The Ducks earned a home regional with a 40-12 record, and now they get to play in one of the best venues in college sports before a loud, enthusiastic crowd while sleeping in their own beds for the first week of the NCAA Tournament.
The Jane (as Jane Sanders Stadium is affectionately known) will be rocking. Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi told John Evans of 247Sports, "We absolutely love playing at The Jane. There's no better place to play."
"The energy and the support that our fans bring us, they're a difference maker. So it's about them packing the house like they have all year long and coming out and just continuing to do what they've done every home game for us. They're a big part of what we do."
The metal bleachers will be stomped. The call of "Go...Ducks" will go from the home-plate stands to the outfield. This is a sophisticated crowd that appreciates a great defensive play, a quality at-bat or a stolen base. The enthusiasm and positive energy will be electric.
It gives the Ducks the best chance to come in primed and ready, to emerge out of the Eugene Regional to the Super Regional, where they would face the winner of the Norman Regional, in Norman, Oklahoma, likely the No. 1-seed Sooners.
Regionals are the place where a team can create momentum and confidence.
To survive, Oregon has to get past The Mississippi State Bulldogs, the Saint Mary’s Gaels and the Idaho State Bengals in pool play. It's a 4-team pod with the Ducks taking on Idaho State on Friday night., 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
The tournament is double elimination, and the goal is to stay in the winners bracket. Hythloday of Addicted to Quack and Yahoo Sports points out that winning the first two games gives the Ducks a 90% chance of advancing to the Super Regionals.
Falling into the loser's bracket puts a team at risk of exhausting their pitchers. It creates the daunting challenge of having to beat a good team twice on Sunday. It ramps up the pressure.
Weather in Eugene for the tournament indicates a high of 61 on Friday, chance of a shower Saturday with a high of 57, partly sunny Sunday with a high of 59, according to The Weather Channel. In short, good softball weather, in a climate more amenable to the northwest teams, less like Starkville in May. That's a minor factor but a good omen.
It's imperative to play loose and confident. No one performs their best with a white knuckle grip on the bat or struggling to find the strike zone. For the Ducks, first baseman Stefini Ma'ake has been swinging a hot bat with four home runs over their last four games, a .636 average against UCLA in the last week of the regular season.
Getting past Mississippi State and the SEC mystique
The Bulldogs figure to be the toughest matchup. In all the SEC sent 12 teams to the tournament. No. 18-ranked MSU posted a 38-18 record this year. From Jasper, Texas, outfielder Kiarra Sells blasted 14 home runs and hit .352. The Bulldogs' lights-out starting pitcher Peja Goold emerged from the SEC with a 15-10 record and a 2.12 ERA.
Pitcher Alyssa Faircloth (13-7, 2.51 ERA) led the conference in strikeouts with 235 in 153.1 innings, while third baseman Nadia Barbary paced the team in RBI with 37, hitting .331.
The biggest edge the Bulldogs have is that they've faced tough pitching all year. In their league there are 10 pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA, three from Tennessee with an ERA of 1.52 or less. They've seen speed, power and elite defenses, played in front of big crowds.
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