College Softball News

NCAA DI Recap: Week Two

TOP TEAMS
*no particular order

FLORIDA STATE
The Seminoles dazzled this past weekend at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitation. They hit .375 as a team with 43 RBIs on 63 hits over six games. Meghan King posted a 1.47 ERA with 24 strike outs over 19 innings while Kathryn Sandercock also went 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 14 innings of work. The scariest thing for FSU’s future opponents? The Noles still have room to grow, especially defensively and in the circle. Watch out.

VIRGINIA TECH
The Hokies yet again enjoyed another successful weekend on the field. While the Hokies have not been challenged any top 25 programs yet there is still a ton to celebrate under new head coach, Pete D’Amour. Collectively, the team is hitting .428 through nine games and the pitching staff is rolling with an ERA of .86 with 71 strike outs. Next week we will get to see the Hokies take challenges in Texas State and USF.

UNLV
The Rebels are off to the best start through 10 games since the 1995 season. In her second season at the helm, head coach Kristie Fox has UNLV heading in the right direction. The Rebs are hitting .336 as a team headlined by Lauren Tycksen who is hitting .515.

TEXAS TECH
One of the remaining nine undefeated teams in the country, the Texas Tech Red Raiders are on a tear. Next week Texas Tech heads to the Mary Nutter Classic and will face ASU, Long Beach State, Oregon, San Diego State, Washington, and Team Japan in an exhibition. The country will get to see a true measure of where the Red Raiders stand against some of the nations best. Heaven Burton (.436), Karli Hamilton (.412), and Trenity Edwards (.379) lead Texas Tech offensively but will need to lower their strike out numbers to continue being this successful.

BRADLEY
The Bradley Braves smoked 22 home runs in five games this weekend. Twenty-two, unbelievable!

JMU
The Dukes jumped right into their 2019 season taking on a tough field at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitation. JMU posted a 3-2 record and picked up big wins against Tennessee, Oregon, and FAU. Megan Good and Kate Gordon were incredible for the Dukes and will need to continue their strong play to lead JMU.

ILLINOIS
One of the strongest performers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Illinois slugged their way to a perfect 4-0 weekend. Through two weeks the Illini are hitting .337 but need to improve defensively and in the circle. So far it is working for Illinois but if they can sure up these other areas they will be a huge threat the rest of the way.

TOP PERFORMERS
*no particular order

BROOKLIN LEE, BELMONT
Lee began her 2019 campaign this weekend throwing a no-hitter versus Ball State and compiling a 1.75 ERA with 19 strike outs in 16 innings of work.

HAYLEY BAKER, BELMONT
An impressive first weekend for Baker was highlighted by a .471 batting average, three doubles, and eight RBIs.

MEGAN GOOD, JMU
Megan Good did not disappoint in her return to the field this weekend! She hit .429 with a OPS of 1.458 while blasting two home runs and three RBIs. Good also threw 1.72 innings, fanned 18 hitters, and posted a 2-1 record.

KATE GORDON, JMU
Gordon lead JMU at the plate hitting .471 with four home runs, talling six RBIs, and posting an OPS of 1.676.

KEELY ROCHARD, VIRGINIA TECH
Threw two no-hitters this past weekend against Detroit Mercy and he College of Charleston.

TRISTEN EDWARDS, NEBRASKA
Tristen Edwards shined this weekend during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and took home Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her efforts. She hit .583, scored eight runs, drew three walks, slugged 1.917, and smacked five home runs including a grand slam.

ELLEE JENSEN, MINNESOTA
As steady and consistent as ever, Minnesota’s Ellee Jensen is not one to over look. She hit .500 this weekend in the Gophers lead off spot, you can’t ask for a better table setter than that.

AMBER FISER, MINNESOTA
Better and better every time she steps on the mound, Amber Fiser compiled a .88 ERA through 16 innings of work fanning 22 hitters while only allowing three walks this past weekend at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. She faced Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Cal.

KEALIA WYSOCKI, BRADLEY
Wysocki highlighted the Braves’ offensive explosion this past weekend hitting .467 with six home runs. She also picked up 14 RBIs, Wysocki also recorded the first three home run game in program history.

VICTORIA CASTRO, NEW MEXICO STATE
The Aggies’ Victoria Castro picked up where she left off last weekend and is currently hitting .600 for NMSU with five home runs and 10 RBIs. She was crucial in NMSU’s 7-3 win over Texas State and 8-3 victory over Montana.

FSU’S OFFENSE
Many of the Noles shined this weekend as the entire FSU program made a major statement against some of the countries best.
– Zoe Cases: .556 average, two home runs, six RBIs, three walks.
– Cali Harrod: .444 average, two home runs, five RBIs, four walks.
– Sydney Sherill: .412 average, three doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs, and five walks.

MEGHAN KING, FSU
King proved she is a true ace against some of the nation’s stiffest competition posting a 3-0 record with a 1.47 ERA in 19 innings of work. She also struck out 24 batters while only allowing four walks.

DANIELLE WILLIAMS, NORTHWESTERN
An impact freshman for the Wildcats, Williams threw well this weekend picking up three wins, fanning 19 hitters over 17 innings.

SHELBY WICKERSHAM, LSU
This freshman is good and showed it this weekend at St. Pete/Clearwater. While she has room for improvement, LSU may have an answer in the circle to their loss of Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper.

BIGGEST QUESTION

KEEP YOUR FOOT DOWN
Maribeth Gorsuch (LSU) and Lauren Rice (Ohio State) were called often for illegal pitches. Are we going to see more of it this season? Will it remain selective and inconsistent? Who knows but it was impactful for these programs this past weekend.

LOUISIANA
How good is Louisiana actually? The Ragin’ Cajuns are currently 11-0 and playing good softball. As a team they are hitting .370 with a staff ERA of .73. Things are going well in Lafayette, however, they have yet to be truly tested. Their toughest contests thus were against Fordham and Cal but we are looking forward to the next two weeks where we will see the Cajuns in action against Baylor and Oklahoma.

CAL
The Bears had an interesting weekend at the St. Pete/Clearwater Invitational. They defeated JMU and Notre Dame in the tie breaker but recorded losses to Texas, Oklahoma State, and Minnesota. Offensively the Bears have been inconsistent and in the circle Cal is struggling to get complete game performances for their arms.

TEXAS A&M
How will the Aggies fare next weekend at the Mary Nutter? Texas A&M struggled last weekend and are surrounded by questions. Their Mary Nutter schedule will be tough and we’ll be able to get a true idea of where this A&M program stands.

TEXAS
The Longhorns played well this weekend but we saw the first crack in the otherwise impressive, exciting start. We’ve said the returning players are the biggest key to how far Texas can go in 2019 and we saw that first hand. In their 7-1 loss versus LSU, Miranda Elish did not throw and the other Longhorn pitchers struggled (Brooke Bolinger and Ariana Adams). Luckily, head coach Mike White is a talented pitching coach and will hopefully be able guide them.

OREGON
The Ducks split this weekend at the St.Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational and while they played well (defeating LSU and FAU) they suffered some larger defeats to Kentucky and JMU. Oregon’s depth and youth has obviously been a big question and area of weakness going into 2019 and we officially saw that this past weekend. However, the Ducks have a lot of positives to build on and if Melyssa Lombardi can get Maddie MacGrandle throwing better there’s a lot to be excited about.

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