College Softball News

College Softball Weekend Recap

No. 2 Washington, No. 4 UCLA and No. 22 USC Upstate Remain Undefeated

The No. 2 Washington Huskies completed a perfect weekend with a 4-1 win over Portland State on Sunday.  Washington won all five games during the Husky Classic and are now 23-0 on the season. Taran Alvelo (11-0) recorded her sixth double-digit strikeout game of the year. The junior struck out 11 Viking Batters and now has 104 strikeouts on the season, making her the third pitcher in the nation to reach 100 strikeouts this year. Washington heads to Las Vegas for the Rebel Classic this upcoming weekend for their final non-conference tournament. The Huskies are slated to take on New Mexico State, DePaul, Portland State, and UNLV.

No. 4 UCLA improved to 19-0 on the season after earning an 8-0 victory over Santa Clara on Sunday at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Bruins exploded for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning, highlighted by a grand slam from redshirt sophomore Rachel Garcia, who also struck out seven in a complete-game, one-hit shutout. Sunday’s victory moved Garcia to 8-0 on the season from the circle. Up next for UCLA is the Louisville Slugger Invitational in Long Beach, CA next weekend. The Bruins are scheduled to play five games against five teams and will take on Michigan State, San Jose State, Boston U, Ohio State, and Long Beach State.

The No. 22 USC Upstate softball team won its 18th straight game on Sunday afternoon with a 5-0 victory over Indiana at Cyrill Stadium to close out the Wings Etc. Classic. Christina Biggerstaff continues to dazzle in the circle for the Spartans. The junior pitcher recorded nine strikeouts in Sundays 5-0 win and moved to 8-0 on the season after collecting her seventh complete game. The Spartans travel to Tucson, Ariz. next weekend, March 9-11, to face Wisconsin, South Dakota, Arizona and San Diego at the Wildcat Invitational.

Coaching Milestone

Longtime California head coach Diane Ninemire celebrated her 1,300th career win on Saturday at the 2018 Texaco Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament in Honolulu. Ninemire’s is one of just five active coaches with at least 1,300 wins. She holds a .670 winning percentage among the group, which ranks fourth. Those numbers rank second in the potent Pac-12 conference, behind 33-year head coach Mike Candrea at Arizona with 1,534 victories. “It’s really a team effort. It’s 1,300 wins over 30 seasons, and it really is amazing all of the great players that we’ve had play at Cal and be part of these wins,” Ninemire said. “It speaks volume of the type of program we have at Cal, and I’ve very proud of the program and all of the players that have contributed to our success. I hope we can keep on going and get many more. Go Bears.”

Oregon’s Pitching Staff Shines

Junior pitcher Megan Kleist threw the second no-hitter of her career on Sunday afternoon, but two unearned runs in the fourth inning proved costly to the seventh-ranked Oregon softball team as the Ducks suffered a tough 2-1 loss to No. 12 Florida State at JoAnne Graf Field. The Ducks (18-4) saw their eight-game winning streak end while finishing 4-1 at the Unconquered Invitational and 6-1 on their four-day trip in Florida. In seven games (50 innings), the Ducks’ pitching staff allowed just three earned runs with 61 strikeouts and only eight walks. Sophomore Miranda Elish was stellar in three appearances (two starts), going 3-0 without allowing a run in 19 innings with 19 strikeouts. Kleist gave up just one earned run in 20 innings over three starts with 32 strikeouts and only two walks, and sophomore Maggie Balint went 1-0 in two starts while allowing two runs with ten strikeouts and a walk. Oregon now owns a team ERA of just 0.79 this season. After going 18-4 in four road tournaments over four straight weekends to open the season, Oregon will now play its next nine games at home.

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