NEWS AND NOTES
- Eastern Kentucky head coach Jane Worthington earned her 800th career win on Saturday.
- Arizona announced plans to allow a limited number of fans for home games at Hillenbrand Stadium. Season ticket holders will have the first opportunity to purchase the tickets, before they open to the general public.
- Kristin Hallam of Hofstra set the Pride’s program record for stolen bases; her first stolen base of the year was #56 for her career, which set a new career record.
- South Florida assistant coach (and former interim head coach) Jessica Moore is leaving the Bulls program. Moore, who was in her 6th season with the team, coached her last series this past weekend, and will be making a family move to Denmark in Europe.
- Baylor’s Nicky Dawson set the new program record for career triples.
- UNLV head coach Kristie Fox earned her 100th win with the Rebels. Fox is in her fourth season leading the program.
- UTSA’s Celeste Loughman tied the Roadrunners’ program record for career triples, notching the 10th 3-bagger of her career.
- Sami Williams of Iowa State set her program record for career RBIs and recorded the 150th run batted in of her own career.
INAUGURAL VICTORIES
Bucknell head coach Sarah Sigrest Caffrey started her head coaching career 2-0 with a pair of wins over North Carolina A&T. The Bison outscored their opponent 19-10 to begin Caffrey’s head coaching career… George Mason interim head coach Justin Walker also started his own head coaching career with an undefeated record; the Patriots swept a doubleheader against Saint Joseph’s on Saturday to give Walker his first two career wins.
UPSET ALERT
South Alabama over Alabama 1-0
UT-Arlington over North Texas 2-0
UCF over Arizona 2-0
Wichita State over Iowa State 3-1
Missouri State over Iowa State 3-1
Colorado State over Oregon State 4-3
North Carolina over South Carolina 3-0
Baylor over Louisiana-Lafayette 8-1
HELPING HER OWN CAUSE
Illinois State standout Mack Leonard posted quite the performance at the plate this weekend, helping lead her team to a 5-1 showing in Florida. Leonard’s impressive weekend performance included a walk-off home run against Florida International, in a game that she had also entered to pitch in the top of the 7th. Leonard earned her team the victory, and herself the pitching win, with the longball. She ended the weekend with four extra base hits and eleven RBIs.
GARCIA RETURNS
UCLA star and two-time National Player of the Year Rachel Garcia finally returned to the pitching circle this weekend, Garcia threw three innings against San Jose State, striking out eight batters and earning the win. She gave up no hits, no walks, and no runs in the appearance. Garcia also batted once against the Spartans, knocking a double for her fourth hit of the season. Garcia had been day-to-day with an injury since February 20th, when she was injured while on offense.
AIR ALIYAH DOES IT ALL
Aliyah Andrews, LSU’s super senior and resident center-field roamer, has garnered much acclaim for her defense, but Andrews also made waves with her bat this week in a big matchup against Texas. Andrews went 6-11 at the plate, including three base hits that led to runs being scored for her team. Oh, and she also hit the first over-the-fence home run of her ENTIRE CAREER. A dinger that went off the scoreboard, it was a no-doubter off the bat. Not exactly par for the course for Andrews, but it’s of major benefit to her because of how opposing defenses are now going to have to play her.
ALCORN’S BRENN URSIN HANGS IN
Yes, Mississippi State won the ball game. A Fa Leilua walk-off home run gave the Bulldogs a win over Alcorn State, but the process leading up to Leilua’s home run was a major indictment of Mississippi State and a major win for Alcorn State, specifically for pitcher Brenn Ursin. Ursin went the distance against the SEC opponent, throwing 7.1 innings and allowing no walks and four earned runs. She struck out just one, but her ability to withstand the State onslaught for most of the game is a major feather in her cap.
WOLFPACK PAUSED
Nevada’s program was paused due to COVID-19 regulations mid-tournament while in Palo Alto at Stanford. The Wolfpack played on day one of the tournament, then announced their shutdown and did not play the rest of the weekend. There’s no public timeline at this point for the Wolfpack to return to action.
SOMEBODY TELL THE GOVERNOR
Louisiana Tech officially christened their new stadium this week, with a host of state dignitaries in town. Dr. Billy Bundrick Field, as the facility is officially known, also saw its first tournament action by hosting Baylor and Tarleton. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards threw out the ceremonial, and judging by this photo from the Governor’s official Twitter account, somebody forgot to mention to him one important difference between baseball and softball.
