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Oregon and Oregon State will have participants in the NCAA West Preliminary Round beginning today in Austin, TX. The NCAA Championships will be held in Eugene, June 10-13.
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Oregon, the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA softball championships, will be making its fourth appearance at the Women’s College World Series starting Thursday. Oregon’s first game of the WCWS will be against No. 7 seed UCLA on Thursday at 6:30 PM PT. The game will air live on ESPN2.
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Cheridan Hawkins was named a first team All-American for the second straight season while Jenna Lilley and Janie Takeda earned second team All-America honors, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced Wednesday at a press conference at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Takeda is the first player in Oregon history to be a three-time All-American, after being named first team as a sophomore and second team last year as a junior. This season Takeda became the 19th player in NCAA history to tally 300+ hits, 200+ runs and 100+ stolen bases in her career. She holds the UO career records in all three categories, plus doubles. Takeda is hitting .416 heading into the WCWS, with 56 runs scored, 11 doubles, three triples and five home runs. She leads all players from the Pac-12 with 35 stolen bases. Hawkins joins former hurler Jessica Moore as two-time All-American pitchers under head coach Mike White’s tutelage. Hawkins was a first team All-American last year. She is in the running for Academic All-America honors this season as well, which will be announced Friday. She was one of three finalists for the USA Softball player of the year award. The Ducks have had a pitcher earn All-America honors in four straight seasons. Hawkins, Takeda, Moore and Julie Cavanaugh are the only four players in UO history to earn multiple All-America honors. Hawkins boats a 1.41 ERA and a .135 batting average against heading into Thursday’s opener with UCLA at the WCWS. She has 269 strikeouts in 188.2 innings with 10 shutouts and 30-3 record. She ranks No. 2 in the nation, averaging just over three hits allowed per seven innings. Lilley stepped into some big shoes, having to replace graduated third baseman and 2014 first team All-American Courtney Ceo, but the freshman shined all season. The North Canton, Ohio, native was one of three finalists for NFCA national freshman of the year after leading the Ducks with a .433 batting average, 60 runs scored, 16 doubles, and 39 walks. She has struck out just 14 times so far this season. Lilley is also second on the team with 16 stolen bases.
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KJ Harrison was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Freshman of the Year Wednesday, highlighting a postseason honor list that also saw Andrew Moore, Jeff Hendrix and Drew Rasmussen honored as first-team all-league selections. The three, along with Harrison, who was also named a first teamer, gives the Beavers at least four for the third consecutive season. Additionally sophomore Kyle Nobach was named an honorable mention selection. Harrison and Rasmussen, meanwhile, are the only freshmen across the 11 team Pac-12 to be named to the first team. Moore and Hendrix were also named to the nine-man all-defensive team. Harrison’s selection as the top freshman ensures that the Beavers can claim at least one major league award for the fourth consecutive year, following Michael Conforto (freshman) in 2012, Conforto (Player) and Moore (pitcher) in 2013 and Conforto (player) and Jace Fry in 2014.