No. 19 Oregon is making a mark on the Pacific-10 Conference.
After two consecutive seasons in last place in the Pac-10, the Ducks have tied their conference win record from the 2000 season — Oregon’s last season in the NCAA Regional Tournament.
When the Ducks swept Arizona State at Howe Field on Saturday and Sunday, they were the first consecutive conference wins at home for Oregon since 1998. The last time the Ducks won back-to-back games against Arizona State was 1999.
Oregon is doing the little things to help it win this season. After only 20 stolen bases in the 2002 season, the Ducks have 43 steals with six games left in the regular season.
Seniors Amber Hutchison and Alyssa Laux lead the team in steals with 11 stolen bases each. Both surpassed their stolen base totals from their three previous seasons combined: Hutchison with nine and Laux with 10.
With senior Andrea Vidlund’s two saves against Arizona State, the Ducks have 12 saves on the season, which ties the Pac-10 single-season record for saves by a team.
The Ducks have also been hitting home runs with force this season. Vidlund’s leadoff home run Sunday marked Oregon’s 28th home run of the season — the same number the Ducks hit during the entire 2002 season. Vidlund leads Oregon with nine, with eight coming in the past 15 games. Laux, junior Jenn Poore and freshman Beth Boskovich are tied for second with three each.

Ranking Oregon
The Ducks picked up their best ranking of the season Tuesday in USA Softball/ESPN.com’s Top 25 at No. 19. In Tuesday’s NFCA/USA Today poll, Oregon improved from No. 23 to No. 21.

Dominating the Top 25
The Pac-10 leader, Arizona (45-4, 14-1), is again ranked No. 1 nationally in both the NFCA/USA Today and USA Softball/ESPN.com polls. The Wildcats’ one conference loss was to Stanford.
UCLA (39-5, 11-3) remains at No. 2 in both polls as well as second in the conference. No. 6/9 California (39-14, 8-7), third in the Pac-10, and No. 4/5 Washington (40-9-1, 7-7), fourth in the Pac-10, split a pair of games Saturday and Sunday.
Oregon made its biggest gain of the season with two wins on the weekend, moving up to fifth in the Pac-10. The Ducks are fifth for the first time this season.
No. 12/15 Stanford (35-20, 5-10) is one game behind the Ducks, tied with No. 15/16 Arizona State (28-19, 5-10).
Oregon State continues its trend as the only Pac-10 team not appearing in either top 25 poll. The Beavers, who took a game from Arizona State on Friday before losing twice to Arizona, did receive votes in both polls. Unofficially, they are ranked at No. 26 and 30.

Pac-10 weekly honors
Arizona pitcher Alicia Hollowell won her fourth Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week award on Monday, giving Arizona seven individual award winners, Pitcher of the Week or Player of the Week, for the season. Only three separate Wildcats have actually won the awards.
Oregon and UCLA also have three players who have been honored at least once this season. Arizona State and Washington have each split three awards between two players.
Two Stanford pitchers have been honored, while two Oregon State players have also been honored. California is the only school not to have a player or pitcher earn the award this season.