Oregon Ducks News: softball hosts regional, Sabrina honored, Heisman odds

Oregon women granted 16-seed, NCAA Regional at the Jane

Melyssa Lombardi's 47-7 softball squad will host a regional at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene beginning Friday May 16-18.

Despite being ranked in the Top Ten most of the year and beating Florida State, Tennessee and UCLA during the season the Ducks received the last regional hosting slot, seeded 16th in the 64-team field. Losses to low-RPI teams like Loyola Marymount, Oregon State and Michigan State cost them.

They'll host a pod of four teams in the double-elimination first round, Stanford, Weber State and Binghamton. They open Friday night with a 4:30 p.m. PDT game against the Weber State Wildcats, televised on ESPN2.

The winner of the Eugene Regional advances to Super Regional play, a best-of-three series at the higher seed, for the right to compete in the Final 8 at the Softball College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

For the Ducks, that means if they win the Regional at home, they'd likely meet No. 1-seed Texas A&M in College Station at the Super Regional.

Asked about watching the Selection Show, televised live on ESPN2, Shortstop Paige Sinicki told Chris Hansen of the Register-Guard,
"It was a little stressful. But honestly this whole group has been bought in to our team, no matter where we were going to go, if we were hosting or if we were going anywhere, we're just excited to play one game at a time. So, it was a little nerve-wracking, my palms were a little sweaty, but once we heard our name at 16 it was honestly just a blessing."

Mayor declares Sabrina Ionescu Day in Eugene

With the WNBA Champion New York Liberty in town to play an exhibition game at Mat Knight Arena versus a Japanese pro team, the Toyota Antelopes, Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson declared Monday May 12 "Sabrina Ionescu Day."

Updated Heisman odds posted: Which Duck makes the field of favorites?

Oregon has sent a finalist to New York in each of the last two seasons, Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix, and in 2014 Marcus Mariota became the first and only Duck to win the Heisman.

The Ducks best chance for a three-peat trip to the Big Apple, not surprisingly, is new quarterback Dante Moore.

The best odds in the Big Ten belong to Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith at +1200, but Moore is third in the conference behind Smith and Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.

Nationally, FanDuel rates the following three quarterbacks as Heisman frontrunners after spring practice:

Garrett Nussmeier LSU +800

Arch Manning Texas +800

Cade Klubnik Clemson +900

At this time last year, Gabriel was the favorite, but he wound up finishing third behind Heisman winner Travis Hunter and runner-up Ashton Jeanty of Boise State.

The schedule pits Moore versus Allar in Happy Valley on September 27 when Penn State hosts Oregon in what will likely be a Top Ten showdown and College GameDay showcase. A win there could elevate one quarterback to the top of the pack.

Nussmeier and LSU travel to Clemson on August 30 to take on Klubnik in a battle of Tigers versus Tigers, another key moment in the race. Arch Manning and Texas open with a road game at Ohio State, another Top Five clash sure to have significance in the quest for the Stiff-Arm Trophy.

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