(Photo via Nicole Mullen)
With the cancellation of Tuesday’s game against Grand Canyon University, Arizona State Softball will take on its third-ranked opponent in a row on Friday when No. 17 Oregon comes to town.
The Sun Devils (21-13, 5-7) returned from snow-covered Utah after falling to the Utes in two out of the three games. ASU will have to revitalize its pitching staff against Oregon (25-11, 5-7) and its dominating bats.
The two teams have the same record in conference play, but in their last 10 appearances, the Sun Devils are 9-1 against Oregon.
The Ducks are led by head coach Melyssa Lombardi, who steered the Ducks to their second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance in 2022, going 33-19 overall. Last season, Oregon led the Pac-12 in fielding percentage (.977) and ranked 10th nationally.
Lombardi previously coached at the University of Oklahoma as an assistant coach under the notorious Patty Gasso. At Oklahoma, Lombardi was a part of the team’s numerous NCAA tournament appearances for the 26 years she was there before heading to Oregon in 2019.
At the top of Oregon’s batting leaderboard is redshirt sophomore outfielder Kai Luschar who is batting 8-for-11 in the Ducks’ last four games with five runs and three stolen bases. Another bat for ASU to face with caution is that of fifth-year infielder Allee Bunker. She is batting 47 points higher in conference play than her season average of .415. Bunker has consecutively started in 159 games for Oregon and is a crucial component of the Ducks’ lineup.
As a team, Oregon is batting .307 compared to ASU’s .284 batting average. Though the Sun Devils’ bats were explosive at the beginning of the season, they have since cooled off. The Sun Devils are going to have to reignite their lineup and generate some rallies against Oregon if they want to pick up the series win.
Defensively, the team from up north is first in the Pac-12 in double plays turned, which could pose a problem for the Sun Devils when it comes to getting runners into scoring position.
In the circle, the Ducks have kept their opponents’ scoring to a minimum with a 2.78 team ERA. If the Devils manage to keep games close during the later innings, they will have to face one of Oregon’s two closers: right-handed junior Raegan Breedlove or right-handed senior Morgan Scott. Both of the right-handers have three saves each.
Oregon’s main source of pitching originates from sophomore righty Stevie Hansen, who ranks second in the Pac-12 in wins. Hansen has 97 strikeouts across 105.1 innings pitched and is credited with 15 wins and a 2.33 ERA.
This season, ASU has struggled against tough opponents and is looking to get back into the win column in this series against Oregon.
Head coach Megan Bartlett and her crew will have to reverse course from their performance at Utah if they hope to achieve their second Pac-12 series win.
