Written by: Ben Schoenfield

Oregon:

The #25 Oregon Ducks are coming off of a 3-2 finish at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California. In the tournament the Ducks beat the UCF Knights 4-3, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8-2, and the LBSU The Beach 11-4; and they lost to the Baylor Bears 3-2 and the Nebraska Cornhuskers 6-0. Oregon has struggled on the season coming into this tournament 9-7. In the Jane Sanders Classic in Eugene the Oregon Ducks will play Mt. Saint Mary’s University three times and the Maryland Terrapins twice. Oregon hit seven home runs in the Mary Nutter Classic including two from Vallery Wong, two from Alyssa Daniell, two from Ariel Carlson, and one from Hanna Delgado. The Ducks hope to finish strong before heading into conference play for their last season in the Pac-12.

Mt. Saint Mary’s:

The Mt. Saint Mary’s Mounts have played in two tournaments and eight games overall. They have played in the Winthrop Eagle Classic in South Carolina and the Carolina Classic in North Carolina. They went 1-3 in each tournament with their two wins being against Monmouth College Hawks of New Jersey and the George Washington University Revolutionaries of Washington D.C.. The Mount went 32-19 (15-5) in the MAAC, and look to improve on that this year. This weekend they will play the Ducks, the Washington Huskies, and the Maryland Terrapins, and they have a total of six games between the 29th of February and the 2nd of March. 

Maryland: 

The Maryland Terrapins have played in three tournaments so far and have gotten off to a rough start. They have started the season 5-9 including losses to Stetson, LIU, SEMO, SELU, and UCLA. Last year Maryland beat Oregon 7-3 in the season opener in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They went on to have a 38-19 (11-11) in the Big Ten after starting the season 10-1. They have a tough tournament weekend having to face both #6 Washington and #25 Oregon twice. After this weekend they have 10 more games in non conference play including games against Boston College, Virginia, and James Madison among others before they head into a Big Ten conference schedule. Maryland and Oregon will see each other a lot in the future as Oregon is moving to the Big Ten in the 2024-25 season. 

Washington:

The Washington Huskies have started the season 12-2 with ranked wins over Nebraska and Kentucky, and their two losses coming to top-10 teams in Oklahoma and Oklahoma St.. Washington will play two games in Seattle this weekend before coming down to Eugene to play another two. These are their last four games before the start of Pac-12 play. The Washington Huskies made it to the Women’s College World Series where they went 1-2, beating Utah and losing to Stanford and Oklahoma. Overall last year they went 44-15 (16-8) in a very tough Pac-12. They will play Oregon on April 5-7 in Eugene before they both head to the Big Ten next year alongside UCLA and USC. 

Predictions:

I believe Oregon will go 5-0 to head into conference play strong with at least two run rule games. The Jane and Oregon Softball fans are ready for the tournament. I think the home crowd will really propel this Duck team to a clean sweep.