For the past three seasons, Oregon could reliably send Cheridan Hawkins out to the circle and Janelle Lindvall behind the plate most every time the Ducks took the softball field.

In turn, they reliably marched their way up the UO record lists, Hawkins finishing her career last spring as Oregon's all-time leader in wins, shutouts and strikeouts, and Lindvall first in home runs and RBIs.

As the 2017 season dawns, it's time for a new generation to take over as the Ducks' battery. Oregon begins play as the No. 9 team in the country with games Thursday against Virginia and Creighton in the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., featuring a young trio of pitchers throwing to a new full-time catcher.

"From what I see in the bullpen, we look pretty good," UO coach Mike White said. "But you don't win games in the bullpen. So what do we do out there on the field when it comes down to crunch time? That's going to be big."

With Hawkins and Lindvall as the primary battery, the Ducks made Women's College World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015, before coming up a game short last spring. The four-time defending Pac-12 champs don't intend for 2017 to be a rebuilding year – which will depend in no small part on the new-look pitching staff.

The familiar face is Megan Kleist , the Pac12's co-freshman of the year last spring after going 17-6 with a 2.36 ERA. She's joined by two of the top five recruits in the nation, Miranda Elish and Maggie Balint . As the Ducks prepared to open play Thursday in the Kajikawa Classic, with its six games in four days, White intends to see what each has to offer.

"This year I feel confident we'll use all three pitchers," White said. "I feel that strongly about these pitchers. We're going to be three-deep, not just one or two."

In easing the burden on Hawkins last season, the preternaturally composed Kleist featured a dropball and changeup, to which she's worked to add a riseball this offseason. Elish is a hard-throwing freshman who also works along a vertical plane, while Balint attacks horizontally with a curveball and screwball.

"I think we complement each other very well," Elish said. "We're similar pitchers, but we're all different. I'm just really excited to pitch alongside them."

Elish and Balint have each turned to Kleist as a mentor, something of an unfamiliar role for the typically reserved sophomore. But she recalls putting "millions of questions to Cheridan," and is working to provide the same guidance to this year's newcomers.

The Ducks will also lean on new catcher Gwen Svekis in that role. Lindvall was a psychology major and softball technician who was like a second coach in the bullpen or during visits to the circle; Svekis tried to soak up what she could while serving as her backup the past two seasons.

"Gwennie learned a lot from Janelle, and I can see that this year as we're doing scrimmages and stuff," Kleist said. "She really helps keep me calm; even though it might seem I'm calm out there, my mind's kind of going crazy. But she really helps me, Maggie and Miranda out there."

Kleist said her goal as a leader to the freshman pitchers has been to "ease the tension, make things fun but also get work done" in the bullpen. Elish joked of Kleist that "sometimes you've got to pull the words out of her, but she's more than helpful."

The trio of upperclassmen try to one-up each other in workouts. If one has a good session, Kleist said, the other two want to outdo her next time out.

That competitive spirit is what White has hoped to foster. If the young pitching staff can keep pushing each other to improve throughout the season, this doesn't have to be a rebuilding year for Oregon softball.

"They're going to push each other," White said. "And that's what we want. We want healthy competition."

The talented trio does present a challenge: how to portion out starting assignments and innings to best use all three. Elish and Balint each was a three-time Gatorade state player of the year, Elish in Indiana and Balint in Pennsylvania. They're used to getting the ball every day, if not multiple times per day.

But Kleist adjusted to sharing the workload last season with Hawkins, and she'll be there to help the freshmen follow suit this season.

"I'm not sure what to expect," Elish said. "I'm really excited. I'm just going to do whatever I need to do to make this team better and help us win. Whatever that role is, I'm going to step into it."