By: Ian Sutliff
Eugene, OR-- Oregon will take on the Stanford Cardinal on Thursday in the first round of the conference tournament which will help decide whether or not the Ducks have a chance at hosting a regional. It looked promising up until the last weekend of conference play when Oregon was swept by Utah after going into the series with a 13-game win streak. The Ducks dropped all the way to the five-seed in the PAC-12 and instead of facing Cal in the first round, they’ll now play the sixth ranked team in the nation in Stanford. The first series was full of nail biters that gave us one of the best series of college softball this entire season. It’s possible that we’ll see another classic in Tucson when the two square off in a winner take all matchup to kick off the tournament.
Oregon:
One of the premier offenses in the country, the Ducks ranked 30th in the nation in team batting average and will have to face some of the best pitching in all of division 1 softball. On Wednesday, Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan were named to all PAC-12 first team honors alongside Hanna Delgado who was the only other position player to receive all-team honors, with a third team award. Bunker was the standout for the Ducks offensively with a team-leading .404 batting average and 65 hits. She also added ten home runs and had a nearly 2:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio. McGowan was one of the best hitting catchers in the nation and tallied a career-high 12 home runs in her senior season (her previous high was 5 in 2021). Delgado was named to the third team because of her combination of bat-to-ball skills and her ability to steal bases, as well as draw walks. Ariel Carlson was one of the snubs for all-PAC-12 honors as the senior was one of the best hitting players in the conference down the stretch and ended the season with seven home runs and 27 RBIs to go along with a .312 batting average. Kai Luschar is also one of the best hitters on the team with a .463 batting average but she can be pretty one-dimensional as a hitter as she has no extra-base hits this year.
The pitching staff for Oregon was another unit that was much improved for the Ducks this season as Stevie Hansen was helped out mightily by conference second teamer Morgan Scott. Hansen finished the season with an 18-6 record and a 2.39 ERA, while striking out 106 over 132 innings. Scott was right behind her with a 12-5 record and 2.51 ERA, as well as a strong WHIP that stands at 1.12 heading into the postseason. Raegan Breedlove will also see a decent amount of innings in the circle as she was another Ducks pitcher to finish the season with an ERA under three (2.65). The team combined for a 2.65 ERA this season which ranked third behind just UCLA and Stanford in the conference.
Stanford:
The Cardinal might not have the best hitting team in the country with just three position players being named to the first, second, and third teams, but River Mahler is the player to watch. As a freshman, Mahler was named to the first team and led the team in hits (59), walks (20), and batting average (.391). Her .460 on-base percentage is also a big reason why this Stanford team has had success at the top of the lineup. Mahler was also named to the all-defensive team as well. On the offensive side of things, Taylor Gindlesperger was one of the best bats for this squad as she hit .337 and stole seven bases. Gindlesperger landed a second team selection and it was in large part because of her speed. The grad student had 20 extra-base hits this season without a homer and 14 of those hits went for doubles. She also had a team-high 33 runs and slugged .491 on the season. Aly Kaneshiro is the big power bat for Stanford as she hit .265 with six home runs and 33 RBI. The loss of junior Caelan Koch hurts this team and the Cardinal are just 12-9 since her injury against Oregon State on March 26th.
Even with Koch out, there is still a lot of hope for Stanford because of this dominant pitching staff. The Cardinal rank eighth in the country in ERA at 1.61 and their 17 shutouts are tied for 12th nationally. Behind it all are PAC-12 first teamers NiJaree Canady and Alana Vawter. Canady was 14-1 this year with a 0.56 ERA while striking out 160 batters over 94 innings. She allowed just 45 hits and 17 walks in 24 appearances and allowed opponents to hit just .140 against her. Vawter was nearly as dominant, sporting a 1.81 ERA in 32 appearances and throwing 15 complete games. Raegan Krause is sometimes overlooked because of her first-team counterparts, but the third-teamer went a respectable 9-4 with a 2.21 ERA in 20 appearances this season. She also struck out 74 hitters in just 82 ⅓ in 2023.
Potential Second Round Opponent: UCLA
How much more can be said about the Bruins. The team had four first team selections, two second teamers, and two third teamers. Maya Brady might be the best hitter in the nation and was named PAC-12 player of the year after hitting .456 with 16 home runs. Megan Faraimo was named pitcher of the year and the redshirt senior amassed an amazing 28 wins and league-leading 215 strikeouts. Jordan Woolery picked up freshman of the year honors after being just one of three freshmen to hit over .400 this season. She also had 10 home runs and 45 RBIs. UCLA is 50-4 this season with three of those losses coming to top-ranked Oklahoma, #5 Washington, and a road loss to the Ducks. After losing that series opener to Oregon, UCLA outscored them 13-6.
Prediction:
It’s all hands on deck for the Cardinal and Ducks which means Hansen, Scott, Canady, and Vawter may all see time in the circle on Thursday. Stanford was 27-3 before losing Koch which should be worrisome for a team who struggled to put the Ducks away with their star player. Oregon has a lot to play for and will be motivated to rebound after a tough sweep against Utah. It’ll be interesting to see if the bats can show up against one of the nation’s most prominent pitching staffs and even without Koch, Stanford has still put up runs. The Ducks were playing some of their best softball before the Utah series and Stanford didn’t look great in its conference finale either. Oregon will beat Stanford 2-1 on Thursday behind a pair of hits from Luschar, but go down against UCLA on Friday.