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Every week during the college softball season, we’ll Roundup the best performances and performers, the top highlights, and noteworthy happenings of all kinds across the college softball landscape.
Want to send us some information to be considered for the Roundup or make sure we see a certain player or team’s performance? Email [email protected].
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Check out the Terrific Ten daily recaps from this weekend’s action:
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Oklahoma’s winning streak is now a record
Now officially 36-0 on the year, the powerful Oklahoma Sooners have set yet another record this season. Personal and team records have fallen left and right in Norman this year, and the newest to join that list came on Sunday. In securing the weekend sweep over Texas Tech, OU became the first-ever team to begin a season with 36 straight wins. They tied the previous record of 35-0 on Saturday and took sole possession with a new record for an undefeated start on Sunday.
Every win that the Sooners now earn will simply add to that record. Only two other teams had ever begun 35-0 prior to this season’s Sooners, including 2017 Oregon and 1999 UCLA.
The best series in ACC conference play history
Virginia Tech’s visit to Tallahassee pitted the ACC’s two top teams against one another, and the series lived up to expectations in terms of great softball and incredible games. The games also provided a tremendous environment that was reflected even on the television broadcast on Sunday.
The Hokies won the series, taking victories in the first two games of the weekend, including in an extra-inning affair on Friday and an offensive onslaught on Saturday that finished in a 23-9 final score. On Sunday, FSU salvaged one game; after knocking VT ace Keely Rochard out of the game and buoyed by some illegal pitches called on freshman Emma Lemley, the Seminoles came roaring back from a deficit and took a 6th-inning lead that they would not relinquish.
The weekend’s big offensive productions showed just what both teams are made of at the plate – both lineups are full of ‘big boppers’, as well as skill players who can get the job done without putting the ball over the fence. The efforts in the circle were a bit more painful – for the pitchers and pitching coaches themselves, at least – but neither team need despair over their ballooning weekend ERAs; both teams will be just fine in the circle, long-term.
In addition to being what could ultimately go down as an early battle for the ACC crown, this 3-game set had the look and feel of a postseason matchup. Fitting, considering both of these teams could wind up in Oklahoma City in June.
A crowded PAC field
Stanford and Arizona State were the big winners of the weekend in the PAC-12, and the Sun Devils are rewarded for their efforts by reigning atop the conference standings after Week 9 of the season.
The Sun Devils are undefeated in conference play after sweeping Oregon this weekend, and boast series sweeps over Oregon State, Arizona, and now the Ducks to begin conference play. The Sun Devils have a game lead over UCLA in the conference standings after the Bruins dropped their weekend series to Stanford on the Farm, losing a pair of 1-0 games on Saturday and Sunday.
Stanford’s rock-solid pitching really proved the difference in their series against UCLA, with the pair of one-run games falling in the Cardinal’s direction. The Cardinal are over .500, at 5-4, in conference play, while the Bruins fall to 10-2 in PAC play and 32-5 overall.
Elsewhere in the PAC, Arizona run-ruled Oregon State in Sunday’s series finale to earn their second conference win of the season, though the Beavers did take the series win. Utah dropped an extra-inning affair to Cal on Friday, but rebounded to take a pair of wins on Saturday and Sunday to close the series and earn the weekend triumph.
SDSU, Loyola Marymount move into the driver’s seats
Both San Diego State and Loyola Marymount emerged victorious from their major conference series’ this weekend. San Diego State emerged with a series win over UNLV in Las Vegas, while LMU took the series from BYU in Provo.
San Diego State’s 9-0 start in conference play was against some of the so-so teams in the league standings, but no Mountain West series win will be as big as theirs against UNLV. The Aztecs bookended the weekend series with victories, and staged a furious comeback that fell just short of a win in game two, as well. Maggie Balint is world-class in the circle, and she proved that this weekend. Sunday’s extra-inning thriller showed the strength of the top tier in the Mountain West, but the Aztecs emerged victorious and now are in the driver’s seat in the league.
For Loyola Marymount’s part, they began conference play against BYU in a series with big implications. The BYU hump was the one thing that has kept LMU out of the NCAA tournament for several years running, but the Lions crossed the bridge this weekend for the first time since 2015. The Lions went 2-1 on the weekend and should now be seen as the championship favorites and controllers of their own destinies the rest of the way.
Down in the SEC
It seems that every weekend in the SEC brings new and unexpected happenings, so let’s just take a look at where things stand after Week 9. Arkansas and Alabama are on top of the league standings – the Tide do have one game left on their Week 9 slate, a Monday night affair against Florida when they will seek to sweep the Gators in Gainesville.
Arkansas earned a series sweep over Auburn this weekend, including a 17-4 slaughter in Sunday’s series finale.
Georgia took a series win over Tennessee, earning a run-rule win in Sunday’s rubber match. Kentucky dropped the opening game of their series against Ole Miss, only to rebound with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday to win the series.
A tight three-game series in College Station went LSU’s way, with the Tigers earning a series win over Texas A&M. Mississippi State and Missouri had a tight weekend of their own, with the Bulldogs taking a dominant win in game one before the teams split the next two games to give Starkvegas’ team the series victory.
Northwestern looks like a World Series team
This is not news; the Wildcats have been very good throughout this season. But their weekend sweep of Ohio State in Columbus was a statement by the team from Evanston. Ohio State’s pitching – said to be their crowning glory through the early portion of the year – was crushed by the Northwestern offense, including a power show by veteran slugger Jordyn Rudd and including a run-rule victory in Friday’s opener, as well as a hard-fought win that withstood an Ohio State comeback in the first game of a Sunday doubleheader.
Northwestern moved to 27-6 overall, 8-1 in conference play, and now trail only Nebraska in the league standings; the Huskers, for their part, are on an 8-game winning streak and have begun conference play an undefeated 8-0.
One day, three Blue Hen wins
In a series between two teams jockeying for position in the CAA standings, Delaware and Drexel had an interesting weekend in Newark. Saturday’s opening game of the series was a 0-0 tie through regulation. Both teams scored a run in the 8th inning and the game kept going. After some nasty weather, field conditions caused the game to be postponed in the bottom of the 14th. That set up a busy day on Sunday – the teams would finish game 1, then play games 2 and 3 to round out the series.
When Game 1 resumed on Sunday morning, Blue Hens standout Hanna Garber wasted little time putting a win in the books for her team. Garber knocked a solo home run to give UD the 2-1 win to begin the day. That set the tone for how things would go on Sunday for Delaware.
The Blue Hens swept the tripleheader, winning 7-4 in game two before riding a pair of sacrifice flies to a 2-0 victory in game three to sweep the series. Delaware moved to 7-2 in conference play with the wins.
The last time…
Penn State’s win over Michigan on Sunday and Florida and Florida State’s respective losses on Saturday prompted some deep-diving into the history books.
The last time that Penn State won a game over Michigan on the softball diamond was 2006. The last time the Nittany Lions earned a win at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor was a year earlier, 2005. For reference on how long ago that was, Penn State’s Sunday starting pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter was five years old in 2005.
Prior to Saturday’s losses by UF and FSU, the last time the two archrivals each gave up 8+ runs and lost in home games on the same day was March 15, 2015. Florida lost 10-3 to LSU and FSU lost 12-0 to Notre Dame that day.
Some defensive wizardry
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— LSU Softball (@LSUsoftball) April 9, 2022