Postseason begins at Pac-12 Tournament for No. 24 Oregon Ducks softball

The postseason begins Thursday for the No. 24 Oregon softball team.

The third-seeded Ducks (28-18) will open Pac-12 Tournament play at 10 a.m. against sixth-seed Utah (32-19) in one of four quarterfinal games at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium, in Stanford, California.

The single-elimination tournament will continue with two semifinal games Friday and then the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Oregon has been in the Bay Area since late last week as it ended the regular season with a three-game series against the second-seeded Cardinal (42-12). The Ducks lost the first two games but won 1-0 on Sunday to finish in a tie with Washington for third in the conference standings. The Ducks won the tie-breaker for the No. 3 seed because they won the series against the Huskies last month.

“I think about this team and where we were at the beginning of the year … and I think we’re playing our best softball right now,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “You look at our numbers in the (Pac-12) and they’re strong. They’re strong and this is our toughest schedule. So I think we’re in a good place.”

Oregon softball has had success against Utah

The Ducks took the regular-season series against the Utes, winning two of three in mid-March in Salt Lake City.

Oregon teed of in the series opener, winning 20-3. It lost the second game 10-7 then won the finale 5-1.

The 32 runs scored in the series was the most by the Ducks against any Pac-12 team this season.

The 20 runs in the opener was the most for Oregon since a program-record 23-run outburst against Oregon State in 2015.

Ducks vs. Utes has potential for lots of offense

The Pac-12’s two best hitters will face off in Thursday’s game. Utah’s Abby Dayton is the conference leader with .444 average. Oregon’s Kai Luschar is second at .425.

The Ducks and Utes are also tied for fourth in the Pac-12 in team average at .310.

Oregon’s hitters swing more for power, however, as the Ducks have 47 home runs, 68 doubles and a slugging percentage of .495. Utah has 20 homers, 63 doubles and is slugging .421.

Outfielder Ariel Carlson is Oregon’s leader in homers (15), doubles (11) RBI (52) and slugging (.748).

What’s next for the winner?

Oregon or Utah will play either host Stanford or nearby rival California at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The Cardinal and seventh-seeded Golden Bears (36-16) play at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Ducks opened the Pac-12 season in March with a 2-1 series win at home against No. 19 Cal (36-16).

Stanford has the best pitching staff in the conference. The Cardinal are leaders in ERA (1.72), strikeouts (389), fewest runs allowed (114) and opponents batting average (.211).

Injured teammate is with the Ducks

Hanna Delgado was medically cleared to make the road trip with Oregon.

The senior centerfielder and team leader broke her neck on April 12 attempting to make a diving catch in a game against Arizona. She had surgery soon after and was back in the dugout for the Ducks’ final home games two weeks ago.

She’s a welcome and uplifting presence for the team, despite no longer being able to play.

“It’s great,” Lombardi said. “It’s like having another coach in the dugout. She’s been great and she’s doing really good. I’m proud of her.”

Oregon State softball opens with play-in game vs. Arizona State

The eighth-seeded Beavers (21-28) and ninth-seeded Arizona State (19-30) will open the tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals and a 4 p.m. game Thursday against top-seeded and sixth-ranked UCLA (34-10).

The Beavers, who went 9-15 in conference play, won two-of-three games against the Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona, in March.

2024 Pac-12 Conference Softball Tournament

Wednesday

• Game 1: No. 8 Oregon State vs. No. 9 Arizona State, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Thursday

• Game 2: No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 6 Utah - 10 a.m., Pac-12 Network

• Game 3: No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 7 California, 12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network

• Game 4: No. 1 UCLA vs. Game 1 winner, 4 p.m., Pac-12 Network

• Game 5: No. 4 Washington vs. No. 5 Arizona, 6:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Friday

• Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 4:30 p.m., ESPN2

• Game 7: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday

• Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon softball to open Pac-12 softball tournament vs. Utah