10 Things You May Have Missed in College Softball This Weekend
The 2017 NCAA College Softball season is in full swing. This past weekend was full of records set and broken, team sweeps, coaching milestones reached, and stand-out performances all across the country. Here are ten things that stood out to us at Fastpitch News.
Florida State earned their third consecutive sweep of a conference opponent this season. The Seminoles (28-1-1, 9-0 ACC) defeated Notre Dame (12-13,1-5 ACC) on Sunday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field to remain undefeated in ACC play. In the 16-0 win on Sunday, ten different Seminoles scored a run and nine players drove in a RBI. FSU has won its last 11 conference games, dating back to the 2016 season. Overall, the Noles have won 92 of their last 102 ACC games (.902) and have earned the regular season conference title in each of the last four seasons. The Noles closed out their nine-game spring break schedule with a 9-0 record, outscoring their opponents – Virginia Tech, Florida Gulf Coast, Canisius and Notre Dame – by a combined score of 87-9. FSU hit .415 as a team with 29 extra-base hits, while the Seminole pitching staff recorded 61 strikeouts and limited opponents to a .195 batting average.
The University of Michigan softball team won both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday, defeating Kent State, 11-3 in six innings and 3-0, to earn the series sweep and net head coach Carol Hutchins her 1,500th career win in front of 1,173 fans at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. Already the winningest coach in NCAA softball history, Hutchins is now the first to reach 1,500 wins, hitting the milestone with the Wolverines’ win in the day’s first game. She is now 1,501-485-5 in her 33rd season at the helm of the Michigan program and 34th overall as a collegiate coach. The Wolverines (17-7-1) will return the action on Tuesday (March 21), hosting Bowling Green at 4 p.m. at Alumni Field in a make-up of last week’s postponed home opener.
JMU Junior Megan Good set the program’s single-season shutout record as James Madison (24-3) blanked Maryland 8-0 Sunday inside the Maryland Softball Complex. Good improved to 16-0 on the season with her 11th shutout to set a new single-season record for the Dukes. Good held the previous record of 10 shutouts over a single season, which she set during 2016. She now has a total of 27 career shutouts, the second-most in school history. Jailyn Ford holds the record with 31. During the Sunday matchup, Good scatted six hits and a walk to leave eight Terrapins (6-20-1) stranded. She struck out five in the contest. Junior first baseman Morgan Tolle tied JMU’s single-game record with four hits against the Terps. Tolle went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and three runs scored. Senior shortstop Niki Prince tallied two hits, including a three-run home run. Good picked up two hits and two RBIs at the plate.
Oregon softball run-ruled California, 10-2, to complete the series sweep on Sunday at Jane Sanders Stadium. The Ducks (27-0, 3-0 Pac-12) opened conference play with the sweep of the ranked Golden Bears (17-8, 0-3 Pac-12) and remain the only undefeated team in the nation. When looking ahead to playing Utah, head coach Mike White stated “Utah has excellent pitching, they are a team that fights. Hannah Flippen (of Utah) is an excellent ball-player, it is no wonder she’s on the U.S. National Team.” The Ducks will travel to Salt Lake City to face Utah in a three-game series this upcoming weekend.
Florida Atlantic University head softball coach Joan Joyce collected her 900th career win with a 4-1 victory over WKU on Sunday. The win also completed a series sweep of the Hilltoppers. FAU improved to 20-10 overall and 3-0 in Conference USA play. On win number 900, “I honestly didn’t even know about it until after the game, but it’s just a testament to the players we’ve had here over the years,” remarked Coach Joyce after the game. The Owls return home to host Charlotte in a three-game series beginning on Saturday, March 25.
Florida Gator pitcher’s Delanie Gourley and Aleshia Ocasio linked up for the fifth combined no-hitter in Florida softball history during a 10-0 victory over five innings to complete the sweep over South Carolina Sunday, March 19, at Beckham field. Gourley (11-1) threw four complete innings while Ocasio took over in the circle to finish the final inning of play. The Gators (26-1, 5-0 SEC) last combined no-hitter occurred on May 8, 2010, with the duo of Stephanie Brombacher and Erin Schuppert manufactured one against South Carolina (19-10, 1-5 SEC) in a 20-0 (5) blitzing in the series opener. Offensively over the weekend, Jaimie Hoover moved to 32 RBIs on the season after going two for three on the final day notching five RBIs – this was her seventh multiple-RBI game of the season. Also over the weekend, the Gators hit four home runs in the series against South Carolina and a total of 10 extra base hits.
Utah Softball completed a sweep of UCLA with a 4-0 victory on Sunday evening. “Our team is solid in all three areas; pitching, defense and hitting,” head coach Amy Hogue said. “This weekend proves that we can win on a big stage. That’s a key piece to have if we want to achieve our goals this season. I was very proud of what we were able to accomplish this weekend.” Utah pitcher Miranda Viramontes, improved to 7-0 with her second win of the series, going four innings and allowing just two hits and striking out three. Katie Donovan entered in relief and threw three shutout innings to seal the game. UCLA entered this series, fifth in the nation in home runs and 10th in slugging percentage but totaled just three runs on 13 hits over the weekend. “This sweep should be celebrated by everyone who ever played for Utah,” Hogue added. “It took years of building to become a team that could achieve something like this. I’m thankful to everyone that worked so hard and elevated the level of play for our program.” Utah will now travel down to Provo for a Wednesday night contest at BYU.
Auburn softball shook up the NCAA softball record books over the weekend. On Saturday Tiger pitcher Kaylee Carlson threw the second perfect game in program history, while Kasey Cooper became the second SEC player of all-time to achieve 250 hits and 250 RBI in a career. On Sunday morning, the Tiger softball team used six extra-base hits to earn a 9-4 victory against LIU Brooklyn. The Tigers (27-3) capped off a perfect weekend on the field, winning all five of their contests. The Tigers return home for a few days before heading back on the road for a conference matchup at Florida, March 25-27.
Belmont Softball, for only the 10th time in program history, had to delve into a 10 plus inning game on Sunday. Fueled by a pair of grand slams by junior Jess Andree, the Bruins outlasted Mercer (14-19), 13-12. Andree becomes the 12th player in NCAA history to record a pair of grand slams in a single game. The teams headed into the seventh frame locked in a 5-5 stalemate but neither was able to plate a run in their respective half innings. In the top of the 10th, the Bruins were able to load the bases and on the first pitch tossed her way, Andree smashed her second grand slam of the contest to put Belmont on top, 13-8. On her record-breaking day, Andree went 3-for-6 at the plate with a whopping six RBI. Freshman Bailey Sims went 3-for-5 while Wells finished at 3-for-4.
The Texas A&M Softball team completed its road sweep over Ole Miss, in a 3-1 final on Sunday afternoon at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Texas A&M (25-2, 5-1 SEC) snagged an early 1-0 lead in the first on a Riley Sartain sacrifice fly. Kaitlyn Alderink reached base on a one-out walk and moved to second on a fielding error. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Sartain sent a fly ball to the warning track in center, allowing Alderink to score. The Aggies return to action Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at home against Prairie View A&M. The game can be seen on the SEC Network +, available through WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
