SEC, BIG TEN and ACC Softball Conference Tournament Recaps 5-12-17
It was a wild day Thursday in College Softball. FPN offers up a quick cheat sheet on all the story lines at all the conference tournaments.
SEC Tournament
Crimson Tide Outlast Aggies
Alabama softball saw an early 1-0 lead erased by Texas A&M in the bottom of the seventh, forcing the teams to battle for 10 innings with a solo home run by Bailey Hemphill ultimately providing the difference in the Crimson Tide’s 2-1 victory
Ole Miss Stuns No. 1 Gators
No one outside the Ole Miss softball program believed the Rebels could beat No. 1 Florida. But they knew it, and did just that, shocking the Gators with a 2-0 shutout Thursday in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. With the victory, the Rebels (38-18) will advance on to play No. 15 Alabama, the No. 5 seed, in the semifinals at 3 p.m. ET Friday in Knoxville.
.@Kaitlin00 was 🔥 again today! On to the next one! #CTV pic.twitter.com/NtZ2ciyEhi
— Ole Miss Softball (@OleMissSoftball) May 12, 2017
Auburn Survives Kentucky
Kendall Veach belted a two-run home run and Kaylee Carlson threw a shutout to guide the No. 7 Auburn softball team to a 2-0 victory against No. 18 Kentucky Thursday night. The Tigers (46-9) advanced to the SEC Tournament Semifinals for the third-straight year. “Kaylee’s pitching and Kendall’s home run is the reason why we’re [moving on],” said head coach Clint Myers. “This team is resilient; there’s a different hero every night. They just figure out ways to win.”
Auburn is moving on!@AuburnSoftball advances to the SEC Tournament Semifinals for the 3rd straight year, defeating Kentucky, 2-0. pic.twitter.com/V8pv2sHh9L
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 11, 2017
LSU Knocks off Tennessee
After the Tennessee Volunteers scored two runs in the first three innings, the No. 21 LSU softball team roared back to score six unanswered runs over the course of two innings to storm back and upset the 2017 SEC Softball Tournament host Vols 6-2 Thursday night in Knoxville. Bailey Landry: 3-4, two doubles, RBI, two runs scored.
ACC Tournament
Florida State Hammers Virginia
Playing in the ACC Softball Championship for the first time didn’t faze the crop of FSU freshmen as the first-year Seminole players combined for three home runs, 10 RBI and six runs scored as No. 4 Florida State (49-6-1) earned a 16-0 win in five innings over Virginia (22-32) in the quarterfinal round of the tournament on Thursday.
NC State Upsets Louisville
Highlighted by three runs on four hits in the fifth inning, the NC State softball team held off Louisville 5-2 on Thursday evening in the ACC Championship quarterfinal in Chapel Hill, N.C., at Anderson Stadium. “I was really pleased with how we swung the bats. I think we set the tone that we would come out fighting. We got one on the board and got another one and gave one back. It’s who we are,” said head coach Shawn Rychcik. “We kept grinding them out. It was phenomenal. We had 12-pitch bats, 10-pitch at-bats and they were resulting in hits. We did a great job of running the pitch count up on both pitchers.
Notre Dame Tops Boston College
If the three games that took place last weekend between the University of Notre Dame softball team and Boston College were any indication, fans were in for a treat on the opening day of the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Softball Championship. Battling from an early deficit for the third time in four meetings with the Eagles, Notre Dame scored the final seven runs to outlast Boston College 9-5 in eight innings on Thursday during the inaugural round of the ACC tournament at Anderson Stadium.
☘ Irish Advance to ACC Semifinal!
4 runs scored in the 8th inning launches @NDSoftball to a 9-5 win over Boston College.
📽 Highlights pic.twitter.com/bGKdzRjC3z
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) May 11, 2017
North Carolina Advances
Three seed North Carolina scored six runs in the bottom of the first to propel itself to an 8-4 victory over #6-seed Syracuse in the last Quarterfinal of day one of the 2017 ACC Softball Championship, hosted by the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. The win sends the Heels into the ACC Semifinals, where they will face rival NC State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12. The seventh-seeded Wolfpack knocked off #2-seed Louisville, 5-2, earlier in the day.
Big Ten Tournament
Northwestern Moves On
Eighth-seeded Northwestern scored six times in the first inning, providing all the offense it would need in a 6-1 victory over No. 9 seed Purdue to open the 2017 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at the Wilpon Complex/Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. With the victory, the Wildcats (25-28) advance to the tournament quarterfinals on Friday and a matchup with Big Ten Champion and top-seeded Minnesota at 11 a.m. (ET) live on BTN.
Penn State Tops Nebraska in Upset
Penn State pitcher Marlaina Laubach went the distance on a two-hit shutout, setting down the final 11 batters she faced as the No. 12 seed Nittany Lions toppled fifth-seeded Nebraska, 5-0 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at the Wilpon Complex/Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Ziegler talks about her perfect performance at the plate in the victoryhttps://t.co/KS2PhmN4tV
— Penn State Softball (@PennStateSB) May 11, 2017
Michigan States moves on
Pinch-hitter Jordan Davis drilled a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap a four-run rally as No. 7 seed Michigan State edged 10th-seeded Indiana, 8-7 in game three of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at the Wilpon Complex/Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Spartans (30-21) pick up their first conference tournament win since 2008 and move into Friday’s quarterfinal round, where they will face in-state rival and No. 2 seed Michigan at approximately 4:30 p.m. (ET) live on BTN.
Badgers shutout Hawkeyes
Freshman Kaitlyn Menz threw a complete game three-hit shutout as sixth-seeded Wisconsin defeated No. 11 seed Iowa, 3-0 in the final first-round game of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Menz allowed just one hit out of the infield (a single by Cheyenne Pratt to lead off the game) and one batter to reach third base while striking out six as the Badgers advanced to a quarterfinal game against third-seeded Ohio State at approximately 7 p.m. (ET) Friday.
