Pac-12 Powerhouse Showdown: #2 Oregon Ducks vs #19 Arizona State Sun Devils
EUGENE, Ore- The No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks softball team will be hosting a three game series against No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils this weekend at Howe Field. The series begins at 1 p.m. Friday April 10th. The Ducks and the Sun Devils will meet again at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday before concluding the series at noon on Sunday. After winning the series two games to one against the UCLA Bruins, last weekend in Los Angeles, the Ducks will look to replicate its strong batting performance the team had against the Bruins. The Sun Devils are coming into this series with confidence after splitting a double-header series with New Mexico State University on Monday, April 6th. Arizona State also swept a double header against University of Texas at El Paso on Tuesday, April 7th. Arizona State should be prepared to play a defensive performance in order to stop the Ducks powerful batters.
With season play ending in the next month, the battle of the 26 finalists for the USA Softball player of the year award is in full swing. Three of finalists will be playing in the series this weekend: pitcher Cheridan Hawkins and outfielder Janie Takeda for Oregon and senior catcher Amber Freeman for the Sun Devils. Hawkins (LHP) has a season E.R.A of 1.06 with 16 wins this season. Takeda (OF) has a season batting average of .438, leading the Ducks in most hits (46), triples (3), and stolen bases (26). Freeman currently leads the Sun Devils in highest batting average (.431), doubles (14), and home runs (11).
While everyone’s eyes will be on the 3 finalists, both the Ducks and Sun Devils players have helped contribute to their teams’ impressive statistics. The Ducks have a .363 team batting average totaling 281 runs scored this season while allowing 109 runs to be scored. The Sun Devils have a .321 team batting average with 285 runs scored this season while allowing 174 runs scored.
Friday’s weather at the game will be partly cloudy and the temperature will stay in the low 60s throughout the game. A series recap will be posted to our website after the conclusion of the series.
