The No. 20 Oregon softball team hopes to leave little doubt after this weekend.
Looking to further its case for the postseason, the Ducks (40-16, 5-13 Pacific-10 Conference) head to the Bay Area to conclude the regular season, beginning today at No. 16 Stanford (32-16-1, 7-10-1), and continuing on Friday and Saturday against California (32-28, 6-12 Pac-10).
Oregon is currently last in the Pac-10, a game back of California, but the Ducks reached the 40-win plateau with a 6-5 upset of No. 9 Arizona State last Sunday, their seventh victory over a ranked team.
“I think it solidifies our place in the postseason,” Oregon coach Kathy Arendsen said of the victory. “We have 40 wins, yeah, I believe (we are in). I’m not going to be the one selecting, but I also don’t think we’re going to stop at 40 (wins). I believe we’re going to stop at like 43 after the regular season.”
To do that, the Ducks will have to win all three games on their annual Bay Area trip, something they haven’t done since 2000.
Oregon defeated California 4-3 at home in seven innings to open the Pac-10 schedule this season and split with the Cardinal, winning 8-0 and then losing 15-4.
Stanford has won two straight games entering today while California, prior to their game against Oregon State today, had won six of eight.
Even if the Ducks don’t accomplish a sweep this weekend but still manage to slip past California to seventh in the final standings, the odds of being selected to the postseason are in Oregon’s favor.
Seven of eight teams from the Pac-10 were selected last season, including Washington, which finished the regular season 32-23 overall and 6-15 in the conference – though the Huskies’ non-conference schedule featured more ranked opponents than Oregon’s this season.
The Ducks, at 24-29 overall and 4-17 in the Pac-10 last season, finished last in the conference and missed the postseason for the first time in three seasons. Three Pac-10 teams with fewer wins than Oregon already has this season, reached last year’s tournament.
“Coach (Arendsen) said she really wasn’t doubting it too much,” senior Ann Marie Topps said of the Ducks’ postseason hopes. “Hopefully (40 wins) will be enough to get in.”
Notes
Redshirt freshman shortstop Jenn Salling was named one of 11 finalists for the Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award by the Amateur Softball Association on Wednesday.
Salling is second in the nation with a .496 batting average. She joins four other players from the Pac-10.
The Ducks will gather for the Selection Show on Sunday at 12 p.m. in the Casanova Center’s Pittman Room. Fans are welcome to attend and watch the live broadcast on ESPNews. Regional games are held from Friday May 18 through Sunday May 20 at 16 different sites around the country.
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