No. 6 Softball Heads to Florida for Seven Games In Four Days

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 6 ranked Oregon softball team flies to Florida this week for its final non-conference road trip of the 2018 season. The Ducks will play a doubleheader against South Florida, and pitching coach Jessica Moore, on Thursday in Tampa before playing in a four-team invite at Florida State over the weekend.

#6 OREGON DUCKS (12-3)
Team BA: .340 | Team ERA: 1.00 | Runs Scored: 102 | Runs Allowed: 18
Notable: Pitchers Miranda Elish and Megan Kleist have been nearly unhittable this season. Elish has a 0.22 ERA in 32.0 innings and tossed a two-hit shutout of No. 7 LSU last week. Kleist has a 1.10 ERA in 38.1 innings and struck out 16 vs. Ole Miss.

SOUTH FLORIDA (7-10)
Team BA: .284 | Team ERA: 3.85 | Runs Scored: 65 | Runs Allowed: 79
All-Time: Oregon leads, 2-0 | Last: #12 Oregon beat #17 USF, 2-1 (5/22/04)
Notable: South Florida is 1-4 against top-25 teams this year, with a 3-2 win over No. 18 Michigan. USF lost to then-No. 19 Oklahoma State, 9-5, on Feb. 17.

#13 FLORIDA STATE (12-4)
Team BA: .320 | Team ERA: 1.43 | Runs Scored: 100 | Runs Allowed: 24
All-Time: Oregon leads, 8-4 | Last: #5 UO defeated No. 2 FSU, 2-1, in 9 (5/7/17)
Notable: Oregon swept FSU in a three-game series in Eugene last year. Jessie Warren is hitting .449 this year with a team-high eight home runs and 25 RBIs.

FLORIDA GULF COAST (13-0)
Team BA: .274 | Team ERA: 0.53 | Runs Scored: 60 | Runs Allowed: 22
All-Time: First meeting | Last: Oregon and FGCU have never played
Notable: FGCU is undefeated and its pitching staff is the reason. FGCU has four pitchers, all with a sub-1 ERA. Riley Randolph has a 0.88 ERA in a team-high 31.2 IP.

HOFSTRA (8-4)
Team BA: .218 | Team ERA: 1.72 | Runs Scored: 38 | Runs Allowed: 24
All-Time: Oregon leads, 2-0 | Last: #4 UO beat Hofstra, 12-1, in five (3/12/17)
Notable: Hofstra has struggled at the plate this season but it has shined in the circle. Sarah Cornell has a 1.31 ERA in 59.o IP with 73 strikeouts and just 11 walks.

BROADCAST INFO
South Florida will have a free live stream for both games of Oregon's doubleheader on March 1. Florida State does not live stream games.

RADIO INFO
KWVA 88.1 FM will be on the road to broadcast all seven games of the Ducks' Florida road trip. Fans outside of Eugene can stream the broadcast for free http://kwva.uoregon.edu/listen-live.

WHO TO WATCH
Miranda Elish was outstanding at the Mary Nutter Classic. The RHP improved to 17-0 in her career after picking up wins against both No. 18 Oklahoma State and No. 7 LSU. Elish had 10 strikeouts vs. the Tigers in a shutout.

OREGON IN THE POLLS
Oregon started the 2018 season ranked No. 3 in both top-25 polls. The Ducks were No. 4 in the NFCA poll and No. 3 in the USA Softball poll at the end of the 2017 season, after reaching the WCWS semifinals.

TOP-25 STREAK
Oregon softball has been ranked in the top-25 of the NFCA poll for 123 straight weeks (preseason and postseason polls included). The Ducks climbed to No. 23 in week 10 of the 2010 season (Mike White's first season in Eugene) and have never dipped below that mark since.

ELISH SHINES IN PALM SPRINGS
Miranda Elish allowed just one run over two starts and four total appearances last weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
- Elish tossed a complete game against No. 18 Oklahoma State, allowing just one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
- She was even better against No. 7 LSU, recording a two-hit shoutout against the Tigers with a season-high 10 strikeouts and just two walks.

FLORIDA CONNECTION
- Oregon senior catcher Gwen Svekis and Florida State pitcher Meghan King both attended St. Thomas Aquinas HS and are close friends.
- Last season, when the Ducks host the Seminoles in Eugene, Svekis homered off King in the first game of a three-game series. The Ducks run-ruled then-No. 2 FSU, 11-0, in five innings to open the set, then won 3-1 and 2-1 (nine innings) to sweep the series.

BOOM OR BUST
In her first 15 games with the Ducks, shortstop DJ Sanders has 10 hit and seven of them are home runs.
- Her first three hits of the season were homers (two against CSUN, one against Missouri) before she singled against UTEP for her fourth knock. The next day, Sanders went 2-for-3 with a homer against New Mexico.
- At the Puerto Vallarta Challenge, Sanders had two hits - homers against Rutgers and Texas.
- In Palm Springs at the Mary Nutter Classic, Sanders had a base hit against Oklahoma State and a two-run blast against LSU.

EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
- Oregon ranks 15th in the NCAA in batting average (.340), 11th in on-base percentage (.434) and ninth in slugging percentage (.569).
- The Ducks are averaging 6.8 runs per game, the 18th-best in the nation.
- Oregon has ranked 10th (.324 in 2017), first (.353 in 2016), third (.359 in 2015), third (.342 in 2014) and seventh (.329 in 2013) in the NCAA in batting average over the last five seasons.
- Individually, DJ Sanders is fourth in the NCAA with seven homers while Gwen Svekis is 16th with five.
- Sanders is fifth in the Pac-12 in slugging, at .939.
- Mary Iakopo's three sac flies lead the NCAA.
- Jenna Lilley and Alexis Mack each have a team-high 21 hits, which ranks 30th in the NCAA.

IN THE CIRCLE
- Oregon's 1.00 team ERA is second-best in the Pac-12 and 11th-best in the nation this year.
- With a 1.41 team ERA, the Ducks ranked fifth in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12 last season.
- Miranda Elish leads the Pac-12 with a 0.22 ERA.
- Elish is fourth in the NCAA with four shutouts.