After hosting No. 11 Stanford, No. 17 Oregon State, No. 12 Washington and No. 14 UCLA in the last three weeks, the No. 15 Oregon softball team steps out of conference play momentarily today to host in-state foe Portland State (18-26, 3-4 PCSC) at Howe Field.
The Ducks finished that difficult stretch 2-5 and are currently riding a season-long three-game losing streak after falling to Washington 7-2 last Friday and twice to UCLA, 13-3 and 5-1, on Saturday and Sunday.
Still, there’s no sign from the Ducks that they are pleased to take a break from the pressures of a rigorous conference schedule, even with the struggling Vikings paying a visit.
“I don’t underestimate Portland State at all,” Oregon’s senior second baseman Suzie Barnes said. “They’ve obviously played us hard throughout the years, especially last year.”
Oregon split with Portland State last season, winning at home 6-5 and 2-0, then losing 4-0 and 3-2 on the road. But Portland State has lost six of its last seven and is 1-6 against the Pacific-10 Conference this season as well as 1-8 on the road.
A victory could provide a much-needed confidence boost for the Ducks, especially with a tough stretch ahead. After starting conference play 2-0 and boasting win streaks of 15 and 18 games earlier in the season, Oregon is now in its biggest slump of the season.
The Ducks recorded just three hits in their last two games and averaged two runs in their last three games, while giving up 8.3 runs per game and 11.6 hits per game combined against the Huskies and Bruins.
“I think it will be nice to play Portland State,” Oregon sophomore pitcher Melissa Rice said. “It will be nice to see someone else.”
The road gets much more difficult after the Ducks host the Vikings with Oregon hitting the road for eight straight games, beginning Friday at No. 9 Arizona State (39-10, 5-3 Pac-10). Oregon then heads south to face the Pac-10 leader and No. 3 Arizona (31-8, 7-1 Pac-10) – the defending national champions – on Saturday and Sunday.
But first, the Ducks are focused on Portland State and ending their recent struggles.
“Portland State plays us tough every time and they will come out because many of their players wanted to be Pac-10 players,” Oregon coach Kathy Arendsen said. “We don’t see it as a reprieve or an easy game, we simply see it as an opportunity to get ourselves going in the right direction again.”
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Oregon looks to end its slump against visiting Vikings
Daily Emerald
April 17, 2007
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