With the collegiate softball season officially under way, many teams kicked off their 2018 season on Thursday across the country. As the year’s first weekend of Division I softball continues, here are three takeaways from opening day of the 2018 season.
1. Meghan Gregg is still Meghan Gregg
Entering 2018 as the defending SEC Player of the Year, Gregg is evidently and obviously one of the nation’s best. She continued to prove herself worthy of that distinction in her team’s first games of the year, going a perfect 3-3 with two home runs against Boise State and six RBI across her team’s pair of matchups. Gregg had fifteen home runs a year ago, and is already well on her way to surpassing that number this season; already one of the best hitters in the conference, Gregg opening the season red-hot could be a dangerous omen for SEC pitchers.
2. Quality pitching still reigns supreme
Alabama ace Alexis Osorio held South Alabama to three hits and no runs in a tight matchup between the Tide and the Jaguars that saw effective pitching from both sides and eventually ended in a 1-0 Bama victory. Osorio walked three, but struck out eight in the game… In Tempe, Arizona, Stanford freshman Maddy Dwyer came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, holding San Diego State quiet with just six hits and no runs in a complete game victory in her first-ever collegiate appearance… Western Michigan junior Jordan Kurth, also at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, bested #19-ranked BYU with ten strikeouts and just a single sixth-inning run. Kurth allowed four hits in the game and recorded a strikeout in every inning… In each instance, quality pitching was the primary or a considerably-contributing factor in the team’s victory.
3. Player injuries and absences are going to have a major impact across the nation
On Thursday, we broke the news that San Diego State slugger Jenavee Peres is the latest big name who will miss the 2018 season for medical reasons. And the Aztecs’ offense certainly struggled without her, putting up just two runs on the day and being outscored 27-2 in a doubleheader against Georgia and Stanford. As one tweeter pointed out, this is unfamiliar territory for SDSU:
https://twitter.com/MWCsoftball/status/961818795772821505
In Mexico, James Madison came from behind to beat Nevada, but the Wolfpack put seven runs on the board in the first four innings, including six (three earned) on starter Odicci Alexander. The Dukes were outhit and committed three errors in the game, compared to just one miscue from Nevada. Only once in 2017 did the Dukes give up seven or more runs, and that was to then-top 25 SEC opponent Missouri. Absent reigning Player of the Year Megan Good, out for the year with an injury, the Dukes have their own issues to straighten out, and still must play Long Beach State and Louisiana Tech twice each over the weekend before returning to the States.
