The last time the No. 17 Oregon softball team faced No. 4 Arizona State and No. 2 Arizona, the Ducks came away feeling like they’d accomplished something, despite losing two of three in Arizona.
“We don’t feel that they are any better than us,” junior catcher Kelly Planche said. “We know we can play with anyone.”
Oregon faces the teams for a second time this weekend, beginning the three-game set against Arizona State today at 2 p.m. at Howe Field.
In the opening weekend of Pac-10 Conference play in early April, the Ducks (32-18 overall, 4-6 Pacific-10) traveled to the valley of the sun for the first go-around with the conference foes. Oregon may have lost both games and fell to 1-2 in the conference, but Planche said she felt the team started the conference slate on a promising note with the slim 3-2 loss to the Wildcats (45-7, 8-3).
“I think the biggest game of the weekend was the extra-inning loss to Arizona,” Planche said. “It was our first game in the Pac-10, and we didn’t look intimidated at all. That’s important against teams that are ranked so high.”
Oregon came back the next day and delivered a 10-0 drubbing of the Sun Devils (38-11, 6-6) before dropping the next game 7-3. But the team is still happy with their performance and is confident for the coming weekend.
“Those outcomes showed that we needed a lot more confidence in conference games,” junior Triawn Custer said. “Looking back at those games and knowing that we’ve improved since then gives us more confidence now.”
Custer and Planche agree that their bolstered confidence coupled with home-field advantage will work in the Ducks’ favor this time around.
“We definitely have a chance to beat them, especially with how well we played them at their home field,” Custer said.
Confidence is the underlying theme for Oregon this homestand, both at the plate and in the circle. Connie McMurren (13-13) and Andrea Vidlund (16-4) are coming off good outings against Portland State. Vidlund is currently boasting a team-leading earned run average of 1.90, while McMurren leads the squad in strikeouts with 117.
“Andrea has started to work hard and keep her mind open to the mental aspect of pitching,” pitching coach Tom Royder said. “Connie has been very stable for us this year. She is very smart. She is able to work the count and use the break on the ball to her advantage.”
Royder would like to see McMurren repeat her performance from the previous encounter with the Wildcats when she threw eight strong innings, giving up only three runs.
Royder added that the Ducks won’t change their strategy all that much the second time around.
“Same game plan — try to throw as much variety at them as possible,” Royder said. “The key to pitching is to keep the batter off balance. As the old saying goes, ‘the best hitters are only successful three or four times out of ten.’ So we keep that in mind and not let the hitters get settled at the plate.”
Both Arizona and Arizona State’s rosters feature some of the best hitters in the nation, let alone the conference. The Sun Devils are led by a pair of sophomores, Nicole Thompson and Erica Beach, who are both hitting well over .300. Thompson is hitting at .367 clip, and Beach is right behind her with an average of .357.
The Wildcats are no slouches at the plate either, featuring a Pac-10-leading team average of .344. The Arizona charge is led by Nicole Giordiano who is fifth in the nation at .452.
“We’ll try to go after whatever minimal weakness each batter has,” Royder said. “These are the best hitters in the country so there’s not a lot of weak spots.”