Oregon softball is the consensus No. 1 team in the country for the first time in school history. Now, the team will look to add another milestone as it prepares to make a run at the national championship in Oklahoma City.
In order to get there, the Ducks will first have to navigate through regional play beginning with a first-round matchup against Utah Valley at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Wisconsin Badgers will face the Albany Great Danes in the first game of the day at 2 p.m. in the double-elimination bracket.
Oregon earned the top overall seed in the tournament after becoming Pac-12 champions for the second straight year.
“Joy, happiness, I don’t know, it’s just a really great feeling for all of us in there,” Courtney Ceo said about receiving the No. 1 overall seed. “We know we belong there. We wanted this, we got it and now it’s time to live it up.”
As the top overall seed, the Ducks have the benefit of hosting the regionals and — if they get there — the super regionals in Eugene at Howe Field.
“Our home crowd has been fantastic, so we’re really looking forward to building on that,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “We’re really working hard to get back to the Women’s College World Series.”
Team Breakdown:
Oregon: The Ducks are led by national player of the year candidates in pitcher Cheridan Hawkins and leadoff batter Ceo. Hawkins finished the regular season with a 30-4 record and 1.56 ERA while amassing 283 strikeouts in 206.1 innings. Ceo led the Pac-12 conference in hitting .481 and 87 hits on the season while hitting in the leadoff spot for the Ducks. Janie Takeda leads the team with seven triples while Kailee Cuico has a team-leading 13 home runs.
Wisconsin (33-17, 15-7 Big-10): The Badgers are a well-rounded team with no true superstar. While their hitting and pitching stats are not spectacular, their running ability is worrisome for opponents. Wisconsin went 107-for-131 in stolen base attempts this year, and seven Badgers have at least seven stolen bases on the year, led by Maria Van Abel with 21 steals on 23 attempts.
Albany (33-11, 18-4 America East): Albany has a solid combination of hitting, pitching and defense, but it has played less quality opponents than the Ducks and Badgers. The Danes have five players batting over .300 and are led by Maggie Cocks with a .386 average and Charlise Castro with 10 home runs. Brittany McFawn is dangerous from inside the pitcher’s circle, posting a 1.82 ERA on the season while going 19-6 in 176.2 innings.
Utah Valley (18-40, 5-9 WAC): The Wolverines enter postseason play with an 18-40 overall record, easily one of the worst in the tournament. Josi Summers is Utah Valley’s main pitcher, going 10-17 on they year with a 4.04 ERA while Brianna Gatlin leads Utah Valley with a .288 batting average and 14 doubles on the year.
“They know just as much about us as we know about them,” White said. “They gave us a pretty good matchup but they haven’t seen much of Hawkins, so obviously we’ll go that way.”