While there will be a new time zone, humid weather, a different playing surface and largely unfamiliar opponents, Oregon softball coach Kathy Arendsen hopes her team’s trip to the NCAA Regionals in Columbia, S.C. this weekend is business as usual.
“We hope to approach it pretty much like we would any Pac-10 weekend, trying to stay in the routine that we do,” Arendsen said. “There will be some slight differences, but I think the excitement of being a part of this will kind of fill it in.”
The Ducks (42-17, 7-14 Pac-10) take on Penn State (26-23, 5-9 Big Ten) today at 1 p.m. PST in the opening game of the Columbia Regional, which also includes host South Carolina and top-seeded North Carolina State, the 15th overall seed in the tournament.
Oregon is 3-0 all-time against Penn State, beating the Nittany Lions 10-8 in the opening game of the postseason in 2003. The Ducks defeated Penn State twice by a score of 2-0 in 2004.
But those results mean little to this year’s team.
“We’ve played about a million teams in the past four years,” senior and four-year starter Suzie Barnes said. “I don’t actually recall the game scenarios or anything.”
Barnes believes the fresh approach is a positive for Oregon.
“That’s kind of how we want to look at it coming into regionals, just a brand new team,” Barnes said. “We don’t want to underestimate them.”
The Ducks, who boarded a chartered flight on Wednesday afternoon, spent Thursday finalizing a scouting report and watching film of Penn State.
The Nittany Lions, who received their third-straight NCAA Tournament bid and seventh in the last eight years, are led offensively by sophomore centerfielder Danielle Kinley, an All Big-Ten performer. Kinley hit .384 this season with 18 doubles, a single-season school record, and a team-high 31 RBIs.
Penn State faced two Pacific-10 Conference teams early in the season, Oregon State and Washington, and lost to both. Both Oregon and Penn State also faced UNLV, which Oregon split a pair of games with and Penn State lost its only game to by a score of 9-8.
The Nittany Lions finished the season with three straight losses to Ohio State and has lost four of their last five games. But Penn State also lost 15 games this season by two runs or less.
“Every team worries you when you’re in the postseason because everybody’s 0-0. It’s a brand new start,” Arendsen said. “Yes, they had a disappointing end to their season, but they’ve got a new beginning. They’re solid all the way around.”
Oregon, playing in its first postseason since narrowly missing the Super Regionals in 2005, seemed to catch its stride late in the season, much in part to the return of junior pitcher Alicia Cook from an illness that sidelined her on two separate occasions this season.
The Ducks won three out of four games to finish the season and put together a season-long three-game conference winning streak that included victories over No. 9 Arizona State and No. 16 Stanford.
“If we play our best, I believe we’ll beat them,” Arendsen said of Penn State. “But if we let up or we make mistakes…it could be a real struggle for us.”
Aside from scouting Penn State, the Ducks spent time Thursday getting acclimated to the red clay playing surface of South Carolina’s Beckham Field and the weather – though temperatures in Columbia are only expected to reach the high 70s or low 80s.
Depending on the results of Oregon’s game against Penn State, the Ducks will play Saturday against the winner or loser between South Carolina and North Carolina State. The championship game of the double-elimination tournament is held on Sunday.
“These are games that we can win if we play well,” Arendsen said. “My belief is we bring a regional championship back to Oregon.”
If so, the Ducks will meet the champion of the Evanston, Ill. Regional, which includes second-seeded Northwestern, Wright State, Illinois State, and Notre Dame, in a Super Regional showdown the following weekend.
“We have yet to reach our peak, and I’m looking forward to doing that this weekend,” sophomore Sari-Jane Jenkins said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum.”
Notes
A school-record seven Oregon softball players earned All-Pac-10 honors, led by Newcomer of the Year Jenn Salling. The redshirt freshman Salling, also a finalist for the Collegiate Softball Player of the Award, is hitting .483, second best in the league, and was the lone Duck named to the first team. Barnes, senior Ann Marie Topps and Jenkins were second team while junior Joanna Gail, senior Kristi Leiter and freshman Neena Bryant earned honorable mention honors.
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