10 Things to watch for this weekend in College Softball
Good is good
James Madison junior pitcher Megan Good will take her five consecutive shutout appearance streak to Florida for the Diamond 9 Tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Good allows an average of 2.33 hits per seven innings and holds a 0.27 earned run average. In 51 innings of work, 50 of them have been scoreless and she has struck out 78 batters. JMU opens the weekend against Charlotte this morning followed by South Alabama, Boston College, Mercer, and Kansas.
Rebel Yell
The Ole Miss Rebels opened a 14-game homestand Wednesday and host the Red & Blue Classic this weekend. For the first time in school history, the Rebels are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, and Fastpitch News. Ole Miss has eight run-rule victories on the year, topping last year’s total of six. Junior outfielder Elantra Cox is the reigning SEC Player of the Week and is the all-time leader in batting average (.378). So far this season, freshmen Dylinn Stancil, Alyssa Gonzalez and Kaylee Horton have three of the top five batting averages.
Florida State opens conference play
The Seminoles open ACC play against Georgia Tech this weekend in Tallahassee. It’s the first year that the ACC will play single games over three days instead of a doubleheader/single game format over two days. The Seminoles are 83-10 in their last 93 ACC regular season games and haven’t lost a conference series since 2012 (Maryland). Florida State will also be retiring the jersey of Jessica van der Linden on Sunday. Her No. 99 will join Darby Cottle’s No. 15 as the only two numbers retired in FSU softball history.
Calling the Hogs
The Arkansas Razorbacks are off to the best start in program history with a 12-1 record. They host the Wooo Pig Classic this weekend with the home opener against Nebraska this afternoon. Nicole Schroeder became the third Razorback all-time to reach 30 career home runs and is three RBIs and five hits away from 100 in her career for each category. Junior Autumn Russell is on an eight-game hitting streak and has a hit in 11 of 13 games.
K counters
The top two strikeout pitchers will be in Tuscaloosa this weekend for the Easton Crimson Classic. Drake’s Nicole Newman and Alabama’s Alexis Osorio are No. 1 and 2 in Division I with 94 and 93 respectively. The two teams will play each other twice, tonight and Saturday evening.
Silkwood smooth
Mississippi State senior Alexis Silkwood set the all-time MSU record for strikeouts last weekend when she struck out three against North Florida. Her 474th strikeout moved her ahead of Alison Owen’s 473. Silkwood is also 7-0 on the year, two wins shy of career-best nine-game win streak set last year. MSU hosts the Bulldog Slamboree this weekend and will play Samford, UMass, and Central Arkansas.
Gator bait
The Florida Gators won their first two games of the Judi Garman Classic against Iowa and Long Beach State by a combined score of 25-0. The Gators have not allowed an earned run in regulation play since Maryland on Saturday, Feb. 18. Florida will meet UCLA for the second time this season on Saturday. Last weekend, the Gators beat the Bruins 2-1.
Hello Houston
The Houston Cougars handed the No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies their first loss of the season Wednesday, 1-0. The Cougars record, 7-11, doesn’t reflect the close games they have had. They lost twice in extra innings to Oklahoma, 7-5 and 2-1. This weekend they host the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic and will play Princeton, Sam Houston State, Wisconsin, and Louisiana-Monroe.
Arizona and Texas
The No. 10 Arizona Wildcats host the No. 24 Texas Longhorns in a three-game series in Tucson. Both teams won four games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic last weekend and will try to rekindle their competitive history. Between 1997 and 2009, the two teams played 17 times. They have played once since then. Arizona leads the all-time series 11-7.
Judi Garman Classic
Cal State Fullerton hosts the Judi Garman Classic this weekend. The tournament includes 15 teams, five of which are in FPN’s Top 25 (Florida, Michigan, UCLA, Arizona State and Washington). The other teams besides Fullerton playing are Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina, Cal, Long Beach State, Fresno State, Baylor, and Northwestern.
