Softball @ #25 Arizona Wildcats

Thursday, 4/14 - 5:00 pm - ESPN2

Friday, 4/15 - 5:00 pm - ESPNU

Saturday, 4/16 - Noon - Pac-12 Networks

Baseball @ Washington Huskies

Thursday, 4/14 - 7:05 pm - Pac-12 Networks

Friday, 4/15 - 2:05 pm - Pac-12 Networks

Saturday, 4/16 - 2:05 pm - Pac-12 Washington

Oregon baseball (21-11 overall, 7-5 Pac-12) travels up I-5 to Seattle this weekend, to take on the Washington Huskies (16-15, 6-9 Pac-12). In recent action, Oregon won a home series against Ball State 3–1 after being swept by UCLA in Los Angeles. Washington beat Utah Valley at home on Monday and went 1-2 against the Cal Golden Bears in Berkeley last weekend. Half of Washington’s Conference wins came in a sweep of Washington State in mid-March. Otherwise, they’ve lost series to Utah, Arizona State and Arizona, winning just one game in each.

Washington is not a particularly high-scoring team, averaging about 5 runs per game. Redshirt Sophomore catcher Johnny Tincher leads the Huskies with a .345 average and a .500 slugging percentage, but he is one of only 2 players above .300. The other is Freshman Coby Morales who is hitting .314. Will Simpson leads the team with 8 home runs and has a .540 slugging percentage, and 4 other players have 3 dingers each. Simpson also has 24 RBIs. Seven regular players have accounted for almost 80 percent of Washington’s RBIs. The Huskies are not much of a threat on the basepaths, having stolen only 18 bases on the season, with outfielder McKay Barney accounting for almost half the successful steals. Washington is a decent fielding team, posting a .972 average on 1171 attempts so far this season.

Washington has used 3 starters in 22 of its 31 games, but the three have not been particularly effective. Sophomore Jared Engman has 8 starts, compiling a 2-4 record and a 5.73 ERA in 37.2 innings. Calvin Kirchoff, another Sophomore, has started 7 games, has a 2-1 record and a 4.02 ERA in 40.1 innings. Case Matter rounds out the regular starters. He is 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in 22.0 innings. Among the other players how have started games, Colton McIntosh has yet to allow a run, but has pitched only 7 innings. Several others have pitched more than 20 innings in relief on the season – Stefan Raeth has pitched 37.2 innings in 19 appearances and has a 1.43 ERA and a 4-2 record. Washington’s pitching strength appears to be in relievers, not something Oregon has seen much this season. A hot pitcher or pitching staff has caused problems for the Ducks in several recent games, as it typically can in baseball. The Huskies certainly don’t appear to have a starting pitcher who can compete with Oregon’s bats.

Softball @ Arizona Wildcats

Oregon comes into the series at Tucson at 24-11 overall, but only 4-8 in the Pac-12. The Ducks have been swept in consecutive series by what appear to be the Conferences two top teams, UCLA and Arizona State. Oregon had shown promise earlier in the year with some significant victories but have hit a spell in which both their pitching and hitting have let them down. While Oregon’s pitchers are all very good, none of them have been consistent enough. Over the past couple of series, the Ducks have repeatedly been unable to deliver the key hit that would have broken innings open.

Arizona appears to be struggling even more than Oregon. The Wildcats are 21-14 overall, but just 2-10 in the Conference. Arizona scored only 2 total runs in its six games against UCLA and Arizona State and has single wins over Washington and Oregon State as its only Conference victories. The Wildcats can score runs – they piled up 22 in their series against the Huskies – but gave up 28 runs over those 3 games.

The Wildcats have seven players who are hitting over .300 this season, led by Sophomore Jasmine Perezchica at .414. Allie Skaggs is hitting .378 with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs. Carlin Scupin leads the team with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs and is hitting .365. Catcher Sharlize Palacios, while hitting only .258, has 9 homers and 34 RBIs. Palacios also leads the team in drawing bases on balls with 25. The Wildcats have stolen only 16 bases this season on 20 attempts with Perezchica having 9 of the total successful steals. Arizona has struggled a bit with its fielding having made 38 errors and fielding at a .959 clip.

The Wildcats have relied primarily on two pitchers as starters. Devyn Netz has started 14 games. She has compiled an 8-5 record and an ERA of 3.59. Hanah Bowen has started 13 games and has gone 8-6 with 3.96 ERA. Netz has struck out 48 batters and walked 23 in 76 innings, while Bowen has struck out 56 and walked 31 in 69 innings. Madi Elish has started 7 games and has a 4-3 record and a 4.01 ERA. She has pitched 52.1 innings in 21 total appearances.

The Ducks appear to have a chance to get back in their groove this series. While no team should be taken lightly, especially on the road, the Wildcats appear to be a team Oregon should be able to have success against.