10 Things to watch for this weekend in College Softball
No. 1 Wildcats
The newly, No. 1-ranked Arizona Wildcats traveled to Salt Lake City Thursday to start their three-game series with the No. 11 Utah Utes. Before Thursday’s game, the two teams are a combined 20-2 in Pac-12 play. The Utes are 7-2 against ranked opponents this year while Arizona is 6-1. Arizona’s No. 1 ranking is the highest regular season ranking since 2010. Katiyana Mauga is one to watch this weekend. She has six home runs in her last 20 at bats which put her at 83 career bombs, four shy of the Arizona record, seven shy of the Pac-12 record and 12 shy of the NCAA record.
(Arizona beat Utah 5-1 Thursday night.)
Ragin’ Cajuns and Bobcats
The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns and their high-scoring offense will try to score on Texas State’s Randi Rupp. Rupp is 20-5 with eight complete-game shutouts and coming off a three-hit shutout against Baylor. ULL’s DJ Sanders is the nation’s leader in home runs (20) and slugging (1.047). The two will meet in a doubleheader on Friday night starting at 5 p.m. and the series finale on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Oregon looks to rebound
After suffering its first two losses of the season, No. 3 Oregon looks to rebound against No. 10 Washington. The series started Thursday night in Eugene and will finish Saturday. Oregon has won the last 12 of 15 meetings with Washington but the Huskies lead the all-time series 51-24. The game Friday night will be softball’s BEOREGON game this season. The Ducks will wear special visors supporting Oregon athletics’ project promoting sports as a place of acceptance and inclusion for all.
(Washington won Thursday night 4-2.)
Houston and Tulsa
The first game of this American Athletic Conference series was played Thursday night at the Collins Family Softball Complex in Tulsa. Both teams are 5-1 in conference play and tied for first place. The all-time series is even at 17-17 but the Cougars are 7-9 in Oklahoma. Emily Watson is ranked second nationally in strikeouts with 222 for Tulsa. Houston brings a high-flying offense featuring Shelby Miller who leads the conference in RBI (40).
(Thursday night’s game was halted with two outs in the top of the ninth and no score. The game will resume Friday at 4 p.m.)
Alabama and Tennessee
The Volunteers enter this weekend riding a 16-game win streak. It’s the second-longest active winning streak behind No. 1 Arizona. Alabama is 7-3 in its last 10 games. This series will feature the arms of Alexis Osorio and Sydney Littlejohn against the one-two punch of Tennessee’s Meghan Gregg and Brooke Vines. The duo ranks first and second in the SEC in RBI with 62 and 45 while Alabama’s two pitchers have combined for 32 wins and 365 strikeouts. Alabama leads the all-time series 36-21. The series begins Saturday at 6 p.m. and wraps Monday night at 7 p.m.
Stealing Skyhawks
The Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks moved into first place in the nation when they swiped their 129th stolen base of the season. The team averages just over three stolen bases per game. Carly Gonzales leads the team and the Ohio Valley Conference with 36 stolen bases. The Skyhawks will test the arms of conference foe Eastern Illinois Friday with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m.
Bailey Landry
LSU’s Bailey Landry leads the nation in hitting with a .515 average. She also happens to lead the Tigers in hits (69), doubles (7), triples (6) and stolen bases (10). Last weekend against Alabama, Landry hit .636 and accounted for seven of the team’s 12 hits against the Tide. She currently has 21 multi-hit games this season and 76 for her career which is good for fifth all-time at LSU. She is seven shy of the program record. The Tiger take on the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend in a three-game series.
Thundering Herd
Marshall makes its debut in the FPN rankings this week and is headed to Miami for a three-game series at Florida International. Morgan Zerkle is ranked 12th nationally with a .459 batting average. Elicia D’Orazio and Taylor McCord are also hitting above .400 for Marshall. McCord leads the team in homers (10) and RBI (42) while D’Orazio leads in run scored (40).
Amanda Lorenz
Florida’s Amanda Lorenz extended her reached base safely streak to 58 games, dating back to 2016, on Wednesday night against Florida State. She drew a two-out full-count walk in the fifth inning. The Gators travel to Lexington this weekend to face the Wildcats in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
Alyssa Rivera
Auburn’s Alyssa Rivera is fresh off her first SEC Freshman of the Week and continued her tear at the plate Wednesday night against Georgia State. She was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a home run and two RBI. Since being inserted into the starting lineup against Georgia two weeks ago, the freshman has gone 11-22 with four runs scored and six RBI. Auburn hosts Missouri this weekend in a three-game series.
*Happy Holidays*
While there is a lot of softball being played on Sunday, 33 Division I games to be exact, FPN wishes everyone a Happy Easter and Happy Passover. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy time spent with family and friends either at home or at the ballpark.
