One day after splitting two games with No. 7 Louisiana-Lafayette, Oregon softball met with the Ragin’ Cajuns one final time.

In another hard-fought battle, one very similar to both games Friday, the Ducks came out on the losing end by a score of 5-4. However, Oregon rebounded with a resounding 8-0 run-ruled game against Central Arkansas following its latest loss.

Game 1: LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 5 — Oregon 4
Cheridan Hawkins was dominant in yesterday’s victory over Louisiana-Lafayette, earning the victory. Today was a different story.

The Ragin’ Cajuns got after Hawkins early and often as she gave up five runs in 2.2 innings on three hits and three walks. Hawkins gave up one run in the first inning, three in the second and one in the third before her day was finished.

Freshman Megan Kleist came on in relief of Hawkins and surrendered no runs on three hits in the final 4.1 innings.

Oregon’s offense tried to keep pace and once again, had a chance to tie in the end but couldn’t get the job done. Although the Ducks outhit the Ragin’ Cajuns 8-6, Louisiana-Lafayette made the most of its chances as they drew six walks compared to none for the Ducks.

After trailing 5-1 through the first 2.5 innings, Oregon added two runs in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to two before adding it’s final run in the fifth.

In the sixth inning, Geri Ann Glasco doubled with one out, advancing Janelle Lindvall to third. The Ducks couldn’t push either run across the board as Gwen Svekis popped out and Sammie Puentes lined out to end the rally.

Nikki Udria led the offense with two hits and two RBI’s.

Game 2: OREGON 8 — Central Arkansas 0 (6 innings)

Any lingering frustration Oregon may have had after its loss was taken out against Central Arkansas.

The Ducks’ offense got rolling early and never let up as they pounded out 12 hits, four of which went for extra bases.

Glasco got the start in the pitcher’s circle and twirled a gem. She threw a complete game, giving up just one hit with two walks and six strikeouts.

Glasco started the game by getting seven consecutive outs and has four perfect innings during her outing.

The Oregon offense was stagnant in the first inning before exploding for five runs over the next two innings.

After a leadoff out, Hailey Decker singled and advanced to third on a Jenna Lilley double down the right field line. Both runners would come around to core when Lindvall hammered a fun count pitch to left center for the 3-0 lead.

Oregon continued to add to its lead in the bottom of the third inning when Alyssa Gillespie led off with a bunt single and advanced to third on a Udria double. Both runners crossed home plate after Koral Costa, the next batter, doubled down the right field line for a 5-0 margin.

With Glasco in firm control, the offense gave her two more runs in the fifth inning. Lauren Lindvall and Madi Bishop each had run-scoring singles to make the score 7-0 and put the Ducks within one run of a mercy-rule shortened game. With the winning run on third, Oregon was unable to convert s the next batter flew out to end the inning.

Oregon got its final run of the game when it worked three walks around two groundouts to load the bases with two outs for Lauren. Lauren sent a 1-0 pitch to left field to score Puentes and end the game.

Lauren and Lilley each had two hits while Janelle, Lauren and Costa had at least two RBI’s in the game.

Oregon ends the Louisiana Classic with an 8 a.m. game against Central Arkansas tomorrow.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

It’s only the second weekend of the season but Cheridan Hawkins is quickly finding her form.

After struggling during most of last week’s tournament, Hawkins finished the weekend by throwing 10.0 innings and surrendering no runs with three hits and 13 strikeouts.

Hawkins continued her hot streak and avenged No. 6 Oregon’s earlier loss in the day by throwing a complete-game to set up Saturday’s winner-take-all series finale with No. 7 Louisiana-Lafayette.

Game 1: LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 3 — Oregon 2
Out of the 14 half innings that were played during the game, only two of them provided runs. The bad news is that the Ducks came out on the bottom end of that battle, suffering a 3-2 defeat in the series opener against the Ragin’ Cajuns. Although the Ducks outhit Louisiana-Lafayette 10-9, the Ducks were unable to push more runners across the plate.

Instead of sending Hawkins to the pitcher’s circle to start the opener, Oregon sent freshman Megan Kleist out against the Ragin’ Cajuns power-hitting offense. Kleist was great through the first three innings, not allowing a run before giving up a three-spot in the fourth inning.

She finished the game by throwing 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.

Geri Ann Glasco replaced Kleist in the pitcher’s circle and threw the final 2.2 innings, giving up no runs on one hit, arguably her best outing of the young season.

Offensively, Oregon’s early game woes continued as the Ducks failed to get on the board until the bottom of the fifth inning when they scored their only two runs of the game.

Hailey Decker and Glasco started off the frame with back-to-back singles before being pinch ran for by Danica Mercado and Sammie Puentes, respectively.

After a foul out saw both runners on second and third, Nikki Udria lined out to left field to score Mercado and put Oregon on the board. Puentes came around to score when Alyssa Gillespie doubled down the left field line. With two outs, Gillespie advanced to third on a wild pitch but a Jenna Lilley fly out to right center ended the rally.

Oregon had a chance in the sixth and seventh innings but stranded three runners on base during those innings to end the game.

Gillespie and Decker each had three hits while Koral Costa added two hits.

Game 2: OREGON 6 — Louisiana-Lafayette 1
The combination of Hawkins in the pitcher’s circle and Oregon’s offense proved to be the winning recipe.

Gillespie started Oregon’s rally in the bottom of the first inning when she led off with a bunt single and found her way to third on a throwing error. After two outs were recorded, Decker doubled to center field to score Gillespie before she came around to score on a Jenna Lilley single.

After another scoreless top half of the inning for Hawkins, Janelle Lindvall added to the lead with a solo blast over the left center field fence.

The score would stay 3-0 in favor of Oregon because Hawkins continued to mow down the Ragin’ Cajun offense until the bottom of the fifth inning.

Udria started the inning with a single before coming around to score as Costa, the next batter, hammered a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence for a 5-0 lead. Decker followed suit with a single before being pinch ran for by Mercado, who promptly stile second base. After two outs were recorded, Glasco singled up the middle to score Mercado for the 6-0 lead.

Hawkins kept cruising until the seventh inning when she seemed to grow tired and struggled. She gave up three runs on three hits in the frame with two of those hits coming via homerun. However, Hawkins got the final out of the game on a strikeout, her ninth of the day.

Her final stat line was 7.0 innings pitched and three runs given up on five hits.

Four different batters had two hits for the Ducks, who totaled 11 in the game. Oregon first four batters in the lineup went a combined 7-for-14 and four runs scored to help get the offense back on track.

Oregon faces Louisiana-Lafayette at 11 a.m. in the series finale before facing Central Arkansas at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

One week into the season, No. 6 Oregon softball finds itself going up against one of the toughest teams in the nation. If last week’s opening weekend was just a warmup, the Ducks will have to be fully ready for a series versus No. 7 Louisiana-Lafayette.

“It’s going to be a tough environment,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “Obviously, we want to try and win two out of three against them.”

Oregon opened its 2016 season by going 5-1 in last week’s Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona. The Ducks earned a pair of victories on Friday and another Saturday morning, before falling to No. 18 Kentucky in the nightcap. They rebounded with a pair of victories on Sunday to close out the tournament.

Koral Costa and Nikki Udria led Oregon on offense. Costa hit a team-high .563 (9-for-16) with three doubles and a homerun, while Udria hit .467 (7-for-15) with team-highs of three homeruns and eight RBI.

“Not that I have a pretty good understanding of what kind of hitter I am, I’m really focusing on just trying to use my legs more,” Udria said.

The Ducks routinely struggled in the early parts of the game on offense. Rarely did Oregon execute with runners on base. But come the halfway mark, the offense came to life. During the tournament, the Ducks scored a combined 15 runs within the first three innings, but exploded for 34 runs over the next four innings, including a whopping 14 runs in the sixth inning.

Cheridan Hawkins is widely regarded as one of the best pitchers in the nation, but she got off to a slow start in Arizona, amassing a 2-1 record with one save. Her one loss came against Kentucky, when she gave up five runs, including a grand slam, in three innings pitched. She rebounded from that performance with a dominant complete game one-hitter against Boston College to end the weekend.

“I definitely need to work on just bouncing back a little better and just be aggressive,” Hawkins said.

While Hawkins struggled, freshman Megan Kleist shined. Kleist went 3-0 during the tournament, throwing every day and finishing with a 1.38 ERA. Her first outing was a six inning, two-hit performance against Georgia State.

“She pitched extremely well for us,” White said. “Hopefully she can continue to do that going into this weekend.”

In order to beat Louisiana-Lafayette, Hawkins and Kleist need to become a powerful duo.

Louisiana-Lafayette is led on offense by power-hitting Lexie Elkins, who is hitting .667 (10-for-15) on the season with five home runs, two doubles and 14 RBI. Also, Haley Hayden is batting .529 (9-for-17) and four other players have hit homeruns for a team batting .410 on the season.

Alex Stewart is the ace for the Ragin Cajuns. She’s 3-0 with a .5 ERA. Stewart has thrown 14 innings and has given up one earned run with 16 strikeouts and 12 hits.

The first two games of the three-game series takes place on Friday at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. The series wraps up on Saturday at 11 a.m. Oregon will play two more games on this road trip, facing Central Arkansas on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m.

The Pac-12 conference is no more stranger to “one-and-done” players than any other conference in the nation, and for good reason.

Stanley Johnson and Aaron Gordon of Arizona and Kevon Looney of UCLA are three of the Pac-12’s seven freshmen drafted into the NBA over the last three years. In each of the last three NBA drafts, the first Pac-12 player chosen was a freshman.

No freshman is in the running for Pac-12 Player of the Year, an award a they haven’t won since Kevin Love of UCLA in 2008, but the battle for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year is tighter than the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

Here’s a list of the potential candidates in no particular order:

FRONTRUNNERS

Dejounte Murray, Guard, Washington: While teammates Andrew Andrews (Pac-12-leading 20.5 ppg) gets the press clippings, Murray is the reason for Washington’s success. He averages 14.8 points per game [ppg] and team-highs 6.1 rebounds per game [rpg] and 4.6 assists per game [apg].

His offensive game is what makes him so dangerous. Not only does he have the ability to hit the three, he can drive and draw a foul or kick out to an open Andrews. Murray has three games with more than 25 points, including a Pac-12 freshman-high of 34. The only knock against Murray is the frequency with which he turns the ball over (3.4 turnovers per game [tpg]).

Jaylen Brown, Forward, Cal: Brown leads PAC-12 freshmen in scoring with 15.8 ppg. The only reason that number isn’t higher is because of his slow start, in which the Golden Bears had to figure out their hierarchy of scoring. However, Brown has found his niche, averaging a team-high 18 ppg over his last 10 games. Mostly a slasher and finisher, Brown needs to work on his 3-point shooting (28.4 percent) and cutting down turnovers (3.0 tpg) to help Cal take the next step forward.

Alfonzo Trier, Guard, Arizona: Trier is trying to become the third consecutive Wildcat to win this award. Much like his predecessors, he’s doing so with a very nice all-around game. He averages 14.3 ppg, but Trier makes this list because he’s the best defender on the Pac-12’s second best defense. He sat out seven games with a hand injury, but before he averaged 18.3 ppg over his previous eight games. Taking some time to find his groove again is expected. If Trier can get back to the level he was playing at prior to injury, don’t be surprised if he takes home the hardware.

CONTENDERS

Tyler Dorsey, Guard, Oregon: Dorsey was the early-season favorite to win the award, but he has struggled lately with the emergence of Dillon Brooks. Dorsey’s scoring average (12.7 ppg) has dipped throughout the year, but his 3-point shooting prowess (41.3 percent) still makes him very dangerous. He posted double-digit scoring in 14 of his first 16 games, but has only done so in four of his last eight games. His 29.2 minutes per game (third among Pac-12 freshmen) might be leading to his decline in scoring.

Ivan Rabb, Forward, Cal: Rabb has been great as Cal’s only low-post threat on the year, and his 12.1 ppg and 8.3 rpg prove that. He has scored double-digit points in 19 of his 25 games, grabbed double-digit rebounds in nine games and leads all Pac-12 freshmen with eight double-doubles. Brown may be the better overall freshman on Cal’s team, but Rabb is the most important freshman. As long as he continues to play well, Cal will be dangerous come March.

HONORABLE MENTION

Aaron Holiday, Guard, UCLA: 10.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.7 apg

Bennie Boatwright, Forward, USC: 12.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 35.4 3-point percentage

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

The Oregon softball program had become known as one of the best teams in the nation with one of the worst facilities. Over the past four years, the Ducks have compiled a 202-46-1 record, three Pac-12 championships and three berths in the Women’s College World Series, including a showing in the 2012 WCWS championship series.

Apart from missing that ever-elusive national championship trophy, Oregon was missing the facilities to back up its success. The Ducks used to play at Howe Field, a baseball field built in 1936 that was converted to a softball stadium in 1987. Despite the history that accompanied the field, the inadequate seating, dumpy and musty locker rooms and overall poor conditions meant the stadium was due for a renovation. On Friday, March 24, the Ducks will face Stanford at 6 p.m. in just another conference game, but more importantly, they’ll christen a new part of Oregon softball history: Jane Sanders Stadium.

“It was breathtaking; the stadium is beautiful,” senior Geri Ann Glasco said upon entering Jane Sanders for the first time on Feb. 2. “We are really lucky to play in this [stadium] and are so grateful for that.”

“Howe was a big part of our program and this is the next step in our program,” sophomore Jenna Lilley added.

The softball program was informed of its new home at the kickoff of the Women in Fight program back in June 2014, thanks to a $10 million donation from Robert Sanders. Sanders, a former Oregon football player from the class of 1949, met his wife Jane Sanders, a former cheerleader from the class of 1950, at Oregon, and together they sustained a great amount of success in the lumber industry.

“The generous donation from the Sanders family has made it a uniquely exciting time for Oregon softball,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens told GoDucks.com back in 2014. “We are pleased to build Jane Sanders Stadium on campus where so many memories have been made.”

As of now, the stadium is nearly complete and both head coach Mike White and Mullens fully expect the stadium to be finished come the home-opener on March 24.

“Everything that we’ve heard puts us right on schedule … it’s a very tight timeline,” Mullens said. “We’ve got 100 folks here working today, hustling … but we are right on schedule for March 24.”

One of Jane Sanders Stadium’s main upgrades is centralizing every softball-related facility at one location. Apart from the stadium, White and his staff will have a building containing their offices, a team meeting room, bathrooms and locker rooms. Also, Oregon will have an indoor facility big enough to fit an entire infield, as well as drop down nets to form batting cages, allowing the players to get extra work in during the rainy season.

“We now have a practice facility. Now we can come out here at any time and don’t have to worry about other teams being in our facility or having to share,” White said. “We can go do our inside work there when it’s raining, and now because of the outfield and its synthetic surface, it can drain straight away and be ready to go.”

The Oregon ticket office has already sold over 900 season tickets, making it the top Oregon women’s sport as far as ticket sales go.

“We’ve gone from Howe Field with maybe 700 seats — most of those obstructed — to just under 1,500 seats,” Jeff Stewart, associate director of Oregon Ticket Operations, said. “As far as single-game tickets go, we’re still not sure yet when those will be available — there will be outfield bleachers put in once construction is complete here for an additional 1,000 seats that will be general admission.”

The coveted student section for Oregon supporters will be placed directly behind the opposing team’s dugout and right next to its fans, a delight to the Oregon softball players.

“Our fans here are the best fans in the country and I truly believe that. Once you get [fans] into the stadium, the stadium will seem a lot bigger to the opponent,” Glasco said. “It’ll be good for us and it’s just another part of having home field advantage.”

The addition of turf in the outfield will allow the Ducks to play through more rain because the outfield will not be mushy and muddy. This will not only cut back on the number of rain delays, it will allow Oregon to host games and tournaments prior to the beginning of the Pac-12 season in mid-March. The Ducks have not played a home game within the first five weeks of the season and haven’t hosted a preseason tournament since the Cascade Clash in 2007.

Arguably the biggest benefit of having the new stadium and complex will be the expected recruiting boost the Ducks should receive. The program is already among the best in the nation and arguably the best on the West Coast, so having facilities to match that pedigree will attract not only the top recruits on this side of the country, but the top recruits across the nation.

“I’ve played on a lot of different fields, seen a lot of different fields and I think this is probably the most beautiful stadium I’ve ever been in,” Glasco said.

For years, White and his staff have been in discussions about taking the next step forward as a program, and it always settled on a state-of-the-art complex to compete with other colleges. The idea of a new stadium always seemed like a distant possibility, but now that it’s finally here and almost ready, White couldn’t be happier.

“It’s solid now. It’s not just a picture now; it’s not just a dream,” White said. “We started telling the story [of getting a new complex] a few years ago, so now we’re just real, real excited that the time is here.”

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

After suffering its first loss of the season in disappointing fashion Saturday, Oregon softball responded with two victories on Sunday. The Ducks earned a 9-3 win over Northwestern in the first game before finishing the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona with a 4-0 victory over Boston College.

With the victories on Sunday, Oregon improves its record to 5-1 on the season with its lone loss coming in an 8-6 defeat at the hands of No. 17 Kentucky.

Game 1: OREGON 9 — Northwestern 3
Megan Kleist has played exceptionally well for the Ducks early this season and she proved so once again on Sunday. The freshman pitcher improved her season record to 3-0 by throwing 4.0 innings and giving up three runs with four strikeouts.

Kleist was perfect through the first three innings of the game before running into trouble in the fourth. She gave up three runs on four hits in the inning but retired the last batter on a flyout with runners on the corners to end the inning.

As impressive as Kleist was through the game’s first three innings, the Oregon offense was just as unimpressive. The Ducks were held scoreless through those innings, amassing just two hits. Once the Ducks entered the bottom of the fourth inning trailing 3-0, the fire was lit and the offense came to life.

Gwen Svekis started things off with a single and was replaced by Cherish Burks. Burks promptly stole second and then came around to score on a Koral Costa double. Costa wasn’t on the bases for very long as Geri Ann Glasco, the next batter, hit a two-run blast over the center field fence to tie the game. After an out was recorded, Nikki Udria gave Oregon the lead for good when she hit a solo homerun, her third of the season.

Oregon’s ace pitcher Cheridan Hawkins entered the game in the fifth inning and shut down the Wildcats offense the rest of the way. She threw the final three innings, limiting Northwestern to two hits with five strikeouts. 3

The Ducks offense put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth inning when they tacked on five more runs.

While Oregon only had two hits in the inning, it took advantage of an error, a wild pitch and three walk to score the five runs.

Costa and Svekis each had two hits for the Ducks while Glasco added two RBI’s.

Game 2: OREGON 4 — Boston College
Oregon had been waiting for Hawkins to have a game like this. After being one of the most dominant pitchers in the nation last year, Hawkins has struggled out of the gate this year but on Sunday, she finally looked like her old self. After pitching three scoreless innings in the first game, Hawkins threw a one-hitter in the the final game if the tournament.

She finished the game by throwing seven innings, striking out eight and walking three to improve her record to 2-1 on the season. Only twice throughout the game did Hawkins allow a runner to reach second base and she retired the side in order in three innings.

The Ducks didn’t wait very long in this game to get the offense going as they struck first in the second inning. Svekis and Costa once again proved to be the spark as Svekis led the inning off with a double before Costa mashed a ball over the left field fence for the 2-0 lead.

Oregon added a solo run in the third when Jenna Lilley led off the inning after being hit by a pitch and came around to score on a Janelle Lindvall double to right field. The Ducks added their final run of the game in the seventh inning when April Utrecht tripled and was then pinch ran for by Lauren Lindvall. Lauren came around to score on a fielder’s choice by Burks.

The Ducks next play in the 30th Louisiana Classics, a three-day, five-game tournament starting on Friday.

The tournament starts with a three game series against No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Ducks will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 12 p.m. before wrapping up the series on Saturday at 11 a.m. Oregon will continue its road trip in Louisiana with a Saturday game against Central Arkansas at 1:30 p.m. before playing Central Arkansas again on Sunday at 8 a.m.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

Last year, No. 6 Oregon opened up the season with 14 consecutive victories. But on the second day of the 2016 season, it proved history would not repeat itself.

Playing on the second day of the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona, Oregon (3-1) earned its third win of the season with a 7-2 victory over Maryland before falling to No. 17 Kentucky in a drama-filled 8-6 loss.

Game: 1 OREGON 7 — Maryland 2
It wasn’t the typical game for the Ducks. For the first time this year, they found themselves trailing in a game. Geri Ann Glasco, Oregon’s pitcher, surrendered two runs in the second inning to Maryland. But before the Terrapins could add to the lead, Glasco got back-to-back strikeouts to end the rally.

The Ducks showed fight in the third inning and threatened with two on and one out until Nikki Udria was thrown out at home.

The score remained stuck at 2-0 in favor of Maryland until Oregon’s offense exploded for seven runs to put the game away.

Janelle Lindvall started the inning with a double before Gwen Svekis singled her home to get the Ducks on the board. After an out was recorded, Koral Costa and Lauren Lindvall each singled to load the bases for Udria. Udria gave the Ducks the lead when she hit a two-RBI single to right field.

After a Maryland pitching change, Alyssa Gillespie kept the scoring going for Oregon with a two-RBI double that gave Oregon a 5-2 lead. The Ducks added the final two runs of the inning on two Maryland errors, allowing Gillespie and Jenna Lilley to score.

Freshman pitcher Megan Kleist, who repealed Glasco in the fifth inning, earned her team-leading second victory of the year while Udria and Gillespie each added two hits and two RBI’s.

Game 2: KENTUCKY 8 — Oregon 6
In Oregon’s first nationally ranked matchup of the season, the Ducks failed to pass the test.

The Ducks sent ace pitcher Cheridan Hawkins, one of the top pitchers in the nation, into the pitcher’s circle and two pitches proved to be her demise in the third inning. Hawkins every bit as dominant as advertised as she had two perfect innings in the first and second with five strikeouts before running into trouble.

Hawkins gave up a leadoff homerun to put Oregon behind but that was just the beginning of the trouble. Kentucky loaded the bases with two walks and a bunt but Hawkins was able to get two outs during that time. Facing her seventh batter of the inning,  Hawkins gave up a grand slam that put the Ducks in a 5-0 hole. She ended Kentucky’s rally by striking out the next batter.

Oregon looked poise to respond in the bottom half of its inning when Glasco led off with a double. A strikeout and two groundouts in the next three batters ended the Ducks’ rally.

Hawkins came out for the fourth inning and continued to struggle, walking the first two batters, and prompting head coach Mike White to make a pitching change. Glasco entered the pitcher’s circle and ended the Wildcats rally by retiring the next three batters to end the inning.

Oregon finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Lilley led off with a double and the bases were later loaded after a Janelle was hit by a pitch and Svekis singled. With one out, Koral Costa was hit by a pitch that scored Lilley and kept the bases loaded but Glasco lined into a double play to end the inning.

Kentucky added a run in the fifth inning off Glasco but Udria got the run back for Oregon in the bottom half of the inning when she hit a solo blast over the center field fence, her first homerun of the year.

In the sixth inning, Glasco gave up two runs when she allowed to run string doubles in the inning to give Kentucky an 8-2 lead.

Not to be outdone, Oregon rallied in the bottom half of the inning by taking advantage of two Kentucky errors. After Costa and Sammie Puentes reached on errors by the shortstop, Udria stepped to the plate. With one swing of the bat, she cut Oregon’s deficit in half as she sent a ball over the right center fence for a three-run homerun.

Kentucky went down in order in the top of the seventh, giving the Ducks one last chance.

Decker started the inning with a solo homerun, cutting the Oregon deficit to two, 8-6. After a lineout, Svekis and Costa singled to give the Ducks a chance. Both runners advanced a base after Glasco grounded out to the shortstop for the second out of the inning. Made Bishop then pinch hit for Puentes and grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

Udria and Svekis both had two hits for the Ducks while Udria added four RBI’s.

Oregon returns to action tomorrow to face Northwestern and Boston College in back-to-back games, starting at 10:15 a.m.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

The NCAA tournament is five weeks away. With that comes the selection of 68 teams in the nation earning the right to continue their respective seasons on college basketball’s biggest stage.

Bracketologist’s are out in full force, already posting their selections for which teams make the tournament and which teams don’t. Some of the main criteria looked at in order to make the tournament doesn’t come from a national ranking. It comes from a strength of schedule, big wins and bad losses and most importantly, the RPI ranking.

With that being the criteria, there’s no doubt that the Pac-12 conference is college basketball’s deepest and most talented conference. Although only three of the conference’s 12 teams are ranked in the AP Poll, 11 Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top-73 of ESPN’s RPI ranking, a feat that no other conference can match.

The ACC, the only conference to challenge the Pac-12’s supremacy, has 10 of its 15 teams ranked within the top 78 but also has four teams ranked in the AP top-25. What that means is that on a game-to-game basis, the Pac-12 has a greater chance of an “upset” on a nightly basis compared to having “easy” games on its conference slate.

Last year in the NCAA tournament, the Pac-12 had four teams make the tournament yet three of them made the Sweet-16. The fourth team, Oregon, lost in the second round to a Wisconsin team that played for a national championship.

This year, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi predicts the Pac-12 will have seven teams in the NCAA tournament yet has two more teams, UCLA and Oregon State, very close to getting in. Lunardi believes that 58.3 percent of the Pac-12’s teams will get into the tournament, highest in the nation and above the ACC’s 53.3 percent entrance rate. CBS bracketologist Jerry Palm predicts the Pac-12 will have eight teams in the tournament, tied for most with the ACC.

This begs the question, why is the Pac-12 still not getting the respect it deserves in national perception and NCAA rankings.

When it comes to national perception, one of the main knocks against the Pac-12 is because of its game times. Most of the Pac-12 conference game times start after 5 p.m., making it a very late night for someone to watch the game on the east coast. Because of the late game times, Pac-12 games are rarely watched outside of the west coast so it leaves the rest of the nation in a dark state when it comes to seeing how good the conference is.

The reason why the Pac-12 has few teams in the national rankings is because the teams beat up on each other every week.

Oregon State owns wins over No. 11 Oregon and No. 23 USC, the top two teams in the Pac-12, yet sits in eighth place because they struggle to beat other teams. Likewise, Washington was in first place before losing three of its past five games to Utah, No. 17 Arizona and USC. It now sits in a tie for third place. UCLA is the most confusing team in the conference because after it defeated Arizona on national television, the Bruins then lost 3 of their next five games.

Oregon is the clear front runner in the conference rankings. It sits in first place at 9-2 with a 1.5 game lead over USC. But, it’s not as if winning a Pac-12 championship will be easy.

No night can be an off night in the Pac-12 and it’s about time the rest of the nation took notice.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka 

2016 will be one last ride for Cheridan Hawkins.

The left-handed senior pitcher may go down as the most successful pitcher in Oregon history, but for now she has her sights set on another appearance in the Women’s College World Series — a place No. 6 Oregon is familiar with, but has yet to find any success at.

Hawkins led the Ducks to the WCWS last year with a 30-5 record, nine saves and a 1.63 earned-run average, which qualified her for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.

Hawkins is only a piece of the puzzle for Oregon, though. Seven other seniors will join her, looking to become the winningest senior class in Oregon history by breaking the 2015 senior class’ record of 202 total wins.

While Hawkins is expected to control the pitcher’s circle, fellow seniors Koral Costa, Janelle Lindvall, Geri Ann Glasco and Hailey Decker are expected to lead an extremely powerful and potent offense. Costa, Lindvall, Glasco and Decker were the top four home run hitters on last year’s team and combined to hit 42 of the team’s 76 returning blasts.

Not only do the Ducks return the powerful offense, the entire starting infield – which combined to post a .949 fielding percentage – will be back. Decker will start at first base while juniors Danica Mercado (second base) and Nikki Udria (shortstop) will hold down the middle. Sophomore Jenna Lilley anchors down third base. Udria is widely considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the nation, with a career fielding percentage of .933.

The best player on the team, other than Hawkins, Lilley. In 2015, Lilley seamlessly replaced former four-year starter and All-American Courtney Ceo, hitting a team-high .427. Lilley also led the Ducks in on-base percentage (.539), runs (60), doubles (12), walks (39) and stolen bases (16), en route to being named one of three finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award.

With the departure of Janie Takeda, the only starter not returning to the team, sophomore Lauren Lindvall is one of the early candidates to replace her in left field. Last year, Lindvall hit .354 with six homers and four doubles, while splitting time with senior Alyssa Gillespie, who is expected to take over fulltime in right field.

Second baseman Sammie Puentes, a junior with the potential to drop down a drag bunt or blast the ball over the fence, bolsters the Ducks’ depth along with the powerful Gwen Svekis, who had 16 extra base hits last season.

Typically the Ducks get a boost from a freshman athlete, as was the case with Hawkins three years ago, Udria a year after that and Lilley last year. This year, right-handed pitcher Megan Kleist has a chance to emerge as a potential No. 2 starter behind Hawkins. April Utecht and Marisa Given have the potential to make a difference at the plate.

If the Ducks are going to repeat last year’s Pac-12 championship — their third in a row — and a berth in the WCWS, it won’t be because of an easy schedule. Oregon is scheduled to face teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the national poll in 25 of its scheduled 54 games.

Oregon can expect an early-season test; its first 29 games of the year will come on the road. The Ducks will play in five different states over five weeks, culminating in a three-game series against No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 19-20, and a three-game series in Seattle against No. 20 Washington.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

There’s no doubting the depth and overall team talent of the Pac-12, with 11 teams ranked in the top-70 of the RPI. But the individual talent in the conference isn’t quite receiving the national acknowledgment it deserves.

Even without the national acknowledgement, the Pac-12 Player of the Year (POTY) award is coming down to a fierce battle between the top two candidates and the others chasing them.

Frontrunners:

1) Andrew Andrews, G, Washington: The senior is averaging a conference-high 21.1 points per game to go along with 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Andrews is the only player to place among the top-five in the conference in points, steals and assists per game, and he’s the main reason for the revitalization of the Huskies. Although Andrews has scored more than 20 points in 11 games and more than 30 points in five, he is averaging 15 points over his last three games. In order to take home the award, Andrews and Washington are going to have to finish near the top of the conference, and he’ll have to continue to lead the conference in scoring.

2) Dillon Brooks, G/F, Oregon: It’s no coincidence that the better Brooks plays, the better the Ducks play and the more they win. Brooks has emerged from the shadows of reigning Pac-12 POTY Joseph Young to lead his own charge as a frontrunner for the first-place Ducks. Brooks leads No. 16 Oregon in scoring with 16.6 points per game and also averages 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. What makes Brooks so special is he’s doing just about everything for the Ducks, yet staying within the flow of the offense and allowing his teammates to benefit off his high level of play. If Oregon continues to win and Brooks continues to lead the way, nobody will take the award from him.

Possible Candidates:

1) Ryan Anderson, F, Arizona: The double-double machine for second-place Arizona has had a massive year for the Wildcats after transferring from Boston College. Anderson is second in the Pac-12 with 10.1 rebounds per game and fourth with a 58.9-percent field goal percentage, to go along with 15.1 points per game. The No. 23 Wildcats have endured injuries to three of their top four players, yet Anderson has been the rock that won’t break, continuously leading the Wildcats to win after win. If Arizona can somehow dethrone the Ducks, Anderson will have a great chance at taking home the hardware.

2) Jakob Poeltl, C, Utah: Poeltl is viewed as a top-10 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft because of his high ceiling. He has played his best basketball of the year over the last three games, which is why the Utes are back in the running for the Pac-12 championship. The seven-footer averages 17.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, but has upped his scoring to 24.3 points over his previous three games—all wins. Utah will go as far as Poeltl will take them, and at his current rate, it could end up with the championship trophy and POTY award in tow.

3) Gary Payton II, G, Oregon State: Payton is the picture-definition of a great player stuck on a bad team. He’s the only player in the conference who ranks in the top eight in scoring (16.3), rebounding (8.1), assists (5.5) and steals (2.3) per game, yet his team sits in 10th place and just outside the NCAA Tournament. It’s hard to imagine a player meaning more to his team anywhere in the country than what Payton means to the Beavers. If Oregon State can make a miracle run in the Pac-12 (already victories over Oregon and USC), Payton might be able to walk away with the POY award.

Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka