The Oregon softball program is excited to pit itself against several of the nation’s elite this weekend at the Palm Springs Tournament in Palm Springs, Calif.
“This is the biggest preseason tournament in the country, definitely the most prestigious to be in,” Oregon coach Kathy Arendsen said. “This will be an excellent test. Probably our best competition that we’ll see before we hit the Pac-10.”
Oregon (6-4), which fell out of the rankings after losing three of five last weekend at the UNLV Desert Classic, opens the tournament tonight at 8 p.m. against No. 10 Oklahoma (9-1-1), a team Arendsen said the Ducks have a debt to settle with. Not only does the game allow the Ducks to test themselves against a top-10 team, but it also sets up for a change for redemption as Oklahoma knocked Oregon out of the NCAA Regional Tournament last season.
“It’s pretty important I guess, more of a pride stance,” said Oregon infielder Beth Boskovich, who leads the team in runs batted in with nine. “What happened last year, we can’t change that, but it’d be nice to get a win off them just so some of the older girls know we have one on them too.”
Oklahoma, also ranked 10th at the time, defeated Oregon 2-1 in the final game of that tournament last May. The Sooners, who were swept by Arizona in the NCAA Super Regionals, lost four seniors who combined for 11 All-Big 12, seven All-Midwest Region and four All-America honors, according to Oklahoma’s web site. Nonetheless, Arendsen thinks it will take a near-flawless game for the Ducks to earn a victory.
“I think the key is we need to play mistake-free defense and control our pitching,” Arendsen said. “I expect Harris will come out and throw really, really well, and she has so far this year. If we don’t make errors or mistakes behind her we have a great shot of winning that game.”
Oregon faces No. 8 Texas A&M (7-2) at 1 p.m. Friday and No. 18 Baylor (6-3) at 3 p.m.
“I think its good for us,” Arendsen said. “It’s a chance for us to kind of test ourselves. We are going to have to throw a freshman against some really, really good ball clubs. I value the experience because the Pac-10 is … every weekend is a top 15, top 10, top-5 team, whatever. It gets us ready.”
While the first half of the tournament pits Oregon versus top-20 teams, the second half doesn’t produce any guaranteed wins either. Oregon plays Ohio State (5-4) and Oklahoma State (2-4) on Saturday before closing the tournament Sunday against UC Santa Barbara (5-2).
“I think this is going to be a good tournament for us to come out and play hard every game, to play flawless for seven innings,” said Oregon shortstop Breanne Sabol, who leads the Ducks with three home runs. “We need to start playing defense and back our pitchers up and go out there and hit and be aggressive.”
So far this season the Ducks have committed 19 errors, including five against Utah State last Friday.
“I think it is more under the lines of uncharacteristic errors,” Boskovich said. “I think a lot of it is just maybe some focus a bit. Everything is there, it’s just one thing goes wrong. It should be fixed this weekend.”
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