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The Terrific Ten has you covered on all the best highlights from all the action across college softball on Saturday!
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1. Murray State ace Hannah James was perfect in a run-rule victory over Valpo on Saturday, notching the FIFTH perfecto of her illustrious career in Murray. James allowed no base runners in the five-inning affair, striking out nine Valpo hitters while her offense did some work of its own in the 8-0, five-inning victory. Racers catcher Taylor Jackson, in addition to being behind the plate for James’ perfect outing, notched a career-high five RBIs in the game.
2. Arkansas’ Cylie Halvorson was 0-2Â with a walk in the game leading up to her 7th-inning at-bat; hitless against Gerogia pitcher Kylie Macy up to that point, Halvorson was sitting one on particular pitch and that was the exact pitch she saw, taking it over the left-field wall to give Arkansas the 4-3 walk-off win and to salvage a game in the series for the Hogs. Halvorson, the newly-minted 3-hole hitter for Arkansas, said after the game that she knew which pitch Macy planned to throw after she had thrown the pitch twice in Halvorson’s previous at-bat, both times for a strike.
3. Montana Fouts and Donnie Gobourne traded gems in the pitching circle as Alabama and South Carolina split a Saturday doubleheader in Tuscaloosa. Fouts threw a no-hitter, her second of the season, in the opening game of the day, dominating the South Carolina offense, while Gobourne returned the favor in the nightcap, striking out eleven Alabama batters on their own home turf. It was South Carolina’s fifth win in T-town since 2000 and their first win in Tuscaloosa since 2017.
4. Stanford picked up a series sweep over Arizona, outscoring the Wildcats 11-4 in the series and polishing off the three-game set with a 3-1 Saturday victory. A homecoming for Arizona assistant coach Lauren Lappin, who played her collegiate ball at Stanford, Arizona’s pitching kept them in all three games but their offense just couldn’t put the pieces together, as Stanford’s pitching showed out in its own right. The Cardinal did not show any hangover effects from last week’s losses at the hands of UCLA, maintaining their spot among the PAC’s upper echelon this year.
5. In what was just the 11th no-hitter in Syracuse program history, Madison Knight expertly handled NC State on Saturday to help buoy her team to an 8-0 win at home vs. the Wolfpack. Knight threw five innings of hitless, scoreless ball, collecting seven strikeouts along the way while going 2-2 at the plate with a walk.
6. UCLA slugger Jordan Woolery continued her hot streak at the plate with her third home run of the series against Oregon State, helping buoy the Bruins to a 6-0 win in the series finale and a series sweep. Woolery’s three-run shot opened the scoring for UCLA in the game, as she went 1-3 at the plate in the game. The freshman infielder had three hits in the series, all of them dingers.
7. Virginia Tech earned a point in the Commonwealth Clash after winning the series over Virginia with a 7-0 win in Saturday’s series finale. Kelsey Bennett broke the program’s all-time RBI record with a solo home run in the 7th inning that added an insurance run, while catcher Kylie Aldridge’s three-run home run in the 6th inning was the mightiest blow in the Hokies’ victory. Kelsey Brown added a pair of doubles in the game, while Bennett was a perfect 4-4 at the plate. Emma Lemley was stellar in the circle, going a full seven innings and giving up just two hits while striking out five.
8. South Dakota State and Omaha were only scheduled to play one game on Saturday, but the two teams enjoyed a pitching duel to the enth degree, battling to the 14th inning in the affair. Tori Kniesche went the distance for SDSU, giving up six runs and striking out 15 Omaha batters; the only run of the game came after a single and a throwing error in the 14th inning that allowed Tori Tollefson to score and gave SDSU the walk-off 1-0 win.
9. In the opening game of a doubleheader against Portland State, Weber State designated player Mika Chong became the first Wildcat ever to hit three home runs in the same game. A perfect 3-3 at the plate on the day, Chong hit a solo home run in the first inning; a two-run shot in the third; and another solo home run in the sixth to achieve the feat. Prior to Saturday, Chong had hit just one home run on the year, back on February 18th.
10. Holy Cross catcher Emma Fong made quite the athletic, snowcone catch from behind the plate.
💎 SNOW CONE 💎@emmafongg makes another diving catch!
📺 https://t.co/vwkT57klSQ@ESPN | @PatriotLeagueTV | #GoCrossGo pic.twitter.com/lq3t2KVgOK
— Holy Cross Softball (@HCrossSB) April 8, 2023
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