Oregon softball wasn’t worried about pitcher senior Cheridan Hawkins when the 2016 season began.
11 games into the season,though, it seems Oregon’s biggest issue might be what’s going on with her?
Widely considered the top pitcher in college softball entering this year, Hawkins has had a case of Jekyll and Hyde complex. During some appearances, she is the dominant first team all-American pitcher many expected her to be. In other appearances, she has very little control and is giving up extremely meaningful home runs in bad positions.
Hawkins has a team-high of 29.2 innings pitched and 42 strikeouts. But, she also leads the Ducks with 16 earned runs given up, 14 walks and a 3.78 ERA. While she has posted a 3-2 record, out of the 18 hits she’s surrendered, 11 of them have gone for extra base hits — five doubles and six homeruns.
Even with their ace struggling, the Ducks are ranked No. 7 in the country and boast an 8-3 record, with two of those losses coming against No. 6 Louisiana-Lafayette.
Oregon put an exclamation point on last weekend’s Louisiana Classic when it defeated Central Arkansas 19-3 in five innings. The Ducks hit four home runs in the game, en route to their highest scoring game of the season.
Before the offensive explosion, the Ducks lost two of three to Louisiana-Lafayette. Both losses came by one run. In the lone victory, Hawkins was the primary reason for the win. She threw a complete game with nine strikeouts, giving up three runs on five hits. The three runs given up came in the seventh inning with the game firmly in control.
Freshman Megan Kleist has emerged as Oregon’s no. 2 pitcher. She has posted a 4-1 record on the season with a 1.70 ERA. She picked up her first loss of the season in the opener against the Ragin’ Cajuns but she responded with a 4.1 innings, three hits, no run performance in a no decision the next day.
The Ducks  return to the west coast this week to play in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Classic will arguably be Oregon’s most difficult non conference tournament — two of Oregon’s opponents, Missouri and Fresno State, rank No. 17 and N0. 20 in the nation. The Ducks will also play Nebraska, a team receiving votes in the national poll.
Koral Costa has continued the hot start to her senior season. She’s hitting a team-leading .515 on the season thus far. She’s also hit three home runs and has a team-high 13 RBI’s.
Nikki Udria and Alyssa Gillespie are becoming a formidable duo at the top of the lineup. Gillespie, who is hitting .436 in the leadoff position, is consistently keeping defenses off balance with her power (one homerun, five doubles) and ability to drop down a bunt and beat it out. Udria, who bats second, leads the Ducks with four home runs and a .966 slugging percentage.
Oregon will open up this week’s tournament with games against Nebraska and Cal State Northridge on Friday, before facing Fresno State and Missouri on Saturday. The Ducks will then wrap up the Classic with a single game against Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka