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The opening weekend for the NCAA DI softball season has been like watching “March Madness” in men’s college basketball: there’s so many wild and crazy things going on that you don’t know where to turn!
On “Opening Day” this past Thursday, NCAA.com came out with a video that if you love softball–and you’re reading this so we know you do!–gave chills as we look toward the end of the season and the hopeful finish in OKC at the Women’s College World Series.
Kudos to the producers of this 3-minute chills-inducing montage of great action and players past and present.
If you haven’t seen it here it is… and if you’re like us, enjoy for the 50-60th time watching!
We've been waiting for this… ⏱
Now it's time to make history again. The road to OKC starts today.#NCAASoftball #WCWS pic.twitter.com/nOmiipkqfC
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) February 11, 2021
So, even though we’re only halfway through the opening weekend, it’s been an amazing ride so far… and we don’t envy those who have to pick the Player of the Week!
For example… would it be any one of the players who hit a home run for Oklahoma in their first four games of the season when Patty Gasso’s team scored 70 runs and only gave up 2? Including the 29-0 opening game win over UTEP when 13 home runs were hit by 7 different players including freshman Tiare Jennings who blasted three as did junior Grace Lyons?
And you know they have a big opening game when even TMZ, the noted entertainment platform, recaps the record-setting win!
As impressively noted by Patrick Dunn of the Sooners’ Media Relations department:
Oklahoma tied the NCAA record for homers in an inning with five in the first and fourth frames.
Freshman Tiare Jennings began her OU career with a 6-for-7, seven-RBI day, including an incredible four home runs, in OU’s two games. Junior shortstop Grace Lyons also wowed, putting up a 5-for-7, nine-RBI day with four blasts, including her second career grand slam. Jennings and Lyons each homered three times against the Miners in the opener, tying a school record for most home runs by an individual player in a game.
As Dunn further detailed, it was an amazing start to the Big 12 team’s season in several record-setting ways:
- OU broke the single-game NCAA home run record (all divisions) with 13 home runs vs. UTEP. The previous record was held by BYU (10 vs. Utah Valley, April 16, 2008) and UTSA (10 vs. Texas Southern, April 8, 2004).
- Oklahoma tied the NCAA record (all divisions) for home runs in an inning with five in the first and fourth innings vs. UTEP. Seven other schools, including OU in 2015 vs. East Carolina, share the record.
- Oklahoma set a program record for largest season-opening win with its 29-0 tally over the Miners, besting the 1980 season opener over Lady of the Lake, which was an 18-0 win.
- OU’s 29 runs against UTEP rank second in program history. The Sooners scored 35 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Feb. 28, 2014.
- Junior Grace Lyons and freshman Tiare Jennings each hit three home runs vs. UTEP, tying the school record for HRs in a game (2 previous times, most recently by Shelby Pendley vs. ECU in 2015).
Check out this compilation of all the dingers:
It’s not like we didn’t see this coming: in the 2020 Extra Elite 100 rankings, we had IF/OF Jayda Coleman, #1 in the 2020 Extra Elite 100; SS Tiare Jennings, #2 and P/3B Nicole May, #6 in the 2020 Extra Elite 100.
In the 2019 Extra Elite 100 catcher Kinzie Hansen was in the Top 10 and in the 2018 Extra Elite 100 Lyons was also Top 10.
Lyons and Jennings finished the weekend with six and five home runs, respectively and 12 RBIs each. Tiare had an amazing start to her college career with an unbelievable .923 batting average. She’d be our pick for Player of the Week!
Jayda had a huge weekend as well batting leadoff and Nicole May also did well in the opening weekend, getting her first two wins (here’s the box score of the second victory, Game 4 for OU).
*****
Another freshman who got off to a great start to her career was pitcher Maddie Penta, who we had #3 in the 2020 Extra Elite 100.
Maddie took the ball on Saturday and threw a no-hitter in her very first collegiate start:
FINAL | NO-NO 🚫
In her first collegiate start, Maddie Penta tosses the 26th no-hitter in program history behind 7 strikeouts! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/4HiN8U0oEG
— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) February 13, 2021
Back in 2019, Maddie was an Extra Inning Softball 1st Team All-American for the second year in a row. Here’s what we wrote about her then:
Jr. Madison Penta, Bohemia Manor (Chesapeake City) MD
Madison repeats as an Extra Inning Softball 1st Team All-American and has emerged as one of the most dominating pitchers in the Class of 2020. At the prep level, she finished this year with a perfect 21-0 record and a 0.11 ERA. The Auburn commit struck out 299 batters and gave up just 16 hits all season. The Gatorade State Player of the Year saved the best for last as she pitched a no-hitter in the state title game, striking out 19. Maddie is also is an outstanding hitter, batting .590 with nine homers this season.
We did an Extra Star Power on her all the way back in September of 2018… click HERE to read it.
*****
No. 1 ranked UCLA saw the return of two familiar superstars in Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles and neither disappointed.
After participating with USA Softball last year, Nickles stepped up to the plate for the Bruins for first time since UCLA won the 2019 championship. Yea, she’s good:
WELCOME BACK BUBBA!!!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/2VNJ9N0VQH
— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) February 12, 2021
UCLA’s pitching staff is DEEP and was #1 in the country last year when COVID forced it to be cancelled. Megan Faraimo really stepped up in 2020 and looked like she didn’t miss a beat in Game 1:
BRUINS WIN!!!!
Megan Faraimo strikes out 13 in six shutout innings, allowing only one hit, while Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles homer in a six-run first inning.#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/GjsYAihqNr
— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) February 13, 2021
With the return of Rachel Garcia, perhaps the best two-way player in college today, the Bruins are that much more dangerous. Rachel reminded that she too swings a dangerous bat:
WELCOME BACK RACHEL!
3-0 Bruins in the bottom of the first.#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/OTAE7DpdQ7
— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) February 12, 2021
Many are already anticipating a UCLA vs. Oklahoma slugfest but there are some other teams who will have something to say about that!
Here’s one of those…
*****
Sticking to the PAc-12, Washington looks strong in pitching and in all other areas.
Gabbie Plain threw her second career perfect game as the #2 Washington Huskies took down Southern Utah 8-0 in the season opener. Plain retired all 15 batters she faced, recording seven strikeouts in the five-inning run-rule victory.
She became just the second Husky ever to throw a perfect game in the season opener, joining Danielle Lawrie, who did so against Auburn in 2010.
It was Plain’s fifth no-hitter and second perfect game: she also threw a perfect game her freshman year, against Utah. Plain’s last no-hitter came in the 2019 Regionals, against Mississippi State.
Today, Gabbie Plain joined @daniellelawrie5 as the only Huskies to ever throw a perfect game in the season opener! #MightyAreTheWomen pic.twitter.com/O4TVHWiVBJ
— Washington Softball (@UWSoftball) February 13, 2021
Washington is deep with clutch hitters too including Baylee Klingler who twice hit game-tying homers–in the same game–to set up a walk-off walk by Silent Rain Espinoza.
Washington trailed late twice, only for homers from Baylee to change the game each time.
It was a heart-pumping finish as the Huskies trailed by two runs with two outs in the seventh, only for Klingler’s second homer of the day to tie the game. A hit by pitch and back-to-back walks would bring in the winning run for the Huskies, who put five straight runners on base after the second out in the seventh.
This was her second career multi-homer game. The junior’s first homer gave Washington a 2-1 lead headed to the seventh, then her second home tied the game back up at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs.
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
Who else has impressed this Opening Weekend? Any others you’d recommend? Send your thoughts to [email protected]!