The No. 20 Ducks and Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week Andrea Vidlund take a break from Pac-10 play today for a road trip to Portland.
Oregon (21-13 overall, 3-7 Pac-10) faces Portland State in a doubleheader at 2 p.m. after the games were rescheduled on April 1 due to rain.
“This is a huge doubleheader for us,” head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “Portland State is tough (and) feisty.”
Wednesday, the Ducks and Vikings (13-19, 5-3 Pacific Coast Softball Conference) played a rescheduled doubleheader at Howe Field, with Oregon prevailing in both games.
In the first game, freshman pitcher Amy Harris held Portland State to two runs in four innings on the way to Oregon’s 7-3 win. Junior catcher Jenn Poore and Vidlund hit home runs during the game, with Poore’s coming during a five-run first inning.
The Ducks and Vikings stretched the second game into eight innings before the Ducks won, 3-2. The game-winning shot by senior third baseman Lynsey Haij was botched by Portland State’s first baseman, allowing senior outfielder Amber Hutchison to score the winning run.
Vidlund hit a home run during the game after scoring in the first inning on a single by sophomore designated player Mari Lyn Petrick.
“(The Vikings) have a lot of motivation to knock us off on their home turf,” Arendsen said.
The Vikings split doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday against PCSC opponent Sacramento State. The schools led their conference going into Saturday. Portland State won the first game both days, but fell to the Hornets in extra innings at the end of both doubleheaders.
Starting with the two-game sweep of Portland State, the Ducks went 3-2 in their 2003 home debut. Oregon lost 9-0 to No. 3 Washington on Friday before upsetting No. 2 UCLA, 5-4, Saturday. The Bruins bounced back to win Sunday, 9-3.
In Oregon’s split of its five home games during the past week, Vidlund was 7-for-14 batting, including five home runs, eight runs scored and eight RBI. She also picked up a save and a win from the pitching circle.
The senior is now fourth all-time at Oregon with 28 home runs. She needs seven more to tie for first. Vidlund also sits at eighth all-time with 96 RBIs and is tied for 10th all-time with 87 runs scored.
Vidlund is the third Duck to win an individual conference award this season. It’s the first time since 1999 that Oregon players have earned three individual awards in the same season and the first time since 1989 that three different players have won the awards.
Harris earned Pitcher of the Week honors in February after pitching 13 2/3 innings and allowing only one run. Sophomore second baseman Erin Goodell was named Player of the Week in March after Oregon won its first Pac-10 season opener since 1998 with a 10-2 win over Oregon State. Goodell hit two home runs in the game.
With Vidlund’s work in the win against UCLA, the Ducks tied their total of combined Pac-10 wins — three — from the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
After the Portland State doubleheader, the Ducks return to Howe Field for two games against Oregon State on Friday and Saturday. Oregon has a chance to make a run at its highest win total for the current senior class, and two wins against the Beavers will put them one win shy — five — of tying that total.
“This may be the most important week of the season for us,” Arendsen said. “The games are all winnable and all loseable.”