For the second time in the past month, an Oregon starter was injured during softball practice. This time outfielder Kayleen Hudson broke her left hand Tuesday, during the final practice of the regular season.
The ball was hit into shallow right field and when she dove for the catch, Hudson caught her glove in the grass, causing a break in a bone on top of her hand.
“I was diving for a short ball, and I just twisted it wrong,” Hudson said. “I just went down and kind of twisted, jammed it.”
The injury is added to a long list of woes the softball team has faced this season.
“It’s definitely another obstacle we have to overcome this season, added to all the rest of them,” outfielder Lovena Chaput said. “I think that we’ll miss her bat in the lineup and her maturity in the outfield.”
Senior Beth Boskovich, who suffered a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee less than one month ago during practice, has been in Hudson’s shoes and knows what an impact of that magnitude has on a team.
“It definitely puts a damper on us, just to know that she won’t be available to do anything – hit, run or field,” Boskovich said. “Our team has gone through so much this year. We’ve managed to overcome injuries, personal things and this just is one more thing we’ve got to work with, with Kayleen being out.”
Oregon (24-24 overall, 4-12 Pacific-10 Conference) closes out its regular season schedule with five road games against a pair of top-10 teams beginning with a doubleheader today at No. 3 Arizona (40-9, 11-6). Oregon must win three of the five games to be eligible for a fourth straight postseason appearance.
“There’s a sense of urgency big time, just because we know that we need to get at least three wins this weekend,” said Boskovich, who also stated that the Ducks’ final practice was uneasy.
Uneasy because the pressure has continued to build all season and the team has developed a “What next” attitude?
Not a chance, said third baseman Joanna Gail, who noted that the Ducks are going into this weekend with the underdog role and nothing to lose.
“We are going to go in with really nothing to lose here,” Gail said. “I mean nobody expects us to even pick up a one there.”
The Wildcats defeated the Ducks 4-1 on April 1, but Boskovich says that once the first game starts at 6 p.m., the past doesn’t matter, and an aggressive attitude will be the key.
“We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Boskovich said. “We know there is pressure, but there is nothing we can do about it except win.”
On Friday, Oregon has a doubleheader against No. 7 Arizona State (43-12, 7-9) beginning at 5:30 p.m. before closing out the regular season with one game against thSun Devils Saturday.
“Arizona, they are aggressive all the time on bases, pitching, hitting,” Boskovich said. “I think we are going to take a little bit of their game and throw it right back at them.
“ASU is the same. They are pretty gutsy. I think we are going to try to take from that and play their own game right back at them.”
Chaput agreed aggressiveness is important and the winner will be decided by the team that is more assertive on the mound, at the plate, on the bases and in the field.
“It’s definitely going and being the attacker instead of sitting back and kind waiting for something else to happen,” Chaput said. “If we want it we have to go get it.”