The rest of the nation is beginning to take notice of the Oregon softball team.
After starting the season 20-2, including a championship in the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament after two victories against No. 23 Georgia and a victory over No. 24 Hawaii, the Ducks recently jumped up to No. 17 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll and to No. 15, ahead of Pacific-10 Conference foes UCLA (No. 16) and Oregon State (No. 17), in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
Oregon currently sits second in the loaded Pac-10 behind Arizona State (21-2). All eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 23 of both major polls.
Today, Oregon travels to Las Vegas for the Eller Media Stadium Classic and its final tournament before playing its first home game next Friday.
The Ducks take on UNLV in a doubleheader today, beginning at 5 p.m., before taking on New Mexico and Miami (of Ohio) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., respectively. The Ducks close out the weekend against Longwood on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
UNLV enters the contest winners of three straight with a record 15-9. The Rebels are 0-3 against Pac-10 opponents this season, having lost to Oregon State (6-5), UCLA (8-0), and Cal (5-4).
Oregon enters the classic having won two straight following an extra-inning 2-1 setback against St. Mary’s – a loss that ended the Ducks’ school-record 18-game winning streak, which came following a season-opening 2-1 loss to Florida in the Kajikawa Tournament.
In that stretch following the loss to Florida, the Ducks picked up 10 shutout victories behind a strong defensive squad, featuring just 14 errors on the season and the pitching arms of junior ace Alicia Cook and sophomore Melissa Rice.
Both Cook and Rice boast 10-1 records with Rice’s ERA slightly better at 0.63 to 0.81 for Cook, respectively.
And Oregon’s new offensive approach, molded in the offseason to try and overcome Oregon’s hitting woes of last season, has led to five runs or more in 14 victories this season as well as double-digit run totals in four of those.
Redshirt freshman Jennifer Salling leads the team with a .475 average, 29 hits and 25 RBIs, but the offense has come via many different sources. Ann Marie Topps boasts a team-high eight home runs and, seven batters hold an average above .300. As a team, the Ducks are hitting .304.
In last week’s Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament, Oregon junior third baseman Joanna Gail was awarded tournament MVP after she hit .462 during the six games including a home run, 12 total bases, a .923 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage.
Rice, Salling and Topps also joined the all-tournament team.
Following the four-game stretch in Las Vegas this week, the Ducks host the Cascade Clash in their first home action of the season next Friday, March 16 at Howe Field. Oregon takes on Utah State on Friday in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The Ducks then have doubleheaders the following two days also beginning at 1 p.m. The Ducks face Towson University (MD) on Saturday and South Dakota State on Sunday.
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