5 Things you may have missed in College Softball Friday
Gator Bite
Florida traveled to Arkansas for a three-game set with the Razorbacks. The Gators took game one 6-1 and reach the 1,000 win mark. Coach Walton on the achievement “To win that many games in just twenty and a half seasons, it’s just really a nice accomplishment for everybody has played at the University of Florida. All of the Gators that have come through here and graduated can all share a piece of that victory tonight.” The series continues today at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on the SEC Plus network (Watch ESPN).
Powerful Inning
Minnesota freshman Kendyl Lindaman put on an impressive display of power. Minnesota defeated Illinois 12-0 and Lindman was responsible for six of the 12. She hit two home runs in the fifth inning, a two-run shot and a Grand Slam. That brings her to 10 on the season with a .814 SLG and 37 RBI. Even she was surprised by the great inning “It is still kind of unbelievable to me. I don’t think I have ever done that in my life,” Lindaman said. “I was just going up there looking to score my teammates that were on the bases. It just happened to both be by home runs.”
Undefeated, Undefeated…
Oregon has now pushed its record to 31-0 after a 4-0 win over Arizona State. The Ducks are just four wins away from tieing the longest winning streak to open a season in NCAA history. The record is 35, set by UCLA in 1999. Freshman Maggie Balint improved to 15-0 and allowed no runs on three hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. Balint on where the team is at right now “We’re going out there and we’re throwing our game. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or what time it is, it’s game time. We have a really good high energy flow and we’re excited to be out here as a team.”
Wildcats set tone
Arizona (35-1) dropped the hammer on California cruising to 7-0 win behind three home runs. Mo Mercado, Jessie Harper and Alyssa Palomino hit Arizona’s NCAA-leading 52nd, 53rd and 54th home runs of 2017, three of Arizona’s nine hits on the afternoon. Danielle O’Toole tossed the shutout, her sixth of the season, allowing just four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. O’Toole picked up her Pac-12-leading 18th win of the season to improve to 18-1.
Seminoles Flex Power
Every offensive player in the game for Florida State either scored a run or recorded an RBI in a 14-3 run-rule victory over Pitt on Friday. An eight-run fifth inning was capped by a grand slam by Jessica Warren. The win is FSU’s 19th-straight victory, which is the eighth-longest winning streak in school history. The Seminoles also currently hold a 24-game unbeaten streak, dating back to February 23, which sits fourth all-time in consecutive games without a loss.
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