Top 8 Moments From College Softball

Top 8 Moments From College Softball

Top 8 Moments From College Softball include Florida shutouts, ACC Champs, and Pac-12 battles

Apr 24, 2017 by James Caldwell
Here's The Deal EP 3: Auburn Arrests
After last week's craziness with Top 4 college softball teams losing left and right, this past weekend settled down with the top teams re-asserting themselves.

1. Florida Pitches Three Shutouts

What the No. 1 Florida Gators did to Top 20 Ole Miss over the weekend was incredible.

Florida pitched three straight shutouts at home in Gainesville: 2-0, 3-0, and 5-0. But, not only did the Gators not allow a run during the series, they only allowed 7 hits the entire weekend.

The Rebels collected two hits on Friday, two on Saturday, and three on Sunday. Yes, Florida scored more runs (10) than Ole Miss had hits (7) the entire weekend.

Kelly Barnhill threw a two-hit shutout on Friday, Delanie Gourley took care of the shutout on Saturday, and Barnhill pitched five of the seven shutout innings on Sunday.

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Let's pause to admire the season for Kelly Barnhill thus far: 20-0 record, microscopic 0.17 ERA, ridiculous 230 Ks, and only three earned runs allowed the entire season.

Unbelievable.

Florida's hitting still leaves a little to be desired, but their pitching is good right now that Barnhill and Gourley just need one run at this point to feel comfortable.

Next up is a big SEC road series against Tennessee this weekend...

2. Tennessee Nearly Sweeps LSU to Extend Streak

Tennessee had an amazing winning streak for an entire month. And, they nearly escaped a road trip to LSU with a sweep. Tigers' second baseman Constance Quinn hit a walk-off home run in the seventh inning of Sunday's game to beat the Volunteers 1-0.

Tennessee won 20 straight games from March 19 to April 22 (Saturday), including the first two games of their road trip to LSU on Friday and Saturday.

The Vols won 6-3 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday. But, their bats went silent on Sunday. They only collected one hit on Sunday. Meanwhile, LSU only had one hit in the game until Quinn hit the walk-off HR.

LSU has struggled as of late in SEC play, while Tennessee is trying to prove they belong in the upper echelon of the conference. Both teams accomplished something: the Vols proved they are an elite SEC team this year and LSU got a confidence boost they needed with Quinn's homer.

Now, Florida visits Tennessee next weekend in what should be an epic battle.

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Meanwhile, Texas A&M is holding onto second place in the SEC conference after sweeping Georgia over the weekend.

And, Auburn shook off a major discipline problem during the week to win two out of three against South Carolina to retain fourth place. Auburn really needed to win all three road games in Columbia, but they were shut out 3-0 on Sunday.

Then, there is Auburn's in-state rival, Alabama, who had a rough time with a Pac-12 opponent at home.

3. Welcome Back Washington Huskies

The Washington Huskies have regained their early-season form. After losing five straight Pac-12 games against Arizona and UCLA at the end of March, the Huskies are reemerging as WCWS contenders.

After winning two out of three against Oregon last weekend in Eugene, the Huskies traveled down south to Alabama this weekend.

First, they took care of UAB on Thursday. Then, they traveled to Tuscaloosa to play Top 15 Alabama and they won both games. That stunning result included a 3-2 win on Friday and 3-0 shutout on Saturday.

The Huskies' Taran Alvelo shut down Alabama in the series, which was Washington's first sweep of Alabama since 2007 during the NCAA Super Regionals.

Washington looked lost a few weeks ago, but they regrouped and now will be dangerous down the stretch run of the Pac-12 conference schedule.

The same goes for UCLA, which swept Cal over the weekend. UCLA had lost their previous series against unranked Oregon State, but now the Bruins are 8-7 in the conference, just like Washington.

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4. Arizona Rebounds, Mauga Sets Record & Oregon is Taking on Water

The big Pac-12 series of the weekend was Oregon visiting Arizona in a Top 5 matchup.

Arizona won the series by winning the first two games on Friday and Saturday, but Oregon finally stopped the bleeding with a 4-3 win on Sunday thanks to two late home runs to give Oregon the lead. This was Arizona's first home loss of the season.

Going back in time, Oregon was one game away from setting the Division 1 Softball record for wins to start a season without a loss. But, their loss to UCLA on April 7 sent the Ducks into a tailspin.

Oregon is now 3-6 in their last nine games. They have lost their last three series and have not won a series since sweeping Arizona State at the beginning of April.

Meanwhile, Arizona rebounded from a stunning series loss against Utah last weekend to win two out of three from Oregon.

Included was Arizona's Katiyana Mauga setting the school record for home runs with 88. Mauga is now third on the all-time NCAA HR list and she's got a few more weeks to get to 90, then aim for the century mark.

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5. Big 12 Showdown Goes to Oklahoma

The first of three consecutive huge Big 12 weekend series went to Oklahoma over Baylor.

Baylor had a very good chance at winning this series on the road in Norman, but Oklahoma was too resilient on their home field.

The first game of the series was an epic 10-inning showdown won by Oklahoma. Baylor pitcher Kelsee Selman was one out away from finishing off all 10 innings, but Fale Aviu delivered a clutch two-run double to give OU a 3-2 walkoff win.

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Baylor then won Game 2 of the series on Sunday, 4-3. Baylor jumped out to a 4-0 lead, then held off the Sooners in the late innings. That could have been a second win for Baylor, but they had to settle for a split of the first two games.

Then, in Game 3 also played on Sunday, the Sooners responded with a 6-0 shutout to take the series.

The Big 12 battles continue next weekend when Baylor hosts Oklahoma State. Then, the conference schedule concludes the first weekend in May with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State meeting in Stillwater.

These three series will determine the regular season conference winner.

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6. Florida State Wins ACC Title

Let's not forget about the former No. 1 team in the country. Florida State rebounded from a poor showing last week to win the ACC regular season title this weekend.

FSU traveled to Louisville to knock off the Cardinals 11-0 and 4-3 in a Sunday doubleheader. (The series concludes Monday night.)

The victories gave the Seminoles the ACC Title for the fifth consecutive season. FSU is now 20-0 in the conference, completely dominating opponents with their signature offense.

Florida State has run into trouble against non-conference foes as of late, including SEC schools Florida and South Carolina. But, their conference dominance is worthy of respect.

The Seminoles don't want to look ahead, but a rematch with Florida is looming on May 3. We'll see if they're ready for another shot at the Gators' dominant pitching staff after being shut out 1-0 in Gainesville earlier this month.

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7. Watch out for Minnesota!

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are road and battle tested this season. After spending two months on the road to start the season, the Gophers have returned home to dominate Big 10 opponents.

Over the weekend, the Gophers blew through Iowa 5-0, 9-1, and 3-0. Their combination of explosive hitting and excellent pitching makes them very scary for opponents during the postseason.

The Gophers are now 43-3 overall and 15-1 in the Big 10 conference. They have a good chance to finish the rest of the season unbeaten before the conference tournament in mid-May.

Will they be the Big 10 team that makes a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament this year? It sure looks like it, but don't count out Michigan, either.

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8. D.J. Sanders Continues Smashing Home Runs

D.J. Sanders of Louisiana Lafayette burst onto the national scene last week when she hit two grand slams in the same game.

This weekend, she continued smashing home runs. During the three-game series against Georgia State, The Ragin' Cajuns' leading hitter hit three home runs, drove in seven, scored 10 runs, and reached base in every plate appearance in the series.

Sanders is running away with the national home run lead with 27 homers, outpacing Arizona's Mauga. Sanders also has 70 RBI this season and is hitting .413.

Sure, Lafayette is playing inferior competition compared to other big schools, but D.J. Sanders can play with anyone in college softball. We can't wait to see how she fares in the NCAA Tournament against upper echelon pitching. Those should be some epic match-ups.


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