Forecasts show signs of rain.
A windy, damp trip to California may be just what the softball team needs to turn its season back to the winning trend the Ducks had in the preseason.
The Ducks take on Pacific-10 Conference rivals Stanford and California in three games this weekend — facing the Cardinal today, and then playing California on Saturday and Sunday.
After their 17th win against Oregon State in the team’s conference opener, No. 21 Oregon (17-9 overall, 1-3 Pac-10) has lost three straight games for the first time this season. During the preseason, the Ducks won three tournament titles in five national tournaments — beating ranked opponents along the way.
Oregon has played three games in the last three weeks — during the team’s road trip to Arizona. The Ducks lost 2-0 to No. 12 Arizona State before losing 4-1 and 8-0 to No. 2 Arizona, collecting only eight hits on the weekend.
“Playing on the road in the Pac-10 is so difficult,” head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “We’ll have to play better defense and we’ve got to hit the ball. If we’re only going to get eight hits in three games, we’re not going to be very successful. If we can only score one run in the games, I can guarantee we won’t be successful.”
The Ducks have missed 11 games this season because of weather, including a snowed-out road trip to Colorado and an entire tournament canceled in Utah. They have played the least amount of games in the Pac-10 this season.
Oregon and California faced off earlier this season, with the Golden Bears pulling out the 6-0 win in a preseason tournament championship game.
Oregon ended the 2002 season with a 4-0 win at Stanford, but has not won at California since 2000, when the Ducks swept both schools on the road.
Two Ducks have already won conference awards this season — freshman pitcher Amy Harris and sophomore second baseman Erin Goodell.
Harris won the season’s first Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week award on Feb. 10. The Eugene native picked up wins against two ranked teams the previous week, and currently leads the team in strikeouts — 83 — and ERA — 0.90.
Goodell was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week on Mar. 17 after her performance in the Ducks’ 10-2 win against Oregon State two days earlier. The Roseburg native hit two home runs — her entire home run total during the 2002 season — scored three runs and has picked up three runs batted in.
Senior Andrea Vidlund has nine RBI this season, moving her career total to 88 and putting her at ninth on Oregon’s all-time RBI list.
The Ducks are currently seventh in the conference of eight. Oregon State is 0-4 in Pac-10 play to round out the
bottom, while Stanford and Cal are both 1-2 in the conference.
Oregon has already surpassed its stolen base total from the entire 2002 season. With 25 steals — and only three in Pac-10 play — the team easily made it past the total of 20.
All eight Pac-10 teams are still ranked in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. Oregon dropped one spot to No. 20, while Cal stayed steady at No. 6 and Stanford moved from No. 9 to No. 11.
In the NFCA/USA Today poll, Oregon State dropped out of the rankings to mark the first time since the Ducks entered the poll on Jan. 29 that all eight conference teams are not ranked.
The Ducks return to Oregon on Sunday to prepare for five home games next week. Portland State comes to town for a doubleheader — and Oregon’s home opener — on Wednesday afternoon, while Washington and UCLA visit over the weekend.