Lucas Gebhart
Sports Editor
This weekend, the Idaho State softball team will travel to Eugene, Oregon to participate in a tournament hosted by the University of Oregon, who is currently ranked 4th in the USA Today Coaches/NFCA Coaches Polls.
The Bengals are scheduled to play the Ducks twice this weekend on March 10 at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time and March 11 at 4 p.m. Mountain Time.
Oregon started the season ranked fifth in the preseason coaches polls and is a perfect 19-0 on the season including two wins over the 24th ranked Missouri Tigers.
This is the second Big Sky school the Ducks will have played this season as Montana fell, 6-0, on Feb. 25 in a tournament hosted by Hawaii. Oregon beat the tournament host twice that weekend by a combined score, 25-2.
ISU lost, 5-1, to Hawaii on Feb. 19 in Las Vegas. In that same tournament, the Bengals fell to UNLV, 1-0. The following weekend, ISU beat Fresno State, 11-6, while the Ducks defeated the Bulldogs, 4-1, on Feb. 10. Cal Poly played the Ducks to within a run, falling 3-1, on Feb. 12 while the Bengals split with the Mustangs, winning a tight, 1-0, game and falling, 7-5, the following day.
ISU has beaten Power Five schools this season. The Bengals beat Penn State last weekend in Fort Collins, 12-6, on Saturday after falling, 5-2, the previous day.
Oregon has blowout wins over Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Missouri and beat the 22nd ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 5-4, on Feb. 17. At the time of the Fresno State victory, the Bulldogs were also ranked 24th in the nation.
This is not the first ranked team the Bengals have played this season as Minnesota was ranked 12th when the Bengals fell, 12-2, on Feb. 26 in Fresno in a game lasted five innings.
Following the Oregon tournament, the Bengals will host Utah Valley on March 23 in the team’s home opener before entering Big Sky play.
