UO hopes to stay hot in Cali
Catharine Kendall Emerald
■ Ducks look to continue
momentum and climb
back into the Pacific-10
Conference this weekend
in the Bay Area
By Matt O'Neill
Oregon Daily Emerald
With some momentum under
it’s belt, the No. 22 Oregon soft
ball team (26-17 overall, 1-6 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) returns to Pac
10 play this weekend when it
heads to the Bay Area to take on
No. 9 Stanford (33-9, 2-6) and No.
7 California (39-11, 3-5).
By taking two games in con
vincing fashion against Portland
State, the Ducks broke out of their
collective slump and gained some
much-needed momentum.
“Those games give us the spark
we needed,” head coach Rick
Gamez said. “Now we’re looking
forward to getting back into the
Pac-10 with the same drive and
commitment.”
Oregon has had little success
against conference foes recently,
managing only 11 hits in four
contests against No. 1 Washing
ton, No. 3 UCLA, and No. 12 Ore
gon State. However, the Ducks’
bats came alive against Portland
State, as Oregon belted four home
runs in two games.
Sophomore Missy Coe broke
out of her recent slump crushing
two home runs in Portland. Jill
Robinson and Triawn Custer also
got their bats healthy by going a
combined 6 for 13 with two
round trippers, four runs batted
in and six runs scored.
Oregon’s resurgent power
could not come at a better time as
both Cal and Stanford have out
standing pitching. Cal junior
Nicole DiSalvo held Arizona
State scoreless last weekend,
while Cardinal
starter Dana
Sorensen
boasts 16-4
record.
Again Ore
gon hurlers
threw good
games in Wednesday’s twin-bill,
a fact that bodes well for the team
as the Ducks take on two power
ful lineups this weekend.
Cardinal sophomore Jessica
Mendoza, this week’s Pac-10
Player of the week, is coming off
a five-game stretch where she bat
ted .647 with five doubles, a triple
and a home run. Coupled with
fellow sophomore Sarah Beeson,
who hit a three-run job in the win
over Arizona, the two will be a
potent duo for the Oregon staff to
contend with.
SOFTBAIi
While California is a familiar
face to the Ducks, the team will
still have its hands full with lead
off hitter Kristin Morley, who is
hitting at a .350 clip, third-best on
the Bears.
In the previous two meetings
with Cal, Oregon lost twice — the
first was a 12-1 drubbing in the
Troy Cox Classic in New Mexico
and the second was a much closer
3-0 contest in the championship
game of the Capital Classic in
Sacramento, Calif
“This weekend will definitely
be a challenge, but now we have
a little momentum with the come
back win [yesterday],” coach
Gamez said. “Especially after five
conference losses in a row.”
Sophomore Connie McMurren,
who recorded her 10th win over
all in the 7-5 win Wednesday, is
looking to turn fortunes in the
conference around. She was a
tough-luck loser in two of the last
five conference contests.
Freshman Andrea Vidlund (13
4) was victorious in the first game
of the double header and hopes
for that momentum to carry over
into the weekend. She is aware of
the importance of the road trip.
“We have to work really, really
hard to win some games,” Vid
lund said.
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