RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
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].
*****
Opening Week of ACC conference play
Eight ACC teams opened their conference slates this weekend, including a can’t-miss series between Clemson and Virginia Tech at Clemson. Duke also visited Georgia Tech, while Pitt headed down to Tallahassee and Syracuse was on the road at NC State. The remaining ACC teams continued in non-conference play this week.
Both Virginia Tech and Duke recorded series sweeps, with Duke outscoring their opponent 22-5 across the three games and the Hokies collecting 29 hits in their own three games.
NC State took the series over Syracuse, winning the first and last games of the series with the Orange taking a victory in game 2. Florida State beat Pitt in rather convincing fashion in the first two games of their series, before the Panthers picked up a win in the series finale on Sunday.
A Unique and Incredible Title IX Celebration
Title IX gave women opportunities.
This weekend we hosted a tournament with Bradley and St. Thomas.
Our entire 6 person umpire crew was all female, all 3 coaching staffs are all female.
Without Title IX, this wouldn’t be possible #OwnIt @BillieJeanKing pic.twitter.com/CKEnlGVsFE
— Larissa Anderson (@CoachLarissaA) March 6, 2022
Oregon’s offense on fire in North Carolina
A five-game sweep through the state of North Carolina, which began in an extra-inning affair on Thursday night and finished in Chapel Hill on Sunday, saw the Ducks score 51 runs in five games and outscore their opponents 51-13. Missing both ace pitcher Brooke Yanez and starting catcher Terra McGowan, the Ducks didn’t miss a beat on their trip to the East coast.
The Ducks recorded 57 hits, earned 15 walks, and hit 17 home runs in those same five games. Vallery Wong, who had hit all of one home run in her college career and then in February 2020, hit five home runs while in North Carolina while Ariel Carlson added a quartet of longballs in her own right.
The Da(i)ly Home Run
There’s a new routine in Columbia, Missouri after Week 4: Kara Daly hits a home run every game. So far, she’s 4/4. Daly, a freshman, hit a home run in every one of her team’s games this weekend, finishing the week with seven hits in total and nine RBIs. Daly opened the weekend with back-to-back 2-3 performances with a home run and three RBIs. To start the weekend, she had one collegiate home run, one run scored, and four RBIs to her credit.
Bowen, Hightower return to the circle
Arizona ace Hanah Bowen and Florida All-American pitcher Elizabeth Hightower both returned to the circle for their respective teams on Friday, after both missed some time over the last couple of weeks.
Bowen returned to the circle for Arizona after not seeing the circle since February 19th. She entered the game in the fifth inning for the Wildcats, throwing a scoreless inning that included a pair of strikeouts, no hits or runs, and just one walk allowed.
Hightower, for her part, had not pitched February 18th before her name appeared in the Gators’ starting lineup on Friday against Georgia State. Hightower went four innings, allowed one hit and one run while notching four strikeouts.
Strikeout Queens
Both Arkansas ace Mary Haff and Duke hurler Peyton St. George recorded milestone strikeouts this weekend; Haff K’ed the 700th batter of her Hogs career, while St. George became the first – and, to date, only – pitcher in Duke program history to reach the 500 strikeout mark.
Haff set a career high with 249 strikeouts as a freshman in 2018, narrowly missed again crossing the 200-plateau with 198 strikeouts last season, and owns 36 strikeouts through the 2022 season to this point. After narrowly missing crossing into triple digits in strikeouts in each of her first two collegiate seasons, St. George posted 199 Ks last season and has 55 strikeouts thus far this year.
Maddy Dwyer hits home runs
There were a lot of firsts for George Washington pitcher Maddy Dwyer on Sunday. The former Stanford transfer recorded her first win in the circle as a Colonial, going the distance in a complete-game win over James Madison. She collected five strikeouts, but she also enjoyed some offensive success, as well. Picking up a bat is a new piece of Dwyer’s repertoire this season, and on Sunday, she hit her first home run in a GW uniform. It was her 10th hit on the year, but the first that went for extra bases. She also recorded her first GW RBI in a base hit against Lehigh earlier in the weekend.
Brownie Points for extra effort, Cana Davis
In a game on Sunday, Florida Gulf Coast outfielder Cana Davis had quite a sequence of events. Take a look:
So all in all, @DavisCana12 has hit four balls over the fence today, but only two have counted!
Get all that?#Team20 | #WingsUp 🤙🦅🥎 pic.twitter.com/cJ7e78MEjy
— FGCU Softball (@FGCU_Softball) March 6, 2022
Upset City
Weber State 2, Texas A&M 1
Houston 5, Washington 4
DePaul 6, Stanford 5
Hofstra 2, Louisville 1
Elon 2, Michigan State 0
Furman 3, Mississippi State 1
Loyola Marymount 4, Arizona State 0
Performers of the Week
- Vallery Wong, Oregon – .529, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R
- Kara Daly, Missouri – .636, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, 1 2B
- Ella Chancey, Charlotte – .467, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 1 2B
- Jada Cody, UCF – .533, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 5 R, 2 2B
Pitchers of the Week
- Georgina Corrick, South Florida – 5-0, 0.00 ERA, 32.1 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 48 Ks, 1 SV
- Maddie Penta, Auburn – 6-0, 0.36 ERA, 25 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 48 Ks