Notes: Softball Season Opens This Weekend at the Kajikawa Classic

Thursday, February 9

Tempe, Ariz.

2:00 PM

University of Oregon

Virginia

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Notes: Softball Season Opens This Weekend at the Kajikawa Classic

02/07/17 | Softball

Kajikawa Classic Notes 2017

The Oregon softball team, winners of four-straight Pac-12 titles, opens its 2017 season this weekend in Tempe.

By: Joe Waltasti

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 9 ranked Oregon softball team, winners of four-straight Pac-12 titles, opens its 2017 season this weekend at the Kajikawa Classic.

Oregon will play Virginia and Creighton on Thursday, San Jose State and No. 24 ranked Fresno State on Friday, Seattle U on Saturday and Cal Poly on Sunday.

#9 OREGON DUCKS
Team BA: .353 | Team ERA: 2.14 | Runs Scored: 441 | Runs Allowed: 146
Last Season: UO went 48-10 last year, won the Pac-12 and advanced to Super Regionals
Notable: The Ducks open the season after graduating a star-studded senior classe which won four straight Pac-12 titles. The Ducks welcome the nation's No. 1 recruiting class.

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
Team BA: .262 | Team ERA: 4.17 | Runs Scored: 218 | Runs Allowed: 291
Last Season: Virginia went 18-33 last year and 5-12 in the ACC.
Notable: Virginia is playing under first year head coach Joanna Hardin. She replaced former UO assistant coach Blake Miller. Hardin was the head coach at McNeese State.

CREIGHTON BLUE JAYS
Team BA: .255 | Team ERA: 3.55 | Runs Scored: 189 | Runs Allowed: 182
Last Season: Creighton went 25-22 last season with a 7-11 record in the Big East
Notable: Creighton was picked fifth in the preseason Big East poll. The Blue Jays return five starters, including its entire infield. Tash Coffiel hit a team-high .353 last year.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS
Team BA: .335 | Team ERA: 5.24 | Runs Scored: 371 | Runs Allowed: 291
Last Season: San Jose State went 28-24 last year and 17-7 in the Mountain West
Notable: San Jose State was picked third in the Mountain West preseason poll. Senior outfielder Brittany Abacherli hit a team-high 12 homers last season.

#24 FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS
Team BA: .269 | Team ERA: 3.49 | Runs Scored: 347 | Runs Allowed: 219
Last Season: Fresno State went 42-12 last season and won the Mountain West (22-1)
Notable: The Bulldogs open 2017 under first year coach Linda Garza, who was previously at UC Riverside. Trisha Ford left Fresno State for Arizona State.

SEATTLE U REDHAWKS
Team BA: .262 | Team ERA: 3.89 | Runs Scored: 160 | Runs Allowed: 260
Last Season: Seattle U went 19-33 with a 3-12 record in the WAC
Notable: Seattle U returns senior outfielder Page Bouska, who led the team with a .356 batting average and 30 runs scored last season.

CAL POLY MUSTANGS
Team BA: .272 | Team ERA: 2.41 | Runs Scored: 156 | Runs Allowed: 148
Last Season: Cal Poly went 27-23 with a 10-11 record in the Big West
Notable: RHP Sierra Hyland is back after finishing her junior season with a 1.19 ERA, the eighth-best in the NCAA. The all-Big West pick struck out 194 batters in 2016.

GAME COVERAGE
There will be no live stream available for the Kajikawa Classic as the Tempe Sports Complex does not have WiFi. Follow along with each game via twitter @OregonSB. Live stats will be offered via the softball schedule page on GoDucks.com.

2017 TEAM USA
Junior 3B Jenna Lilley was selected to join the USA Softball senior team for competition this upcoming summer. Lilley was selected after a tryout camp in January. Lilley also made the team last year, but after injuries as a sophomore, she did not play with the team in the summer of 2016. Former Oregon RHP Jessica Moore and OF Janie Takeda also made senior team again for 2017. Incoming C Mary Iakopo was named to the USA Softball junior team.

DUCKS CLINCH FOURTH PAC-12 TITLE
With a 5-1 win over Utah to open the series, the Ducks clinched a fourth straight Pac-12 championship last season. Oregon, which had never won a league title prior to its current streak, has gone 80-15-1 in Pac-12 play over the last four seasons, losing just two league series (UCLA last year, Arizona State in 2013). Oregon's four-year streak of championships is tied for the longest in Pac-12 history, matched only by UCLA (1988-91).

OREGON IN THE POLLS
The Ducks finished the 2016 regular season ranked No. 4 in both polls, but after falling to UCLA in Super Regionals, the Ducks ended the year ranked No. 10 by the NFCA and No. 11 by USA Softball. They are No. 9 in both the polls to start the 2017 season.

TOP-25 STREAK
Oregon softball has been ranked in the top-25 of the NFCA poll for 103 straight weeks (preseason and postseason polls included). The Ducks climbed to No. 23 in week 10 of the 2010 season and have never dipped below that mark since.

EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
The Ducks finished the 2016 season with one of the best offenses in the nation.
- Oregon led the NCAA with a .353 team batting average.
- The Ducks were second in the nation and first in the Pac-12, averaging 1.64 home runs per game.
- UO was second in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12 with a .618 slugging percentage.
- The Ducks scored 7.6 runs per game, fourth-best in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12.
- UO's .435 on-base percentage was seventh in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12.

RECORD BREAKING OFFENSE
Last season, Oregon set single-season program records for home runs (95), doubles (103), total bases (946), slugging (.619) and runs per game (7.60).

DUCKS SIGN NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS
Oregon will bring in the nation's No. 1 recruiting class in 2017, highlighted by the top-2 HS pitchers in the nation. RHP Miranda Elish (Crown Point, Ind.) was considered the top overall recruit by FloSoftball. She will be joined by RHP Maggie Balint (West Grove, Pa.), the No. 4 overall recruit in the country. The Ducks also signed the No. 6 recruit in IF Shannon Rhodes (Ft. Worth, Texas) and the No. 18 recruit in 1B/OF Mia Camuso (Redding, Calif.). Oregon also signed OF Haley Cruse (San Diego, Calif.).