By John Evans
EUGENE, OR - This Tuesday at Jane Sanders Stadium, the #18 Oregon Softball Team will play host to the Portland State Vikings for a midweek doubleheader. The Ducks are returning home after a three-game sweep of Arizona State on the road, improving their record to 28-11 on the season, including an 8-7 record in Pac-12 play. The visiting Vikings come in with a 15-19 record this season, most recently winning two out of three games against Idaho State.
Oregon
The Ducks seem to have found their rhythm right at the perfect time this season, after being able to steal a game against two top-10 teams in Stanford and UCLA, they have now won each of their last four series, and eight of their last 10 games. Throughout that stretch, they have been led by the outstanding pitching trio of Stevie Hansen, Morgan Scott, and Raegan Breedlove, whose ERAs for the season now sit at 2.22, 2.56, and 3.00 respectively, while throwing 92.4% of the total innings for the Ducks this year. Across that previously mentioned stretch, the pitching staff has combined to allow only 1.9 runs per game, meanwhile, the offense has scored an average of over 6 runs per game.
Stevie Hansen has been a true breakout star for Oregon this season. After a freshman season that saw her post a record of 13-8 with a 3.27 ERA and 126 strikeouts across 124.1 innings, being named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team, she has emerged as one of the best pitchers in the conference during her second season. This season, her 16 wins, 2.22 ERA, 100 strikeouts, and 110.1 innings pitched all rank within the top eight among Pac-12 pitchers, and she has broken out as one of the most dominant players in the entire conference.
On the offensive side of the ball, the star carrying the Ducks has been second baseman, Allee Bunker, who after being named to the All-Pac-12 second team last year has solidified her standing as one of the best all-around offensive players in the conference. This season, she has improved all three of her slash line numbers, posting a line of .391/.432/.680, all of which, along with her 11 doubles, 8 home runs, and 40 RBIs rank among the top-20 for Pac-12 hitters. This dominance at the plate, along with her incredible middle-infield defense that helped her to be named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team in 2022, has helped her become one of the best overall players in the league.
Portland State
It has been a somewhat rocky season for the Vikings this year, with a 15-19 record overall this season, but a 6-3 record in Big Sky play that has had them on the upswing recently, winning seven of their last 10 games. Early in the season, they played Arizona State and Oregon State at the Littlewood Classic, beating the Beavers and losing to the Sun Devils, both teams that the Ducks have won series against recently.
The top of their lineup is led by first baseman, Emily Johansen, and the dynamic catching duo of Bailee Noland and Paetynn Lopez, who all rank in the top six in OPS in the Big Sky Conference, at 1.162, 1.041, and .959 respectively. The trio also all rank in the top-15 in batting average, home runs, and RBI, which has helped the team to lead the conference in all three stats as well.
Pitching is what has brought the ceiling of this Vikings team down this year, as currently, their 6.50 team ERA ranks dead last in the Big Sky. Their only pitcher who has an ERA sitting under four on the season is Olivia Grey, whose 3.86 ERA ranks sixth in the conference. Additionally, their 1.10 team strikeout-to-walk ratio is far below the 3.09 mark that the Ducks have posted this season.
Final Overview
Overall, I think this should probably be another relatively easy out-of-conference series win for the Ducks, with them ranking a whole 200 spots higher than the Vikings in ncaa.com’s RPI softball rankings. With significant advantages on both sides of the ball, Oregon should be able to extend its current winning streak to eight games by the time its next Pac-12 opponent, the Arizona Wildcats, come to Eugene this weekend for a three-game set.