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.
Florida State earned a pair of wins on Sunday to improve to 18-0 in conference play this season. The Seminoles entered the weekend with the nation’s best team batting average, and they proved why. After defeating Syracuse on Saturday, the Seminoles earned the win in the first game of the Sunday doubleheader 13-4 in five innings and closed out the sweep with a 6-5 victory. The Seminoles hit 11 home runs by six different players and 16 total extra-base hits on the weekend as FSU scored 37 runs in the three-game sweep. Florida State was consistent at the plate as well, scoring at least one run in 14 of the 19 innings in the series, including nine multi-run innings. Jessica Warren carried the offense on Sunday, going 4-for-5 over both games with three home runs, a double, six runs scored and seven RBI. The junior third baseman leads the team with a .458 batting average, 15 home runs, 55 RBI and a 1.019 slugging percentage. The Seminoles return back to the state of Florida this coming week with the first game of the Fresh from Florida Sunshine Showdown with the University of Florida on Wednesday, April 12.
The Arizona Wildcats hit four more home runs, including two by Katiyana Mauga and run-ruled Stanford for the third consecutive game at Hillenbrand Stadium on Sunday. The Wildcats defeated Stanford 9-1 in five innings to improve to 40-1 on the year. Arizona’s four homers brought its weekend total to 15 and brought its season total to an NCAA-most 71. Sixteen of those belong to Mauga, who took over the Pac-12-lead on Sunday and moved into a tie for seventh in NCAA history with 83 career homers. Mauga, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, hit four homers in nine at-bats vs. Stanford. Arizona outscored Stanford 41-2 in the three mercy victories and the Wildcats hit more home runs in the three games (15) than their pitchers allowed total hits (10). Arizona hits the road for a key three-game series at Utah, Thursday-Saturday in Salt Lake City.
The Minnesota Gophers took the B1G series sweep over Indiana after two run-rule victories on Saturday in front of a sold out crowd at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The Gophers have now won all three conference series played and have two B1G sweeps. Minnesota moves to 35-3 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten this season. On Saturday, the Gophers hit a grand slam in each of the wins. The first was by Allie Arneson in game one which ended in a 10-2 victory. Arneson leads the Gophers in B1G play with a .474 batting average. In five home games this past week she hit .714 with a double, two home runs and a 1.714 slugging percentage. The second grand slam was delivered by Sydney Dwyer who blasted hers out in the first inning of game two. Dwyer notched another RBI with a double off the top of the wall in center in the third inning. After her five-RBI game, she now has 53 this season. She came into the weekend sixth in the NCAA in RBIs. She is also leading the team with a .414 batting average. The Gophers stay home for a B1G series against Northwestern next weekend.
Texas A&M marked their 13th shutout of the season after their 7-0 victory over Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon at the Aggie Softball Complex. Lexi Smith (10-0) continued her undefeated season after tossing a one-hit complete game. The Temple, Texas, native was dominant in the circle, striking out nine Cowgirls, while walking five. Aggies Head Coach Jo Evans had this to say about the series. “For our kids to come out this weekend and play well against a Big 12 team that was on a roll, that was 6-0 and has swept two series in the Big 12 makes me feel good about our kids and our team and where we are and our pitching staff. We could get three complete games from three different pitchers and understanding that, we have the pieces in place.” The Aggies return to action on Friday with a three-game series as they travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to take on the Razorbacks.
Texas State defeated South Alabama 3-0 Sunday afternoon to earn the Sun Belt series sweep against the Jaguars. The Bobcats have now won nine straight against South Alabama, including the last six via shutouts. The win improved the Bobcats to 29-8 overall and 11-3 in Sun Belt play. Taylor Webb and Haleigh Davis accounted for the Bobcats’ first two runs as the pair hit back-to-back homers in the second. Webb officially finished the day 1-for1 with two walks, while Davis was 1-for-3. Randi Rupp, who chalked up her 200th strikeout of the season on a K in the seventh inning, earned the win to improve to 19-5. The six-strikeout effort was the junior’s seventh complete game shutout of the season. Rupp, who also picked up both wins in Saturday’s doubleheader lowered her season ERA to an even 1.00. Texas State returns to Bobcat Softball Stadium on Wed., April 12 at 6 p.m. for a nonconference game against Baylor.
Auburn softball defeated Ole Miss in a 3-1 victory on Sunday to clinch the series. Kaylee Carlson delivered a strong pitching performance in the circle. Carlson pitched a complete-game, which was highlighted by six strikeouts. The junior limited the opposition to just four hits and one unearned run in her 20th victory of the 2017 season. The Auburn offense was led by Kasey Cooper and Carlee Wallace, who combined for four hits and scored all three of the Tigers’ runs. Cooper racked up two RBI and tallied a triple, while Wallace contributed one double and scored twice. The Tigers return to the diamond Wednesday night against Georgia State.
Alabama came away with the victory on Sunday in the series rubber match with LSU. A key two-run double by Marisa Runyon was the difference-maker in the tightly-contested Sunday ballgame in front of a sellout crowd of 3,940 at Rhoads Stadium. The Crimson Tide came out on top 4-2 to win the weekend series. Runyon’s two-run double in the bottom of the fifth broke a 2-2 tie and gives her six RBIs in the last five games, earning at least one hit in four of those five games. Alabama hosts UAB on Tuesday, April 11 at 6 p.m. CT before hitting the road for a three-game series at 17th-ranked Tennessee beginning on Saturday, April 15 at 5 p.m. CT. All three games against the Vols will air live on SEC Network.
Baylor softball (35-6, 8-1 Big 12) finished off the sweep of the Iowa State Cyclones (15-27, 0-9 Big 12), grinding out a 9-6 victory on Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium. Shelby McGlaun (6-2) took home her first win in Big 12 play, working the complete game in the circle for the Lady Bears. McGlaun allowed just three earned runs, all coming in the top of the seventh, adding four strikeouts. Despite committing a season-high four errors on defense, the Lady Bears posted another big day on offense to counteract, spreading 13 hits and nine runs over the six innings at the plate. With Sundays win, Baylor claimed its sixth-straight Big 12 series and has won seven-straight conference games. Baylor is off to the program’s second-best start to conference play in school history at 8-1, trailing only the 2007 squad, which started a perfect 9-0 in Big 12 play. Baylor will trek to San Marcos to take on the Texas State Bobcats on Wednesday, April 12, the only game of the week for the Lady Bears on the team’s lone bye weekend of Big 12 play.
The Wisconsin softball team (25-7 overall, 4-5 Big Ten) won its final game of the series against Iowa, (9-23, 3-6) 6-5, in a 10-inning thriller at Goodman Diamond on Sunday afternoon. It was ultimately a double from Brooke Wyderski that allowed Kelsey Jenkins to come home and secure the win for the Badgers, who emerged from the weekend 2-1 against the Hawkeyes. The game entered extra innings tied up at 4-4 after a huge sixth inning from UI. Freshmen pitcher Kaitlyn Menz tossed all 10 innings for the Badgers and tallied nine strikeouts. Wisconsin is now 3-2 in extra inning contests on the season. The Badgers will head to West Lafayette, Indiana next weekend to take on Purdue in a three-game series.
The Oregon Ducks avoided a sweep at No. 9 UCLA with an 11-4 win on Sunday afternoon at Easton Stadium. The Ducks (36-2, 9-2 Pac-12) were held scoreless in the first two games of the series but the bats exploded for 11 runs on 11 hits on Sunday. Leading the offense on Sunday was Nikki Udria who went a team-high 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a homer. Danica Mercado had a pair of hits and scored three runs. Madi Bishop belted a three-run homer for the Ducks. Oregon hosts Washington this upcoming weekend in a three-game series beginning on Thursday.
