Top-10 Softball Showdown: The No. 2 Oregon Ducks Host the No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajun
Eugene, Ore- The No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks softball team returns to Howe Field this weekend for one of its biggest, non-conference series, match ups this season. The Ducks will take on the No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. The series begins at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 24th and ends with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon. The Cajuns are 5-3 against top-25 ranked opponents this season, while the Ducks are 11-5.
Weather should play a big factor in this weekend’s series. With a high chance of rain forecasted for Friday and Saturday; temperatures however around the mid 50s. The muggy weather will give the Ducks a slight advantage as the Ragin’ Cajuns will be coming from 85 degree weather.
Looking at last weekend’s performance for Oregon, the Ducks swept the series against the Stanford Cardinal outscoring them 23-15 while accumulating 33 hits. Senior outfielder, Janie Takeda had a memorable weekend against the Cardinal as she tied the Oregon program’s career hit and stolen bases mark with 288 career hits and 96 stolen bases.
The Ragin’ Cajuns won their first two games last weekend against Appalachian State outscoring their opponent 44-11 while the third game was cancelled due to rain. The Cajuns run ruled Appalachian State in five innings in both games and had an impressive performance from junior catcher Lexie Elkins. Elkins went eight for ten with 13 RBI’s, five home runs, and six runs scored during the Appalachian State doubleheader. After her performance, she was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week and hopes to bring her hot bat to this weekend’s series against junior left-handed pitcher, Cheridan Hawkins.
Louisiana-Lafayette is coming into this series with momentum as their bats are certainly ragin’, and it seems that no one has an answer for their offensive performance. In the Cajuns last eight out of eleven games, the team has scored double-digit runs while batting .420 as a team. Hawkins looks to quiet the Cajuns’ bats, as she appears to be playing in playoff-ready form, currently leading the Pac-12 with a 1.12 ERA and a .133 opponent batting average.
This top-10 showdown should be a clear indication of whether or not both teams are ready for postseason play. Expect a hard fought series from both teams, especially offensively, as the ducks rank 5th in the nation for batting average and the Cajuns are right behind them at sixth. A series recap will be posted to our website after the conclusion of the series.
