We have had one week of softball to digest and now it’s time to look forward to another weekend slammed with action.
Here are 10 things to look forward to over the next three days.
Big Ten/ACC
The second ACC/Big Ten Softball Challenge features eight schools from each conference. Games will be hosted at four sites and four games will be played at each.
Last year, the Big Ten took the weekend with a 20-12 record. Michigan was the only school to complete an undefeated weekend.
Florida State will host Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Northwestern. North Carolina State will host Minnesota, Notre Dame and Michigan. North Carolina plays host to Purdue, Louisville and Ohio State. Georgia Tech rounds out the host’s sites with Iowa, Virginia Tech and Penn State.
Alabama- ULL
The fourth-ranked Tide will play the No. 7 Ragin’ Cajuns in a three-game weekend series. Alabama (6-0) is 5-4 all-time against Louisiana-Lafayette (4-2). This series will be the first ranked opponent the Tide has faced this season.
In its last game against South Alabama, Alabama was out-hit but still managed to come away with a win, 3-1. Alexis Osorio allowed one run on five hits and 15 strikeouts in seven innings pitched.
These two schools are just a couple of a group of nine that haven’t missed a NCAA tournament since 2000.
Players to watch: Aleah Craighton (ULL), Kelli Martinez (ULL), Alex Stewart (ULL), Sydney Littlejohn (UA), Alexis Osorio (UA), Bailey Hemphill (UA)
James Madison
The No. 14 Dukes opened the season 3-1 at the Wingate by Wyndham Invitational. The lone loss was to No. 16 Missouri.
Junior Megan Good is 2-0 with two shutouts. Her first win was against Missouri in a game where she struck out 10. The win was the 500th program victory since starting in 2002. She has held opponents to a .083 batting average so far, surrendering only four hits and one walk in over 14 innings of work.
The Dukes will be tested this weekend when they face Oklahoma State and No. 19 South Florida.
Katiyana Mauga
The Arizona Wildcats are playing host to the Wildcat Invitational this weekend in Tucson. They will play Drake twice, Ball State, Abilene Christian, North Dakota State and Boston College.
Senior Katiyana Mauga blasted four home runs in five games last weekend, giving her 71 career bombs. She is 16 shy of the Arizona record held by Stacie Chambers and 24 of Lauren Chamberlain’s NCAA record.
Kentucky
Due to inclement weather in the Palm Springs-area, the Wildcats altered their schedule with UCLA and played a doubleheader at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Kentucky earned a 2-1 extra-innings win in game one and the Bruins took the second, 6-2.
Another key matchup for Kentucky this weekend will be against Oregon. After suffering two losses to Pitt last weekend, and if they lose to the Ducks, the Wildcats will need to sweep games against UC-Davis and CSUN to maintain a spot in the Top-25.
Puerto Vallarta College Challenge
As we saw last weekend, anything is possible in Mexico. This weekend, the PV College Challenge hosts Mississippi State, Florida Gulf Coast, Cal State Fullerton, Texas Tech and Fresno State.
The Bulldogs are the only ranked team playing in the tournament but FGCU is a team to watch for. The Eagles opened their season with a four-game sweep of LIU-Brooklyn. They outscored the Blackbirds 32-1 and the pitching staff’s ERA is 0.29.
Florida Gulf Coast ranks second in Division I in team batting average (.468), seventh in ERA and Brianne Innamorato leads the NCAA in batting average (.875).
Littlewood Classic
Arizona State is playing host to Wichita State, Illinois State, Missouri and South Dakota this weekend. After a 7-0 start, key matchups for the Sun Devils are against Wichita State and Missouri.
The Shockers are on FPN’s watch list. For the second time since 1993, WSU began the season 4-0.
Nerissa Eason
Freshman pitch Nerissa Eason from Oregon State is off to a great start. She is 2-0 with two shutout wins against Alabama-Birmingham and Hawaii. In 14 innings of work, she has given up five hits and seven walks while striking out 12. Opponents are hitting .106 against her.
If Eason gets the nod when the Beavers play the Vols of Tennessee, it will be her first tough test. The Vols are 5-0 and ranked 15th. Last weekend, UT outscored its opponents 47-4 and hit .388 as a team.
Lindsay Crowdus
The Memphis senior had an outstanding weekend at the plate. She was 11-for-14 and had a streak of nine official at-bats in a row that recorded a hit. That streak is the longest in Memphis history. Crowdus is third in Division I for batting average (.786).
The Tigers head west to the DeMarini Desert Classic and will face Boise State, Utah State, UNLV and Nevada.
Belmont
The Belmont Bruins are off to their second-best start in the program’s Division I era. It is the first time since 1999 that the Bruins have started out 4-0. Freshman Brooklin Lee struck out 13 in her collegiate debut, setting her career-high as well as a Division I-era, a single-game record for Belmont.
The Bruins’ team batting average of .444 is fourth best in Division I. This weekend, they will face Western Illinois, Western Kentucky and Miami (Ohio) at the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Classic.
Belmont’s immediate former head coach Chris Kuhlmeyer is currently an assistant coach at Miami and the head coach before Kuhlmeyer, Amy Tudor, is the head coach at WKU.
The Bruins are off to such fantastic start that the athletic staff is going back through single-game box scores to confirm records. Sounds like a good problem to have in Nashville.
