Observations from Week Eight of the College Softball Season

Photo courtesy Oklahoma State Softball

Week eight of the college softball season provided plenty of excitement and highlights, including Oklahoma State getting two shutouts from Lexi Kilfoyl to earn a series victory against Texas.

Oklahoma State head coach Kenny Gajewski kept an impressive streak alive with the series win over the Longhorns. Under his direction, the Cowgirls have never dropped a regular season home series to Texas. Kilfoyl, and the Oklahoma State pitching staff, held the high powered Texas offense without an extra base hit in the three games and Gajewski improved his home record to 10-2 against the Longhorns.

With the series win, Oklahoma State slid into second place tie in the Big 12 standings with Texas. Top-ranked Oklahoma opened up a three-game lead in the standings over the Cowgirls and Longhorns following a three-game sweep of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan.

It was another typical weekend in the SEC as league heavyweights traded punches.

Tennessee defeated Auburn on Friday and Saturday to improve to 8-0 in the conference, which marked its best-ever start in SEC play, only to drop a 4-1 decision to the Tigers on Sunday. Despite the loss, the Lady Vols sit on top of the SEC with an 8-1 league record, while Florida is 7-2 in the SEC and in second place. Georgia is currently third with a 6-2 mark with a game against Arkansas slated for Monday.

The Big Ten is proving to be a wide-open race as Michigan currents sits in first place in the conference with a 6-0 mark. The Wolverines opened Big Ten play with a sweep of Purdue and swept Indiana over the weekend. Nebraska is 5-0 in the conference, while Penn State is 6-1 and Northwestern is 5-1.

Duke took a big step towards a possible ACC title as the Blue Devils swept Virginia Tech to improve to 10-2 in conference play. Florida State is 7-2 in the ACC and is currently second, while the Hokies dropped to third with a 9-3 mark.

Stanford suffered its first Pac-12 loss of the season to Arizona, but still won the series behind the pitching of NiJaree Canady. Canady pitched shutouts in games one and three and for good measure also added a home run in the 7-0 victory in game three. Washington improved to 9-3 in the Pac-12 following a three-game sweep of Oregon State, while UCLA is third in the conference after posting a pair of wins over Oregon in a series shortened by weather.

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Courtney Wyche Delivers Special K’s

Photo courtesy Maryland Softball

Maryland’s Courtney Wyche turned in one of the top pitching performances of the season in the Terps three-game series against Penn State. Led by Wyche, the Terps opened the series with a 2-0 victory in nine innings handing the Nittany Lions their first Big Ten loss of the year. Wyche went all 9.0 innings and allowed just two hits and struck out 19 batters, which is the NCAA high thus far this season. In game two, Wyche pitched the final two innings and added two more strikeouts in the Terps loss. Game three of the series featured another Wyche gem as she went 11.1 innings, allowed six hits and struck out 17 batters. For the weekend, Wyche pitched 22.1 innings, allowed 11 hits and struck out 38 hitters.

Pitcher Perfect in Creighton

Photo courtesy Creighton Softball

Junior Kenzie Schopfer recorded the first perfect game for Creighton since 2006, lifting the Bluejays to an 8-0 victory in five innings over Georgetown. Schopfer struck out five the first time through the Hoyas lineup, then notched six straight outs on ground balls to close the game. The first out of the fifth was the most dangerous play as Camryn Wincher laced a ball off Schopfer to Madeline Vejvoda at second. She calmly recorded the out at first and Schopfer finished the perfect game with grounders to shortstop and second base.

You Want Offense? BYU and Houston Deliver Offense

Photo courtesy BYU Softball

It was not a pitcher’s weekend in Provo, Utah as BYU and Houston produced an offensive explosion. In a hint of what was to come, BYU scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning of game one on its way to an 11-3 victory in five innings. BYU plated 11 runs on 11 hits, while Houston had six hits in the opener. Houston rebounded to win game two of the series as the Cougars posted a 9-6 win. Houston scored four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, while BYU plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Game three put a fitting cap on the weekend as BYU posted a 17-15 victory in nine innings. Houston scored eight runs in the top of the first inning of game three and BYU responded with four runs in the bottom of the first. Jazmyn Rollins gave Houston a 13-12 lead in the top of the seventh inning with  a two-run home run, but BYU tied it in the bottom of the seventh on a home run by Ailana Agbayani. Houston scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take a 15-13 lead, but BYU walked it off in the bottom of the ninth on a grand slam courtesy Huntyr Ava. Over the course of the three-game series, the teams combined for 67 hits.

Tigers Roar Back

Photo courtesy LSU Softball

LSU was the last unbeaten team in NCAA Division I, but after suffering their first loss of the season to Ole Miss three more losses followed. LSU got back on a track with a win in the series finale, but faced a crucial home series against SEC-leading Texas A&M this weekend. LSU responded in grand fashion as the Tigers swept the Aggies to improve to 29-4 overall and 8-4 in the SEC. The Tigers won the opener 2-1 as Taylor Pleasants hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning. LSU earned a series win when Kelley Lynch and Sydney Berzon combined to limit Texas A&M to six hits and one run in a 5-1 victory. After falling behind 3-0 in game three, LSU rallied behind a grand slam from Ali Newland to secure a 9-3 win and a sweep of the series.

Duke Makes ACC Statement

Photo courtesy Duke Softball

After securing ACC series wins over Florida State and Louisville, Duke looked to make another statement in the conference as it hosted Virginia Tech in a key three-game series. The Blue Devils responded with an outstanding weekend as Duke swept Virginia Tech to improve to 10-2 in the ACC. Duke set the tone in the first game as the Blue Devils posted a 14-5 victory. Game two was a much tighter contest, but the Blue Devils earned a 6-5 victory when Kelly Torres delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Claire Davidson and Aminah Vega hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning of game three leading the Blue Devils to a 5-2 win and a sweep of the series.