Catharine Kendall Emerald!
Rick Gamez says after surviving the Pac-10, his squad is ready for whomever it faces.
Softball
continued from page 9A
10, the team feels that they can
take on anyone.
“I don’t think any team in the
Pac-10 is going to see anybody
better than what they’ve already
seen,” Gamez said. “Now we can
focus on a whole new season and
take it one game at a time.” *
The Ducks just finished a road
trip where they faced two of the
best pitchers in the country in Jen
nifer Spediacci and Amanda
Freed. Now they must contend
with yet another tough hurler in
Blades, who is both the season
( ( LSU has been tough
all year. They've got the
whole ball of wax.
They've got good hitting,
good pitching and good
defense. There's a reason
why they go in as the
No. 1 seed.
Rick Gamez
head coach
and all-time NCAA strikeout
leader.
But that’s something that Jill
Robinson, Oregon’s all-time home
run leader, said does not concern
Oregon.
“We started getting better down
in UCLA,” Robinson said. “We
were hitting off Courtney Dale
and Amanda Freed. Those are the
best pitchers in the Pac-10, and
we weren’t intimidated.”
Intimidated or not, the Ducks
had a rough time trying to figure
out Blades earlier this season
when the team faced her in a tour
nament in Arlington, Texas.
Blades held Oregon to only one
hit, while striking out 14 in the 3
0 win for the Golden Eagles.
“We need to stay disciplined,
and we’ll be okay against this
pitcher,” Robinson said. “If I re
member correctly she didn’t
throw a lot of strikes. It was just a
lot of rise balls that we swung at.
We’re going to be our worst ene
my if we swing at them.”
Robinson and Gamez both feel
that the team is starting to gel of
fensively despite being swept in
the last three games of the season.
Robinson said the Ducks are start
ing to string some hits together,
and the selection couldn’t have
come at a better time for the team.
“That’s going to be the key,”
Gamez said. “You get some run
ners in scoring position, and all it
takes is a hit here and a hit there,
and before you know it, you’ve
got some hits back-to-back, and
you’ve scored some runs."
While Southern Mississippi is
the No. 8-ranked team in the
country, Robinson thinks that the
Ducks are capable of upending
them.
“I do remember that they were
average hitters; there wasn’t any
thing great,” Robinson said. “On
defense I think they had a couple
of errors, so I’m not really worried
about their defense.”
Gamez seems to see things the
same way as his star slugger.
“They’re a feisty group; they
come out aggressive,” Gamez
said. “They scrap for runs and do
everything they have to get some
runs because they know they only
need one or two runs with Blades
on the mound.”
Other than Southern Mississip
pi, the Ducks are in a region with
some high-powered offensive
teams.
No. 7 Louisiana State hosts the
region. Last year the Tigers lost to
Southern Mississippi in the re
gional semifinals, 4-3.
This year LSU is more focused
and a better team, according to
Gamez.
“LSU has been tough all year,”
Gamez said. “They’ve got the
whole ball of wax. They’ve got
good hitting, good pitching and
good defense. There’s a reason
why they go in as the No. 1 seed.”
Also on the potential horizon is
No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette, a
team that may pose problems for
the Ducks.
“Louisiana-Lafayette is another
very good team,” Gamez said.
“They’ve been ranked in the top
15 all year. So there are some good
teams in the region.”
Rounding out the region is
Northwestern State and Hofstra,
neither of which Oregon is famil
iar with.
The format of the regional tour
nament is double-elimination
with the winners of each region
going to Oklahoma City to play in
the College World Series, May 25
29.
That’s something that is in
reach for the Ducks, Robinson
said.
“We need to play our game
down there and not overlook
them,” Robinson said. “We need
to drill them into the ground, not
just beat them, but beat their pants
off.”
Oregon’s ace, sophomore Connie McMurren, brings a 1.78 earned run average and 143 strikeouts into postseason play.
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