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. Stanford ends UCLA’s winning streak
The Stanford Cardinal played UCLA tight in their series opener on Friday, but came up just short. On Saturday, this Stanford club would not be denied. UCLA’s Holly Azevedo went toe-to-toe with a pair of Stanford pitchers in a true duel in the circle; Azevedo allowed four hits and struck out four, while Tatum Boyd and Regan Krause combined to allow just two hits and Krause collected five strikeouts.
A 7th-inning single by Stanford’s Emily Young scored Kaitlyn Lim and provided the only scoring for either team in the walk-off Cardinal win.
2. Onslaught doesn’t quite seem to cover it…
When Virginia Tech jumped out to an 11-0 lead over Florida State early in Saturday’s game two, was Florida State going to respond or take it lying down? The Seminoles definitely responded, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it an 11-9 game. Then Virginia Tech came roaring back; after the Hokies added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning, they really got busy in the top of the seventh.
Already leading 13-9, the Hokies put up a 10-spot in the top of the final frame, sending fifteen batters to the plate and recording eight hits in an inning that also included a pair of walks, two wild pitches, a hit-by-pitch, and an error by the FSU defense.
The victory also clinched the series win for the Hokies, following their 9-inning win in game one of the series on Friday.
3. Illinois sweeps two from Wisconsin
A Big Ten doubleheader with some significant NCAA tournament implications, Illinois took a pair of games from Wisconsin in Champaign on Saturday. In the first game of the day, the Illini used three RBI singles and a sacrifice bunt to score four and record the 4-1 win; a 4-run third inning was all the club needed to post a win in game two, riding a pair of 2-run home runs off the bats of Stevie Meade and Delaney Rummell to the sweep.
4. Big crowd in Gainesville watches the Tide roll
It was the second-largest crowd in Florida softball history; 2,609 people showed up for the series opener between Alabama and Florida on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Gainesville faithful, the game turned into more of an Alabama showcase than anything.
The Tide scored eight runs in the game, including a 5-run third inning, and fairly handled the Gators on both sides of the ball. Freshman Jenna Lord – who Patrick Murphy said was inserted into the starting lineup due to some sickness going around the Tide clubhouse – was 2-4 on the day with four RBIs to her credit after spanking a pair of RBI doubles in the second and third innings.
Montana Fouts threw a complete game 4-hitter, allowing three earned runs and giving up six walks while striking out eleven.
5. A Warhawk run-rule
Texas State and Louisiana-Monroe squared off in game two of a series on Saturday, and the Warhawk bats showed up. After gaining a big lead and withstanding a late Bobcat charge on Friday in the series opener, the Warhawks dispatched their opponents early on Saturday.
Matching 4-spots in the fourth and fifth innings gave the Warhawks a large lead, including a 2-run shot off the bat of Kennedy Johnson. In the sixth inning, Kendall Morton hit a walk-off RBI fielder’s choice that scored the game-winning run for the Warhawks in the 10-2 run-rule win.
