5 Teams to Watch for in College Softball this Weekend
No.1 Washington (32-2)
Fresh off a series sweep of a top-ten team, the No. 1 Washington Huskies will take on the Stanford Cardinal on the road this week, heading to California for a three-game series beginning Thursday, March 29th. Last weekend, Washington earned its first sweep of Arizona since 2010, taking down the No. 10 Wildcats in three straight days behind dominant pitching and timely hitting. Sis Bates was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for her efforts over the weekend, which included a stretch in which she reached base in five consecutive plate appearances. Last time Washington visited Stanford, in 2016, the Huskies came away with a three-game sweep. Washington took two of three from Stanford last season and had not lost a series to the Cardinal since 2012. Since then, the Huskies are 12-3 against the Cardinal. Stanford will enter the series 20-10 on the year but having lost two of three to Utah in its opening series of Pac-12 play. This will be the second time this season that the Cardinal have faced a ranked opponent: they started the year with a 10-1 loss in six innings to then No. 19 BYU on February 8th.
No. 8 South Carolina (29-4)
The Gamecocks enter the weekend on a hot streak. Carolina swept Tennessee this past weekend and defeated Furman 1-0 on Wednesday to secure the midweek victory. The Gamecocks head into the weekend series against Texas A&M on a five-game win streak. They have not lost consecutive games all season. Tiara Duffy is leading the way for the Gamecock offense. The senior tabbed SEC Player of the Week after batting .625 on five hits, three runs scored, and four RBI against Tennessee. She notably blasted two home runs on the weekend with a 1.375 slugging percentage and .667 on-base percentage. Duffy was also the one who blasted a triple off the centerfield wall to lift the Gamecocks past Furman on Wednesday. Texas A&M is 30-7 on the season and is coming off a tough weekend where Florida swept them. The Aggies bounced back and defeated Lamar 8-0 on Wednesday.
No. 16 Long Beach State (26-7)
Long Beach state is heading into conference play this weekend on a seven-game win streak. Big West play begins at home for the Long Beach softball team on Friday, as the Beach will host Hawai’i for three games at the LBSU Softball Complex. The Beach ranks in the nation’s top teams in batting average, ERA and fielding percentage on the season. The 49ers are hitting .318 as a team, which ranks them 17th in the nation, and their defense has turned 12 double plays, ranking them 18th in the nation with a .975 fielding percentage. Cielo Meza has been the anchor for the Long Beach State pitching staff. Last year’s Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year is now 13-4 with a 1.51 ERA and ranks 16th nationally with 134 strikeouts on the season. Freshman Naomi Hernandez and junior Nichole Fry have led the offense; the pair won back-to-back Big West Player of the Week awards to start the season. The offensive duo has combined for 94 hits this season, and both are hitting over .390 on the year.
No. 19 Baylor (20-6)
After playing 21 of their first 26 games on the road, the Lady Bears (20-6) will open Big 12 play with a top-15 matchup against fifth-ranked and two-time defending National Champion Oklahoma (28-2, 3-0). Oklahoma has set the standard in the Big 12, winning six consecutive regular-season conference titles and last year’s postseason tournament. The Sooners also captured their second straight and fourth overall national championship last year, beating Baylor, 6-3, in the opening game at the Women’s College World Series. The Baylor pitching staff includes right-handers Gia Rodoni (12-4, 1.78) and Regan Green (5-1, 2.06), a transfer from Mississippi State, and a hitting lineup that leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally with a .347 batting average. Oklahoma boasts the nation’s best ERA (0.80) and arguably the deepest pitching staff with senior ace Paige Parker (15-1, 0.34 ERA), sophomore Mariah Lopez (8-0, 1.98) and a pair of Missouri transfers in Paige Lowary (3-1, 0.73) and Parker Conrad (1-0, 0.98). Oklahoma’s offense is ranked second in the country and seventh nationally at .341.
No. 22 Oklahoma State (23-9)
The Oklahoma State softball team is set to hit the road for a three-game series against Big 12 rival Texas Tech. The series is set to be played Thursday through Saturday due to the recognition of the Easter holiday on Sunday. OSU is coming off a pair of losses to Iowa State and Wichita State, but the Cowgirls have still managed to win 14 of their last 17 contests overall. Senior and Two-time All- American, Vanessa Shippy, owns the OSU’s career on-base percentage record (.502). She has started 205 consecutive games, is batting .526 on the season, is leading the Big 12 in on-base percentage with .684, and has recorded 55 hits over her last 46 games played dating back to last season. The Cowgirls have been pitching by committee this season and share a combined 2.27 ERA heading into the weekend. Texas Tech is 20-13 on the 2018 season. The Red Raiders closed out a 14-game stretch away from home last weekend when they opened Big 12 play at No. 5 Oklahoma. The last time Oklahoma State visited Lubbock, the Red Raiders swept a wild series that included two walk-off wins and a 19-18 victory that remains as the highest-scoring Tech game of all time.
