Oklahoma ran their winning streak to twenty-two consecutive games after a three-game sweep over Baylor in the second weekend of Big 12 conference play. The Sooners sport the longest active winning streak in the nation and made it through their toughest conference opponent with flying colors, including a run-rule victory in game two of the series.
In the Big 10, Indiana enjoyed their second consecutive Big 10 conference sweep and sit atop the conference standings with a perfect record, the only B1G team who can boast such. A week after breezing by Ohio State, the Hoosiers made played it close with Michigan State and escaped with two one-run victories and a 5-1 win in the series’ final game.
In the PAC-12, Arizona blew by Cal and sent the Golden Bears to the conference cellar with a 1-8 record in conference play. Oregon took the series from Oregon State, but suffered a loss to the Beavers in the middle game of the series. UCLA and Washington easily dispatched Utah and Stanford, respectively, while Arizona State made quick work of a non-conference tournament field that included North Dakota State and BYU.
Around the SEC, Georgia and Tennessee enjoyed a back-and-forth tussle of a series, while Texas A&M took the series from South Carolina; and Alabama and Auburn went on the road to take series wins from Kentucky and Ole Miss, respectively. Arkansas enjoyed a sweep over Mississippi State, while Missouri walked off in the bottom of the seventh on Saturday to avoid a series sweep at the hands of LSU.
Now, for the headlines and highlights of the week…
NEWS
- Oklahoma State senior Vanessa Shippy set the new program record for runs scored with the 184th crossing of home plate in her career.
- Indiana head coach Shonda Stanton secured the 600th win of her career.
- Tennessee senior Meghan Gregg surpassed former Lady Vol Tonya Callahan for the program career record for RBIs.
- Illinois-Chicago head coach Lynn Curylo earned the 200th win of her career at the Division I level.
- LSU head coach Beth Torina earned the 300th victory of her tenure with the Tigers.
- CSU-Northridge star Savannah Horvath set the program’s new all-time home run record with the 47th longball of her career.
- D2: West Texas A&M’s Kilee Halbert tied the program record for career wins with the 70th victory of her career.
- D2: Valdosta State head coach Thomas Macera earned the 800th victory of his career.
- Congratulations to the pitchers who recorded no-hitters and perfect games this weekend:
- Ali Dubois, Boston (vs. Army, 8.0 IP, 4 SO)
- Danielle East, Fresno State (vs. New Mexico, 5.0 IP, 15 SO)
- G Juarez, Arizona State (vs. BYU, 7.0 IP, 11 SO)
- Mariah Lopez/Paige Lowary, Oklahoma (vs. Baylor, 5.0 IP, 4 SO)
- Amber Fiser, Minnesota (vs. Illinois, 7.0 IP, 10 SO)
- Cielo Meza, Long Beach State (vs. Hawaii, 5.0 IP, 6 SO)
- Meghan Beaubien, Michigan (vs. Purdue, 7.0 IP, 8 SO)
- Aleshia Ocasio/Natalie Lugo, Florida (vs. Hampton, 5.0 IP, 7 SO)
- Megan Richards, Campbell (vs. Longwood, 10.0 IP, 6 SO)
WORTH WATCHING
Former Tusculum golf coach and former U.S. Marine Bob Dibble threw out the first pitch for the Pioneers softball team’s Military Appreciation Day on Friday.
WHO’S HOT, WHO’S NOT
HOT: Kennesaw State
After a sluggish start, the Owls seem to have cured what ails them and have put together a solid campaign just past the halfway point in the season. At one point in the year, Pete D’Amour’s squad had a ten-game winning streak and the currently boast an ASun conference record of 5-1, after winning the series over USC-Upstate and sweeping by North Florida. Both teams are expected to finish near the top of the conference standings, and both Alley Cutting and Abby Green have looked excellent at times; the Owls are averaging very nearly one strikeout/inning.
NOT: California
As we touched on earlier in the Roundup, the Bears have struggled since beginning Pac-12 conference play. After reaching the mid-teens in the rankings during the pre-conference season, Cal has plummeted to the cellar of the Pac-12 with a 1-8 record through the first three conference series’, with a 12-0 victory over Oregon State the only mark in the “W” category. Despite that big win, the Bears only outscored the Beavers 20-18 in the series, and were outscored 11-3 and 13-5 against Arizona State and Arizona, respectively, and currently sport a seven-game losing streak. A single bright spot is that Kamalani Dung and Zoe Conley have been excellent in the circle for Diane Ninemire’s squad; the Bears sport a team 2.19 ERA.
PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEK
>>> Marisa Stankiewicz, Arizona State– As the sole PAC-12 team playing outside of the conference this week, Stankiewicz helped her Sun Devils run over opponents North Dakota State and BYU en route to a 2.333 slugging percentage on the week. She clubbed three home runs in four games and recorded seven RBIs. Her final line for the week also included a .625 batting average and eight runs scored.
>>> Tera Blanco, Michigan – The Wolverine senior made an impact primarily with her bat, but also with her pitching arm this week. After going hitless in a midweek game against Detroit-Mercy, Blanco swung a hot bat against the pitching of Purdue, to the tune of a 6-8 showing and three home runs in the weekend series. Her finest performance came in a 3-3 effort in the series’ middle game, when she hit two home runs, scored three times, and drove in four runs. In the series’ final game, she took the circle and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up three hits and no runs with five strikeouts and earned a no-decision.
