger, year by year.”
South Florida and No. 4 Oklahoma will play in the tournament opener at 10 a.m., followed by LSU and No. 1 California at 12:30 p.m., and No. 7 Tennessee and No. 2 Alabama at 4 p.m. The winner of the Oregon/Arizona State contest will face the winner of the Tennessee/Alabama matchup at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Arizona State and Oregon finished second and third in the Pac-12 regular season standings, respectively, trailing only top-ranked California. The Ducks were one of just three conference opponents to beat Arizona State during the regular season, along with Oregon State and the Golden Bears. @@http://www.pac-12.org/SPORTS/Softball/Standings.aspx@@ @@http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/w-softbl/sched/asu-w-softbl-sched.html@@
The Sun Devils feature one of the most explosive offensive players in the country this year with senior shortstop Katelyn Boyd. The Phoenix, Ariz., native finished in the top three in the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year voting, ultimately falling to Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts for the top honor. @@http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/boyd_katelyn00.html@@ @@http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=6866&p=303@@
The first-team all-Pac-12 honoree scored the second-most runs in the NCAA during the regular season with 72 and was fifth with a .571 on-base percentage. She currently leads Arizona State in batting (.448), runs (76), hits (77), doubles (17), home runs (19), runs batted in (61), walks (49) and stolen bases (22). @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/softball/stats/2012/HTML/asu.htm@@ @@http://www.ncaa.com/stats/softball/d1/current/individual/353@@ @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/softball/stats/2012/HTML/asu.htm@@
Boyd was an incoming freshman when Arizona State won the Women’s College World Series in 2008, and played a key role in leading the Sun Devils to the national championship last June. In their final win over Florida, Boyd went 2 for 4 with three RBI to lead Arizona State at the plate. @@http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/060711aap.html@@
Since her first appearance in Oklahoma City as a freshman in 2009, Boyd says she’s made noticeable improvements at the plate.
“I think I’ve grown immensely,” Boyd said. “I’ve gone through multiple batting stances and have learned the mental side of it. Just trying different physical things, but I’ve learned that it’s the mental side of hitting that you need to conquer. Not that I’ve conquered it, but I have grown leaps and bounds with it.”
In the Ducks’ 3-0 victory back on March 31, Oregon starter Jessica Moore held Boyd to a 1-for-4 showing with a strikeout, while six of Oregon’s nine batters recorded at least one hit in the victory. Moore finished with seven strikeouts against two walks and scattered four hits over seven innings. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205406830@@
Moore is 7-1 in her last eight starts, with the lone loss coming in the Super Regional opener against Texas last Friday.