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Oregon Ducks Meet Kentucky Wildcats Again With Oklahoma City On The Line

By Justin Phillips

Oregon Ducks Starter Miranda Elish strikes out the side against Drake in the Eugene Regional of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.Justin Phillips/KPNW Sports
Oregon Ducks Starter Miranda Elish strikes out the side against Drake in the Eugene Regional of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.Justin Phillips/KPNW Sports /
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Oregon Ducks Take Momentum Into Super Regional vs Kentucky This Weekend At Jane Sanders Stadium.

The Oregon Ducks and Kentucky Wildcats have met on this field before, last season in fact in the Super Regional Round with a trip to Oklahoma City on the line. Last Weekend, the Ducks did not allow a run in the Regional Round. Kentucky run-ruled all of their opponents and rolled through the Lexington Regional to return to Eugene this weekend.

Both teams have players that can pitch and hit. The Oregon Ducks Starters have an ERA under 1 and both Miranda Elish and Megan Kleist have over 200 strikeouts this season. The Ducks 1.06 Team ERA leads the NCAA this season. Oregon is also 7th in batting and 11tih Nationally in Scoring putting up over six runs per game.

Kentucky enters the weekend as the 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 38-15, but don’t let their record fool you. They boast a powerful lineup with eight hitters batting better than .300 this season. Bailey Vick leads the team batting .358 and the Wildcats have earned their walks this season with patience at the plate. The team has 160 free passes and has also stolen 76 bases this season – which bears watching this weekend at Jane Sanders Stadium.

Abbey Cheek leads Kentucky with 16 home runs and 51 RBI’s.

In the circle, Kentucky has a rotation of three led by Grace Baalman with a 2.28 ERA. She is 13-8 on the season with 10 complete games. Baalman has struck out 94 and allowed 8 home runs this season.

At the plate, the Oregon Ducks did not run away in the Regional Round as some expected, but Oregon did put up runs in the fifth inning in each of their games last weekend and did it with flair. Freshman Lauren Burke was inserted into the lineup on Thursday and Friday and hit home runs in both games to help Oregon to victory.

Next: Oregon Baseball: Ducks Close 2018 Hosting Arizona

Kentucky remembers last season and how it came to an end at Jane Sanders Stadium. The Wildcats will be ready to play on Thursday in Game 1 set for 6 pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.