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 team sweeps and stand-out performances all across the country. Here are ten things that stood out to us at Fastpitch News.
The Oregon softball team’s historic winning streak continued on Sunday as the Ducks defeated Arizona state 1-0 on a walk off in the eighth inning. The top 5 ranked Ducks are now 33-0 on the season and 8-0 in Pac-12 play. Here’s how it happened: In the eighth inning, Gwen Svekis drew a leadoff walk before Nikki Udria singled to left. Haley Cruse came on to pinch run for Svekis and was brought home to score on a single to center from Mia Camuso. Maggie Balint picked up the win after tossing 1.2 innings of relief. She allowed one hit and posted one strikeout. Balint is now 16-0 on the season. Megan Kleist started and tossed 6.1 scoreless innings with four hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Sunday’s sweep is the 25th time the Ducks have swept a Pac-12 series under head coach Mike White.
Mizzou Softball (20-14, 3-5 SEC) earned its first walk-off victory of the season Sunday afternoon, defeating No. 9 Alabama, 4-3. Mizzou capped off its first conference series triumph this season, while also claiming its first-ever SEC series win over Alabama. The Tigers’ last series victory over the Crimson Tide occurred in 2010, as they took two-of-three in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The game-winning hit was by Kolby Romaine whose RBI single up the middle secured the Tiger’s first extra-inning victory this season. Senior pitcher Cheyenne Baxter earned her team-leading eighth victory of the season, after allowing only one earned run over 6.1 innings. Baxter continued her outstanding start to SEC play over this weekend’s series against the Crimson Tide. Over five starts in conference action so far, she has accumulated a 3-1 record with a 1.18 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 29.2 innings pitched. Baxter was lights out particularly against Alabama, going 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA.
Florida State earned the sweep over Pitt with a 5-0 win on Sunday to remain perfect in conference play. The win extended FSU’s unbeaten streak to 26 games, the winning streak to 21 games and marked the 17th-straight win in regular season ACC games. Sunday’s 5-0 victory was the 19th time this season that the Seminoles have held their opponent without a run. The pitching trio of Jessica Burroughs, Meghan King and Cassidy Davis faced just two batters over the minimum, surrendering just two hits and a walk as the last 17 batters were retired in order, including a double play in the fifth inning. The Seminoles will begin a stretch of 11 straight games on the road with a three-game series at Syracuse on April 7-9th.
Auburn finished off its series at Georgia with a 4-3 victory Sunday afternoon. The Tigers (31-5, 6-3 SEC) earned their eighth consecutive win against the Bulldogs (27-10, 2-7) and completed the road sweep for the first time in series history. Auburn pitcher Kaylee Carlson earned her 18th win of the season in a complete-game effort in the circle that featured two strikeouts and one double play. The trio of Kendall Veach, Carlee Wallace, and Alyssa Rivera combined to go 6-for-10 with each player contributing a pair of base hits. Veach became the first player since Tiffany Howard against UCLA in 2015 to record two triples in a contest. Tiger Head Coach Clint Myers had this to say after Sundays win, “We’re moving in the right direction of being able to have better at-bats and play good defense. Pitching was solid all weekend. The bats seem to be getting better. The defense, we still have some work to, but we made the plays when we had to.”
Arizona completed the sweep of California on Sunday, falling one run shy shutting out the Golden Bears for the weekend with a 6-1 victory to close out the series at Levine-Fricke Field. The Cats improved to a perfect 9-0 in league play with their third straight conference sweep, bringing their winning streak to 22 games to improve to 37-1 on the year. Arizona pitcher Danielle O’Toole picked up the win and moved to 19-1 on the year. O’Toole, who tossed 3.1 perfect innings to open the game, allowed one run on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks in the outing. Arizona returns home to host Stanford for a three-game series at Hillenbrand this Friday-Sunday. First pitch is set for Friday at 6 p.m. MST.
Boston College came away with two consecutive walk-off victories over Syracuse on Sunday to earn the weekend sweep. The Eagles have now won six of their last seven games played. In game one of the day, it was Sophomore Allyson Moore who battled in the bottom of the eighth with Chloe Sharabba on second and Tatiana Cortez on third. Moore fouled off pitch after pitch in her 14-pitch at-bat. She finally doubled to center to score Cortez to score for the walk-off win. In game two, Sophomore Dani Thomas stood on third with the score tied in the bottom of the eighth. Syracuse threw a passed ball, and Thomas broke for home. The throw home was on time, but it was dropped as Thomas slid in safely to give BC the walk-off win. The Eagles will next host Central Connecticut State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Shea Field.
James Madison came away with a 3-2 walk-off victory on Sunday over the College of Charleston. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, freshman catcher Kierstin Roadcap delivered a two-RBI single to win the game and clench the weekend series. With Sunday’s victory in the circle, Megan Good tied JMU great Jailyn Ford with 82 career wins in the circle. Good’s career record now stands at 82-7. On the offensive side, Morgan Tolle extended her hit streak to 14 consecutive games, the longest streak by any Duke this season. The infielder has also reached base safely in a season-best 21 consecutive contests. James Madison closes its seven-game homestand on Tuesday, April 4 with a doubleheader against in-state foe Virginia. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
Ole Miss softball earned their first SEC Series win of the season on Sunday, defeated Kentucky for a second time this past weekend. Rebel junior Kaitlin Lee dominated in a complete-game effort, leading Ole Miss to a 4-0 shutout over Kentucky Sunday afternoon claiming the series. In her third appearance against the Wildcats (24-8, 5-4 SEC), the JUCO transfer was lights out, allowing only five hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts. It marked her second complete game of the series, as she improves to 8-4. Behind her, the Rebels’ (24-11, 2-7 SEC) defense was just as efficient, helping turn a double play in the fourth in a key moment in the game. Offensively, Ole Miss took an early 1-0 lead in the first and used a big 3-run sixth to add a trio of insurance runs. Following a quick turnaround, Ole Miss will host Central Arkansas Tuesday at 6 pm.
Oregon State earned the sweep over UNLV after a 9-0 team win on Sunday afternoon at the OSU Softball Complex. Junior Alysha Everett led the Beaver offense on Sunday after going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and recording a career-high five RBIs. Freshman pitcher, Nerissa Eason led the defense, hurling the complete game to record her eighth win and fourth shutout of the season. Oregon State (18-15, 1-5 Pac-12) will return to Pac-12 action next weekend with a three-game series at Washington starting Friday night at 5 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.
Texas A&M Softball rolled past South Carolina, 16-0, Sunday at the Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. The 16 runs are the most in a SEC game and tie the school record for most runs scored in a conference game, first set at Oklahoma State on April 12, 2006. The Maroon and White (31-3, 9-2 SEC) grabbed an early lead in the first on two doubles. Tori Vidales led off the game with a two-bagger to right and later moved to third on a throwing error. Riley Sartain plated Vidales with a double to right center. The floodgates opened in the second as the Aggies scored eight runs on four hits and four walks. The Aggies will go for the sweep Monday at 6 p.m. The game can be seen on SEC Network and is also available through WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
