Notes: Oregon and Florida State Meet in Top-Five Matchup

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 5 ranked Oregon softball team plays host to No. 2 ranked Florida State this weekend in a top-five non-conference showdown at Jane Sanders Stadium.

The Ducks and Seminoles meet in a doubleheader starting at 4:30 PM on Saturday and a single game at 5 PM on Sunday.

#5 OREGON DUCKS (41-6, 14-6 Pac-12)
Team BA: .326 | Team ERA: 1.40 | Runs Scored: 305 | Runs Allowed: 78
Recently: Oregon swept the three-game Civil War series with Oregon State
National Rankings: The Ducks are No. 5 in both top-25 polls
All-Time Series: Oregon leads Florida State in the all-time series, 5-4
Last Meeting: #1 Oregon defeated #8 FSU in the WCWS, 3-0 (May 29, 2014)
Notable: The Ducks dominated rival Oregon State over the weekend, running their Civil War winning streak to 15 games and five-straight series sweeps. Oregon outscored OSU 22-2 in the series. RHP Megan Kleist was named Pac-12 pitcher of the week after going 2-0 against the Beavers with no runs allowed on four hits in 12 innings. She walked one and struck out 11. Since April 4, Kleist has walked just five batters over her last 50 innings pitched. The Ducks rank No. 9 in the country with a .325 batting average and eighth in the nation with a 1.40 ERA. Individually, RHP Maggie Balint is 14th in the NCAA and third in the Pac-12 with a 1.16 ERA.

#2 FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (48-3-1, 24-0 ACC)
Team BA: .341 | Team ERA: 1.34 | Runs Scored: 371 | Runs Allowed: 85
Recently: Swept a three-game series with North Carolina, beat No. 1 Florida Wednesday
National Rankings: Florida State is ranked No. 2 in both top-25 polls
Head Coach: Lonni Alameda (Ninth Season)
Notable: Florida State picked up a 3-1 win over No. 1 Florida on Wednesday as Alex Powers hit a walkoff two-run homer in the 11th inning. FSU scored all three runs off Florida pitcher Kelly Barnhill, who had allowed just three earned runs all season going into the game. Barnhill also had not allowed a homer all season and FSU hit a pair in the game. Last weekend with a sweep of North Carolina, FSU finished ACC play with a perfect 24-0 record, the first team to go unbeaten in ACC play since the 2003 season. Jessica Warren leads the Seminoles with a .448 average, 20 homers and 63 RBIs. Jessica Burroughs has a 1.00 ERA with 221 strikeouts in 154.0 innings.

SENIOR DAY
Sunday's game will be the final regular season home game for Oregon in 2017. The Ducks will honor their three seniors - Nikki Udria, Sammie Puentes and Danica Mercado - prior to the game.

BROADCAST INFO
- All three games vs. Florida State will be broadcast live on both Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 National.
- KWVA 88.1 FM will broadcast all three games as well.
- Live stats for all three games are available at oregon.statbroadcast.com.

WHEN PLAYING FLORIDA STATE
- Oregon leads the all-time series vs. FSU, 5-4
- The last time the Ducks and Seminoles met was in the first round of the 2014 Women's College World Series with the Ducks winning, 3-0.
- In that game, sophomore Cheridan Hawkins outshined national player of the year, FSU pitcher Lacey Waldrop. Hawkins tossed a one-hit shutout with two walks and six strikeouts. The Ducks tallied three runs off 10 hits and a walk against Waldrop. Jessica Burroughs, FSU's current ace, tossed one inning of relief, allowing one hit - a single by Nikki Udria - with one strikeout.
- The Ducks and Seminoles also met in the NCAA regionals in 2004 in Tallahassee (prior to super regionals). FSU won and advanced to the WCWS.

ROSTER CONNECTIONS
Oregon junior catcher Gwen Svekis (Davie, Fla.) played high school ball at St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. FSU's Meghan King also played at St. Thomas Aquinas, graduating the same year as Svekis.

TOP TIER TEAMS
This weekend's matchup between FSU and Oregon will pit two of the best teams in the country. Oregon ranks ninth in the country with a .325 batting average and eighth in the nation with a 1.40 ERA. Florida State, meanwhile, is sixth in the NCAA with a .341 average and fifth with a 1.34 team ERA.

UDRIA ON BASE
Senior Nikki Udria has gotten on base every game but one this season for the Ducks. She failed to reach base against Cal Poly back on Feb. 12. Since then, she has gotten on base in 41 straight games.

SWIPE SISTERS
Senior Danica Mercado (20) and sophomore Alexis Mack (18) are first and second in the Pac-12 in stolen bases, respectively. As a team, the Ducks have a Pac-12-high 73 stolen bases this year, 27 more than Cal in second place.

UDRIA ATTACKING THE RECORD BOOK
Nikki Udria is working her way into contention for multiple Oregon career records. Udria is currently third in UO history with 184 career runs with the record of 204 held by Janie Takeda (2015). She's also third with 171 RBIs with Janelle Lindvall setting the record of 195 in 2016. Udria is also fourth in UO history with 234 hits and fifth with a .379 career batting average.

RANKED OPPONENTS
When looking at the schedules of Oregon and Florida State, the number of ranked opponents stands out. Including Wednesday's game against No. 1 Florida, the Seminoles have played six ranked opponents all season and none in ACC play. The Ducks, meanwhile, have faced 22 ranked foes, including 17 of 20 Pac-12 games.

RPI CHECK
The Seminoles are one spot ahead of the Ducks in this week's NCAA RPI. FSU is No. 6 while Oregon is No. 7. The Pac-12 features four teams in the top-7 (No. 2 UW, No. 3 Arizona, No. 5 UCLA). All of Oregon's losses this year came to those three top-5 RPI teams.

STRIKEOUT-TO-WALK RATIOS
Oregon's young pitching staff has racked up the strikeouts this season without allowing many free passes.
- Freshman RHP Miranda Elish has 78 strikeouts but only 18 walks for a 4.3-to-1 ratio.
- Sophomore RHP Megan Kleist has 113 strikeouts and just 27 walks, a 4.2-to-1 ratio.
- Freshman RHP Maggie Balint has 124 strikeouts this season compared to just 30 walks, a 4.1-to-1 ratio.

IN THE CIRCLE
Oregon's young pitching staff has shined all year long.
- With a 1.40 team ERA, the Ducks rank eighth in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12.
- Oregon owns three of the top-8 ERAs in the Pac-12 this season, highlighted by Maggie Balint's 1.16 ERA, third-best in the Pac-12. Megan Kleist is fourth with a 1.31 and Miranda Elish is eighth with a 1.88.
- Maggie Balint leads the Pac-12 with a .170 opponent batting average.
- Oregon pitchers have struck out 315 batters, the second most in the Pac-12.

EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
Oregon has been one of the best hitting teams in the nation over the last few seasons and this year is no exception.
- UO ranks ninth in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with a .325 batting average.
- The Ducks are sixth in the country and rank second in the league with a .427 on-base percentage.
- Oregon is eighth in scoring in the NCAA, averaging 6.49 runs per game.
- Oregon owns three of the top-6 individual batting averages in the Pac-12. Alexis Mack is second in the conference, hitting .421. Nikki Udria is just behind he rin third, hitting .417. Danica Mercado is sixth, hitting .399 this season.

OREGON IN THE POLLS
The Ducks were No. 9 in both polls to start the 2017 season. After sweeping Oregon State, the Ducks climbed one spot to No. 5 in both polls.

TOP-25 STREAK
Oregon softball has been ranked in the top-25 of the NFCA poll for 116 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.