5 Things you may have missed in College Softball Friday
Streak Ends
The Oregon Ducks flew into UCLA tied for the national record for longest win streak to start a season (35). That ended Friday night when UCLA took game one of the three-game series 2-0. Redshirt freshman Rachel Garcia struck out three in a five-hit, complete game, shutout on Friday. A RBI single by sophomore Zoe Shaw and a solo homer by junior Madeline Jelenicki proved to be the only offense the Bruins needed. The Bruins improved to 27-9 overall and 3-4 in Pac-12 play, while sending the Ducks to their first loss of the season (35-1, 8-1).
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez
Roll Tide
Alabama blanked LSU with a 3-0 shutout Friday night at Rhoads Stadium. The win is the 500th all-time at the ballpark, the home of the Crimson Tide since 2000. Alexis Osorio (17-4) struck out 11 in a complete-game effort. Despite allowing just two hits and fanning 11, she walked six batters and threw a career-high 158 pitches in the game. Chandler Dare was seeing the ball well, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. The two will face off again this afternoon.
Tigers Stay Hot
Mizzou Softball improved to 21-14 on the season and earned its eighth shutout victory Friday night 1-0 over Arkansas. Senior Cheyenne Baxter tossed yet another gem in the circle.Baxter limited the Razorbacks to four hits over seven innings, while striking out eight batters. The Norborne, Mo., native is 4-1 in SEC action with a .95 ERA in six starts. Baxter on the close game “I have a lot of confidence in myself. I know I can keep going out there and pitch strikes. It’s definitely nicer if you have insurance runs and having a one-run lead can be a little nerve-racking.”
Vols Offense Explodes
Tennessee extended its winning streak to 12 games with a 9-0 run-rule victory over Kentucky in the series opener. Meghan Gregg also had another big game, recording RBI singles in both of her at-bats while also scoring a pair of runs. With her two RBIs, the junior from Williamson, Ga., extended her NCAA-leading RBI total to 54. Tennessee entered Friday’s series opener as the fifth-highest scoring team in the nation at 7.24 runs per game and continued its hot hitting with nine runs on eight hits in just five innings to earn its 15th run-rule victory of the year.
Cougars Look Sharp
McKenna Bull pitched the BYU Cougars to this shutout win over Loyola Marymount, her sixth shutout of the year. She tossed six strikeouts with no walks and allowed just three hits. On offense, Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge went 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBI while Ashley Thompson went 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBI. Both of them hit home runs in the win, with Briielle Breland hitting the third homer of the day on 2 of 3 hitting. Coach Eakin on the win “It was a great team win and a great start to conference play,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “It was a solid pitching performance and there was balanced hitting throughout the lineup. It was a good team win.”
