Oregon softball headed to Fayetteville Regional to begin postseason
Oregon softball is officially postseason-bound.
The NCAA tournament field was revealed Sunday afternoon, and the Ducks are headed to SEC country.
No. 17 Oregon (31-17, 10-14) has been selected as the No. 2 seed in the Fayetteville regional. It will face No. 3 Witchita State, the No. 36-ranked team in the country, at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a double-elimination game that will air on ESPN+.
This will mark Oregon’s 22nd NCAA tournament appearance in program history and its second consecutive regional appearance.
“We’re excited; we’re excited to go to the postseason. We’re excited to go to the state of Arkansas,” Oregon coach Missy Lombardi said. “Right now the biggest thing that we’re doing is getting ready for Witchita State.”
The Ducks will be up against a Shockers’ squad that features shortstop Sydney McKinney, who leads the nation with a .511 batting average, and outfielder Addison Barnard, who leads the nation with 32 home runs.
“I’ve coached against Wichita State for the majority of my career,” Lombardi said. “I’m familiar with their team and I’m familiar with their coaches. They’re coached very well; they swing the bat well. They’re a very, very good team.”
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Elsewhere in the region, host Arkansas (44-9, 19-5 SEC) will face No. 4 seed Princeton on Friday. The Razorbacks ended the regular season ranked as the No. 4 team in the nation.
The Ducks are riding a recent hot streak and won five of their final six games to close out the regular season — including a pivotal series win on the road against Stanford.
“I think the biggest thing is: we’ve faced every single type of pitcher there is,” Oregon second baseman Allee Bunker said when asked how the Pac-12 has prepared the Ducks for this opportunity. “That’s usually the hardest thing to adjust to when going to play great teams.
“We’ve faced great pitching and defense all year, so I’m really excited to see us because there’s nothing we haven’t seen.”
