Vanessa Shippy, a three-time All-American, two-time Big 12 Player of the Year and an Academic All-American during her career at Oklahoma State, graduated after last season. Now an assistant coach at Syracuse, Shippy is rooting on her alma mater in their run through the postseason and the Women’s College World Series. Speaking to JWOS, Shippy talked about Kenny Gajewski’s commitment to changing the culture of the Cowgirl softball program. Since his arrival in Stillwater back in the fall of 2015, Shippy said that Gajewski’s sights were set on establishing the family culture of Oklahoma State softball. “He is exactly what…
Author: jmcleod
By:Megan Turk | JWOS Contributor One of the most decorated players in Minnesota program history, Sara Groenewegen’s trophy case is full of awards from her stellar career as a Gopher, with a number of program records and high-level statistics to her credit. During her career in Minneapolis, Groenewegen was a three-time all-American selection and was twice named the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Year, also earning the conference’s Player of the Year trophy in her sophomore campaign. Groenewegen was a four-time all-Big Ten first-team selection, and earned a quartet of all-region nominations during her time as a Golden Gopher, including…
Game 1: UCLA 6, Arizona 2 It was an all-PAC 12 match up in the first winner’s bracket game on Friday evening between two of softball’s greatest: the Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins. These two teams met the first weekend in May in Los Angeles for the Bruins’ senior weekend; the Wildcats would take 2 out of 3 games in that series against the Bruins, who were named the regular season Co-PAC 12 champions. Bubba Nickles started the top of the 3rd inning with a shot down the 3rd base line off the glove of Malia Martinez. Aaliyah Jordan reached on…
Game 1: Arizona Wildcats 3, Washington Huskies 1 The 2018 national runners-up fell in game 1 to the 6th-seeded Arizona Wildcats, who advanced to the WCWS for the first time since 2010. Washington left a total of 9 runners on base and Arizona left 5, as each team went against All-American pitchers in the circle; Taylor McQuillin and Taran Alvelo combined for 18 strikeouts. The Arizona Wildcats and the Washington Huskies matched up in the opening contest of the 2019 Women’s College World Series. Taran Alvelo would start game 1 with a 4-pitch walk; her response was striking out four consecutive…
Tennessee pitcher Caylan Arnold has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, sources have informed JWOS. After completing her junior season in 2019, Arnold will have a single season of eligibility remaining in 2020. Arnrold was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year in 2017 and earned an all-region nomination in 2018. She was also named to the SEC’s all-tournament team in ‘18, her sophomore season. In 2019, Arnold posted a 2.26 ERA in 102 innings of work in the circle, allowing thirty-three earned runs with a strikeout/walk ratio better than 2/1. In the Lady Vols’ Super Regional against Florida, Arnold went…
Former Tennessee outfielder Brooke Vines is transferring to Loyola Marymount. After three years at Tennessee, Vines will join the West Coast Conference’s Lions as a graduate transfer and will have a single season of eligibility remaining in 2020. During her career at Tennessee, Vines was named an all-SEC and all-region selection, earning both honors during her sophomore season in 2017. That same season, she finished second in the SEC with fifty-nine RBIs. For her career as a Lady Vol, Vines posted a .363 batting average, with ninety-seven RBIs and ninety-five runs scored during her three seasons in Knoxville. The Palos…
Megan Turk | JWOS Contributor USA Softball infielder and two-time national champion Kelsey Stewart joined me on Wednesday afternoon to break down her time playing for Florida and USA Softball, as well as three of the eight head coaches whose teams have reached the 2019 Women’s College World Series. Stewart, a two-time All-American during her career at the University of Florida from 2013-2016, played under head coach Tim Walton during her collegiate career. During her freshman through junior seasons, Oklahoma State’s Kenny Gajewski served as an assistant coach in Gainesville and worked with her on the dirt. In addition, Stewart…
The 2019 Women’s College World Series is shaping up to be one of the most parity-filled tournaments in recent memory. Expert “picks” have named most of the field as potential championship-winners, while no single team stands head-and-heels over the rest. We’ve picked one player from each of the eight participating teams who should have an undeniable impact on her team this week. Montana Fouts, Alabama — The SEC Freshman of the Year, Fouts has had moments of greatness, but also moments of mediocrity during the postseason, the latter being particularly out of character for the young star. In her first…
Twenty Division I teams were in action over the weekend. While sixteen teams battled it out in Super Regionals for a spot in the Women’s College World Series, four teams converged on Fort Collins, Colorado for the National Invitational Softball Championship final. When we previewed the NISC final round, we predicted close games and we were right. Three of the weekend’s six games in Colorado were decided by one run, and only one game was decided by more than three runs. The championship field of teams that met in Fort Collins was comprised of teams that emerged from the NISC…
UC Davis pitcher Brooke Yanez has entered her name into the NCAA’s transfer portal, sources have confirmed to JWOS. Yanez earned the Big West Pitcher of the Year trophy this season, and was named an all-region first-team selection. A likely all-American, Yanez posted a 25-7 overall record, with a 1.03 ERA that ranks third in the nation. Still just a sophomore, Yanez set the UC Davis program’s single-game and single-season strikeout records this season, with eighteen in a game against Hawaii and 273 on the year. After her sensational sophomore campaign, Yanez now holds a trio of single-season records in the program,…