The legacy of Oregon’s five seniors is yet to be determined.
How they will be viewed, coach Kathy Arendsen says, partly depends on how they perform this weekend and if they earn the necessary wins to make a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
“Hard to say yet because I think this weekend is so critical in it,” Arendsen said about the seniors’ imprint. “Every opportunity is there for us. We’re a bubble team. We win games, we go to the tournament. We lose games, we don’t.”
Oregon starts its last home stand today in a 4 p.m. meeting with UCLA at Howe Field. Washington comes for the final three games with a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday. An earlier game with the Huskies in Seattle was postponed due to rain and snow, leading the two teams to make it up in Eugene.
The Ducks are 32-24 overall and 4-13 in the Pacific-10 Conference. Oregon is assured of finishing better than .500. The question is how many wins it will take to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Arendsen thinks one win will put them on the bubble. She says two wins could do it and definitely with three or four. Oregon fell to California last Saturday 6-1, only to answer back Sunday with a 4-1 win.
“If we play like we did Sunday, we’ll beat any of those teams,” Arendsen said. “If we play like we did Saturday, we won’t beat any of those teams. We know we’re an inconsistent team, but we know this is the weekend to get it together and play more solid ball games.”
Shortstop Lovena Chaput said a lot of the emotions have already hit, whether it’s disbelief that this is the end of her college career or giving it her all while she still can.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Chaput said. “I can’t believe it’s coming to an end.”
Along with Chaput, the other four seniors include Alicia Cook, Joanna Gail, Kayleen Hudson and Amie Morris.
“We’re not really sure what can happen Sunday, but we’re going in this weekend with four games, and we’re at home and we have built some momentum from Saturday’s game,” left fielder Sari-Jane Jenkins said. “Things are looking good for us right now.”
Loving the shades
Cook wore sunglasses in her Sunday start to cover up her left eye, which was injured last Thursday when a hard hit ball from Neena Bryant went over the fence and collided with Cook’s face.
The Elmira native pitched a two-hitter Sunda, and Arendsen says she’s set to go again this weekend.
Count Arendsen as a fan of the intimidating appearance Cook sported with the sunglasses.
“It’s kind of a tough look for her,” she said.
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