OTES

Date Opponent Time (PT) TV Feb. 8 Kansas 10:30 AM P12N CSUN 4:30 PM None Feb. 9 Missouri 8:00 AM None Bradley 4:00 PM None Feb. 10 Seattle U 8:00 AM P12N

A new era of Oregon softball will begin this weekend in Tempe, Ariz., as the No. 25 Ducks kick off the 2019 season with five games at the Kajikawa Classic, beginning Friday against Kansas.Entering their first season under head coach, the Ducks' 2019 squad will feature five returners from 2018 and 14 total newcomers, including 10 freshmen. Oregon will play Kansas and CSUN on Friday, Missouri and Bradley on Saturday, and Seattle U on Sunday."This is a pretty resilient group, and I want to see them get into opening weekend and just settle in and get after it," said Lombardi. "There's no pressure on them, so let's just relax and play the game that we love. If there are adjustments to make, we'll make them, but I just want to see full effort and for them to absolutely compete."I can't wait to get started."Oregon will play five games at the Kajikawa Classic, with two broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks. UO's first and last games will be at Farrington Stadium, with the rest at the Tempe Sports Complex. Live stats for all five games will be available at Oregon.Statbroadcast.com.A new era of Oregon softball officially began on July 9, 2018, as director of athleticsannounced the hiring ofas the 12th head coach in program history. Lombardi brought to Oregon an elite championship resume after a highly successful 21-year tenure as an assistant at Oklahoma, including the final 11 years as associate head coach. The 2017 DI assistant softball coach of the year, Lombardi was responsible for Oklahoma's pitchers and catchers throughout her 21-season stint in Norman, helping lead the Sooners to four national championships, including back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, and a total of 15 Big 12 regular season or postseason tournament titles.After struggling to the tune of a .190 batting average in limited playing time as a freshman, JR OFreinvented her swing last year as a sophomore and came away with remarkable results. Cruse finished the year leading the Ducks and ranking sixth in the Pac-12 with a .377 batting average, and her .426 mark in conference play led all Pac-12 hitters by more than 70 points. A second-team all-Pacific Region and third-team all-Pac-12 selection, Cruse also ranked ninth in the Pac-12 with a .430 on-base percentage, striking out just 13 times in 130 at-bats, and the San Diego, Calif., native racked up 15 multi-hit games. Cruse is one of five returners for the Ducks on the 2019 squad, along with SO UT, SR OF, SR OFand SR C/1B. Kaboli-Nejad will miss her senior season after suffering a knee injury in preseason practice.The Ducks hit the ground running underin the fall, going 8-0 in fall exhibition games while outscoring opponents 114-2. SR C/1Benjoyed a huge fall at the plate, hitting .563 with a team-high five home runs and 15 RBIs, and she'll look to carry that momentum into the spring as she prepares for increased playing time as a senior.An offseason of transition saw 14 new faces join the Ducks, including three transfers and 10 total freshmen. Oregon added SO LHP(Virginia Tech) and SO LHP(Texas A&M) by way of transfer to headline its 2019 pitching staff, while also signing FR C(Arizona State). Dail was 12th in the ACC last year as a freshman with 116 strikeouts and fifth with a .209 opponent's batting average, while MacGrandle posted a 5-1 record with a 2.60 ERA and two complete games in eight appearances. The Ducks added the trio of transfers to their five returners and a highly-regarded freshman class, and then filled out the roster with a flurry of walk-on additions, including SR UT, JR UT, FR IF, FR RHP, FR OFand FR C. Bruner was a four-year letterwinner for Oregon soccer and will give the Ducks a big speed threat on the base paths.Five of Oregon's freshmen were ranked in the top 100 of FloSoftball's recruiting rankings for the 2018 class, including IF(No. 10), IF(No. 11), C(No. 20), OF(No. 73) and IF(No. 96), and UTwas also highly regarded after a dominant career at Scappoose HS. Bunker, Cid and Sievers will have a chance to make an instant impact around the infield for the Ducks, and both Galey and Wagner will compete for playing time in the outfield and possibly at first base.Head coachmade headlines around the softball world with the hiring of three highly-regarded coaches to her 2019 staff in assistantsandas well as volunteer assistant. Shults, an all-American at UC Riverside and a 2011 MLB Draft pick by the Houston Astros, takes over as the Ducks' hitting coach. Langenfeld is Lombardi's "utility" coach, working with both the Ducks' pitchers and hitters, after a dominant two-way career at UCLA, where she won a national title in 2010. Romero, a four-time all-American at Michigan (2013-16) and one of the sport's biggest names, works primarily with UO's infielders.After earning a No. 25 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA preseason poll, Oregon softball has been ranked in the top 25 of the NFCA poll for 135 straight weeks (preseason and postseason polls included). The Ducks climbed to No. 23 in week 10 of the 2010 season and have never dipped below that mark since. Oregon was inside the NFCA top six for all of the 2018 season.After opening the season at the Kajikawa Classic, the Ducks will head to Clearwater, Fla., next weekend (Feb. 15-16) to play four games at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational.