All you need to do to beat Oregon is figure out how to score without getting any hits.
Not score just once, mind you, but twice. Easy, right?
Come to think of it, that trick might come in handy against Florida, too. Not to mention Auburn and Georgia. And Washington and UCLA. And much of college softball's elite. With the first weekend of March as the most recent evidence, pitching again appears in ascendancy in college softball.
Take the fourth-ranked Ducks, who totaled more games played this past week than runs allowed. Oregon went 6-1 during a trip through Florida that included two wins at South Florida, two against previously one-loss Florida Gulf Coast, a win against Hofstra and a split against No. 13 Florida State at a weekend tournament in Tallahassee. Oregon's lone loss came Sunday despite Megan Kleist's second career no-hitter. A hit batter, error, fielder's choice and sacrifice fly were enough for the Seminoles to score twice in the fourth inning and hold on for the rarest of 2-1 wins.
Oregon isn't perfect -- its four losses are the most among teams ranked in the top 10 -- but its pitching is close. Each loss came against a ranked opponent, and those teams combined for just seven runs and 12 hits in those games. Florida State was merely the most creative.
Others were not as fortunate. Florida's Kelly Barnhill and Aleshia Ocasio combined to no-hit another ranked team in a 4-0 win over No. 9 Baylor on Saturday. It was the third no-hitter of the season for the Gators and their fourth shutout in five games against ranked opponents.
Not that anyone, ranked or otherwise, is having much success against Barnhill. She allowed one hit in her other appearance over the weekend and has allowed just that lone hit in her last 20 innings. The reigning espnW player of the year walked nine batters this weekend, decidedly out of character, but it's difficult for opponents to make someone with 95 strikeouts and 14 hits allowed in 56 2/3 innings this season pay for a few free runners.
Wait, we're not done with ranked teams going hitless. Long Beach State sophomore Cielo Meza threw her second career no-hitter and struck out 11 batters to beat No. 22 Minnesota 1-0.
Even when there were a handful of hits to be had, runs were hard to come by in many places.
At the top of the polls, No. 1 Washington limited No. 11 Alabama to one run on six hits in two games and barely called on ace Taran Alvelo to contribute. Florida State wasted a 10-inning three-hitter from Kylee Hanson when it lost 1-0 to Hofstra's Sarah Cornell and Sophie Dandola, the same duo that pushed Oregon to 11 innings and have matching 1.53 ERAs.
And the pitching supremacy doesn't appear anecdotal. With conference play beginning this week, SEC teams have played the majority of their nonconference games. They currently have a 1.46 ERA in those games, compared to a 1.68 ERA in nonconference games a season ago.
While Pac-12 data through the weekend wasn't available, those teams entered the weekend with a 1.64 ERA against nonconference opponents, compared to 1.93 in such games a season ago.
In the two best conferences, which are likely to produce nearly a third of the NCAA tournament field, pitching owned the first month of the season.