Top 25 Face-offs Five Top 25 matchups highlight the schedule across all of Division I, and there are a plethora of other games that should not be missed in an unexpectedly-full opening week schedule. Easily the weekend’s biggest tournament happens in Austin, Texas, where the Longhorns from the 40 Acres will take on Alabama and Arizona in a tournament that also includes Colorado State and Sam Houston State. The Longhorns, Tide, and Wildcats are all consensus top-10 teams nationwide, and each will play one another round-robin style this weekend. This will be an early test for all three teams, as…
Author: jmcleod
The Florida Gulf Coast League is spreading their wings in just their second year of existence. While the league prepares for their second summer season beginning in June, the organization will also field a team for the Valencia Cup, a tournament set to take place in Spain from May 8-15. The roster for international play consists entirely of professional and post-college players, and is headlined by six alumni from Florida State, including several members of the 2018 NCAA national champion Seminoles squad. Meghan King and Jessie Warren headline the Seminoles contingent on the Team Florida roster, and are joined by…
“It’s been 338 days since we last put a uniform on.” With that one sentence, Alabama outfielder Alexis Mack summed up the magnitude of what this week means. Almost eleven months since the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended the 2020 season, Mack and her Crimson Tide teammates are now just mere days away from putting on their jerseys and taking to the diamond once again. The Tide will travel to Austin, Texas this weekend to play in what’s generally seen as the nation’s best season-opening tournament; the field also includes Arizona, Colorado State, and Sam Houston State, in addition to host…
“Pitching and defense win ballgames,” or so the old adage goes. Depth in the pitching circle isn’t always a given for a lot of teams, even in today’s softball. More and more teams have gone the path of assembling a pitching staff as opposed to rolling with one workhorse pitcher, and that effect has now even trickled down to the mid-major levels for teams outside the Power Five. Here’s a look at some full pitching staffs that we’re excited to see take the circle in 2021. 1. Long Beach State >>> Kellie White – a former all-conference honoree at Utah…
I. Conference Breakdown The SEC has thirteen member schools that play softball. In 2019, Alabama won the SEC’s regular-season championship, while Florida later beat the Crimson Tide in the conference tournament championship game. The SEC again placed all thirteen teams into the NCAA tournament in ’19, with the Gators and Crimson Tide going on as the conference’s only representatives in the Women’s College World Series. When the 2020 season ended, Florida and Missouri were the only undefeated teams in the conference, each sporting a 3-0 record. Mississippi State and LSU led the conference in overall winning percentage, with win-loss records…
I. Conference Breakdown The ACC has thirteen member schools that sponsor the sport of softball. In 2019, Virginia Tech won the conference’s regular-season title, though Florida State took home the conference tournament championship. In total, five ACC teams reached the NCAA tournament in 2019 – Louisville, North Carolina, and Notre Dame joined the Seminoles and Hokies. When the 2020 season ended, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State were each 3-0 in conference play, while Clemson had the most conference wins at 5-1. Virginia Tech had the best overall record at 21-4, sporting an .840 winning percentage. II. 2021 Predictions Player…
I. Conference Breakdown Conference USA has twelve member schools that sponsor the sport of softball. In 2019, North Texas and Louisiana Tech shared an identical conference record during the regular season and UNT was named the #1 seed in the conference tournament by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Lady Techsters emerged as tournament victors, however, and represented the league in the NCAA tournament. When the 2020 season ended, Western Kentucky was the only team in the conference to post a perfect 3-0 in the first conference series of the year. The Hilltoppers also had the league’s best overall winning…
Skylar Wallace is not likely to play in 2021, Tim Walton said in an interview on Thursday. Wallace transferred to Florida this fall after spending the first two years of her career at Alabama. Intra-conference transfers are generally required to sit out a year by SEC rule. Appearing on the In the Circle podcast on Thursday morning, Walton discussed his projected starting infield for this season. He named Hannah Adams as the starter at second base and freshman Kali Ries the starter at shortstop before discussing Wallace’s situation. “As of right now, Skylar is not eligible,” Walton said. “There is still a…
My Twitter messaging inbox has been full of various questions the last few weeks, so I decided the best thing to do was an all-in-one mailbox to answer as many of them as I have answers to. Let’s get to it! (Editor’s note: Reader-submitted questions may have been edited for brevity and/or grammar.) Who is a player that no one is talking about that is going to have a monster year in the PAC-12? Oddly enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hype around Washington’s Morganne Flores, but she’s one of the best players in the country so…
I. Conference Breakdown The Ohio Valley has twelve member schools that sponsor the sport of softball. Southeast Missouri (SEMO) is the reigning conference champion, having won both the league’s regular-season and tournament championships in 2019. Conference play had not yet begun when the 2020 season ended, but eight OVC teams had winning records when everything shut down. Eastern Kentucky (22-2) and SIU-Edwardsville (13-5) had the highest winning percentages in the shortened year. This season will be the last in the OVC for Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State; both teams will depart to join the ASun effective on July 1st. II.…