Editor, GoDucks.com
Under different circumstances, Danica Mercado might have been rooting on her Oregon softball teammates from the bench Friday when the Ducks opened Super Regional play against North Carolina State at Howe Field.
A week earlier in Regionals, UO coach Mike White used a three-player rotation at second base and right field that included Mercado, Alyssa Gillespie and Lauren Lindvall. The Ducks played three games, and White used three different combinations, with each player beginning one game on the bench.
Depending on what his gut told him — his gut being the decision-maker regarding such things, he said — White might have filled out Friday's lineup card with Lindvall at second base, Gillespie in right and Mercado in reserve.