NCAA Tournament: Oregon Faces UCLA In Game 1
In the 2015 Regular season the Oregon Ducks found themselves just ahead of UCLA in the standings. There was pleny on the line when the two met for their only regular season series in the beginning of April which saw Oregon take two of three from the Bruins. In then end Oregon won the conference by just two games.
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For a good part of the season both teams have been ranked in the top ten. Oregon has been ranked either first or second in the country flip-flopping with Florida for the top spot. (The Gators have beaten Oregon twice this season and are the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Ducks are the number two seed.)
UCLA ended the season ranked seventh in the country and swept through their Regional and Super Regional rounds defeating C SUN, Texas, San Diego State and Missouri.
In the circle the Bruins are led by Ally Carda who is 31-6 with a 2.27 ERA this season. She was 5-0 with a 2.26 ERA in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Oregon took a different approach with two pitchers in the first two rounds with Cheridan Hawkins and Karissa Hovinga. Both combined for five wins, Hawkins also had a save. Hawkins is 30-3 with a 1.41 ERA this season. Hovinga is 12-1 with a 2.71 ERA.
The Oregon roster on Offense does not have a Starter hitting less than .325 this season. Jenna Lilley, Gwen Svekis and Janie Takeda are all hitting above .400 in 2015. The Bruins have key hitters in their lineup as well including Allexis Bennett who in the NCAA Tournament is hitting at a .533 clip. Mysha Sataraka is on fire hitting clost to .600 in the Tourney for the Bruins at .583 with seven hits and seven RBI’s in the last five games.
The Ducks and Bruins will begin the first leg, a double elimination, starting on Thursday at 6:30pm Pacific Time from Oklahoma City. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.