Inside the numbers is a weekly feature looking at the overall statistics in NCAA College Softball. Each week our staff will look at the stats and point out some of the things that stand out.
Offensive Freshman
Although the season is just starting we are always curious to see which freshman will break out each year. Keep in mind this is just after one week of games and is just based on pure statistics. A total of four freshmen stood out when looking at the offensive statistics. The first is Lexi Cushing (Middle Tennessee State). Cushing batted .429 with three home runs and 10 RBI in her first weekend of Action. That also gave her a 1.143 slugging percentage. Bailey Hemphill (Alabama) hit .500 through five games with three home runs and nine RBI. The Lafayette, La. native amassed 17 total bases and a 1.214 SLG. Amber Bishop (Liberty) is coming off a great weekend where she posted a team-leading .625 BA. In five game she knocked in nine runs while hitting one home runs and two doubles. The final freshman we look at is Rachel Anderson (Southeast Missouri State). Anderson seemed to be able to do it all in her first college action batting .750 with two doubles, two triples, and a homerun. That resulted in seven RBI, 15 total bases, and a 1.875 SLG.
Freshman Arms
In the first week of action, six different pitchers stood out to us from a statistical perspective. All had a minimum of 10 innings pitched and are listed in alphabetical order. Brittany Knight (Pittsburgh) was a major reason the Panthers broke into the top 25 this week. Knight went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 16.1 innings. She also earned a save and held opposing hitters to just a .161 average. Next up is Brooklin Lee (Belmont) who won three games and lost none this past weekend for the Bruins. Lee posted a 1.91 ERA while striking out 19 over 14.1 innings of work. Caylan Arnold (Tennessee) was impressive in her college debut going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 11 innings. She also posted 11 strikeouts to just two walks. Liberty has another player make it in Elizabeth Engler. Engler was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA as well throwing 10 innings opening weekend. Maggie Balint (Oregon) had an amazing opening weekend going 4-0 for the ducks. For the weekend she had an impressive 0.36 ERA. What may have been more impressive is her 33 strikeouts to just three walks. We stay in the Northwest to end things with Nerissa Eason (Oregon State). Eason threw 14 innings and came away with a 0.00 ERA with 12 Strikeouts.
Way to Early Home Run Derby
Bombs away opening weekend. There were four players across the country who hit four home runs this past weekend. The first was Taylor Dodson (Kansas). It should be noted that Dodson’s teammate Jessie Roane hit three on one game against Savannah State. Katiyana Mauga (Arizona) is chasing several national records and started the season off in good shape with her four home runs. Shelby Miller (Houston) and Brittney Morse (South Dakota State) also ended the weekend with four homers. Currently, UCLA leads the way and is averaging 2.6 home runs per game.
Sit’em Down
So far on the season, five pitchers have more than 30 strikeouts. They are Nicole Newman (Drake) with 35, Jordan Dixon (Marshall) with 34, Maggie Balint (Oregon) with 33, Jacquelyn Sertic (North Dakota State) with 32 and Sierra Hyland (Cal Poly) with 31.
Teamwork in the Circle
There were three pitching staffs that did not surrender an earned run so far. Those would be Arkansas, Oregon State, and UC Davis. An amazing 25 teams had an ERA under 1.00 in the first week of action.
