Super-Regional # 1 : Alabama vs. Hawaii
Alabama: The top-seeded Crimson Tide, behind the bat of freshman Courtney Conley and the arm of junior Kelsi Dunne, the No. 1 seeded Alabama softball team claimed the NCAA Softball Tuscaloosa Regional Championship Sunday afternoon, defeating Lipscomb 6-0.
With the win the Crimson Tide improves to 51-9 and ties the school record with its 27th straight victory. The regional title is the sixth in a row and eighth overall for Alabama.
Dunne (29-4) earned her second win of the weekend on the strength of a 14-strikeout, two-hit shutout. The win is the 16th in a row for the right-hander. She had 10 strikeouts in the first game against Lipscomb, while only allowing five hits in that game.
The team wasn't really challenged, cruising past Alcorn State 9-0 before beating Lipscomb twice, 5-2 and 6-0. Kayla Braud led the team with a homer and four RBI on the weekend, while Conley added three RBI of her own.
Hawaii - It is the second time in school history that the 'Bows have advanced to the Super Regionals. Hawaii is the only school in the WAC to make it to the "sweet sixteen" in softball.
Sophomore pitcher, Stephanie Ricketts, earned her third complete game win of the Regional. She comes into Super Regionals with a 27-7 record and 2.35 ERA. Kaia Parnaby has been a stud on the mound for the Rainbows as well, putting up a 19-6 record and 2.89 ERA.
The 16th-seeded Rainbows went 12-11 against NCAA teams this year, including a win over 11th-seeded California.
Super-Regional # 2: Missouri vs. Oregon
Missouri - For the first time in the history of the program, the Missouri softball team will play host to the NCAA Super Regional round. The Tigers advance to the Super Regional for the third consecutive season after winning the Columbia Regional on Sunday. Mizzou used a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Creighton on Friday before defeating Illinois 3-1 on Saturday, setting up a 4-2 victory over the Illini again on Sunday to clinch the title. Missouri looks to return to the Women's College World Series for the second straight year.
The Tigers used a balanced effort offensively over the weekend, as Catherine Lee, Nicole Hudson and Ashley Fleming each had thee RBI on the weekend. Rhea Taylor raised her stolen base total to 45, which is third on the all-time season list, and her 62 runs scored are second, behind her record of 64 set in her freshman year, 2008.
Although the offense was balanced, the star of the weekend was pitcher Kristin Nottleman, who improved her record to 22-7 on the season with her three wins during the Regional. She had 14 strikeouts over the three games, including 11 in the two games against Illinois.
Missouri is 2-1 against Oregon, winning last year in the San Diego Classic, 8-7 in eight innings.
Oregon - The No. 20-ranked University of Oregon softball team (36-19) battled back for a dramatic 4-3, eighth-inning victory over the NCAA tournament’s eighth overall seed Georgia Tech (51-11) Sunday afternoon at Mewborn Field to earn its first Super Regional trip since 1989.
The team was 12-15 against NCAA Tournament teams, including wins over seeded teams Arizona, Washington, California and Arizona State.
Sam Pappas is the main threat for the Ducks, as she leads the team in HR (11), RBI (48) and stolen bases (11), while having the second highest batting average at .389. Allie Burger leads the team in the postseason with a .545 average, while Kaylan Howard leads the team with one home run and five RBI.
Jessica Moore leads the team with a 16-7 record and a 1.87 ERA. She ahs struck out 232 batters this year while walking only 66. Moore has pitched 18 1/3 innings in three postseason games, striking out 16. In the postseason, Mikayla Endicott has struck out four of the five batters she has faced.
Super-Regional # 3: UCLA vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
UCLA - The Bruins are hosting their third Super-Regional in a row. Last year they were upset by an unseeded Missouri team in three games.
The Bruins went 17-9 against NCAA Teams this year, facing teams such as Michigan and Ohio State in their nonconference portion of the schedule, in addition to their tough Pac 10 schedule.
Megan Langenfeld, when healthy, is one of the most dangerous dual-threats in college softball and that has been the case this year. While she has not been as great of a presence on the mund, her production at the plate is something to be in awe of. She has knocked out 16 home runs on her way to a team-high 49 RBI. Her 16 HR are matched by teammate Julie Burney, who also has 44 RBI. Andrea Harrison (13) and Samantha Camuso (11) each have double digit home runs as well.
Donna Kerr has been the UCLA workhorse this year, starting a team-high 29 of 54 games. Despite this fact, she is one of three pitchers who has double digit wins on the year. She holds an 18-7 record and 2.41 ERA, while teammates Langenfeld and Aleah Macon each have 10-1 records. Macon leads the team with a 0.92 ERA.
Louisiana-Lafayette: A complete team effort secured Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team a spot at the NCAA Super Regionals after the Cajuns downed Texas A&M, 6-1, at LSU's Tiger Park in the Baton Rouge Regional Championship.
The Cajuns put on a hitting clinic, rattling off 14 hits, including a three-run home run by Gabriele Bridges. Eight Cajuns recorded a hit in the win with Vallie Gaspard, Melissa Verde, Nerissa Myers and Bridges boasting multi-hit performances. For the day, UL posted at least two hits in each inning.
For her effort, Bridges was tabbed as the Baton Rouge Regional's Most Valuable Player. For the weekend, the junior first baseman hit .444. She had four hits, three of which went for extra bases, a slugging percentage of 1.222. She racked up six RBI in nine at bats against the competition.
Gabrielle Bridges leads the Cajuns with 17 HR and 55 RBI, while Chrisiy Orgeron has 15 HR and 56 RBI.
Brittany Cuevas was stellar in the circle. In the complete game victory, the senior hurler allowed just four hits and forced the Aggies into 12 ground outs. She struck out three, including the final out, to improve to 22-7 this season. She is only one part of a stellar two-headed monster. Her counterpart in the circle is Donna Bourgeois, who leads the team with 23 wins and a 1.78 ERA.
The Cajuns went 8-10 against NCAA teams this year.
Super-Regional # 4: Arizona State vs. Florida
Arizona State: The Regional Championship was the fifth consecutive for the 13th-seeded Sun Devils. They managed to make it through the Regional without dropping a game, dispatching Boston University and an underrated Long Island University team twice.
If the Devils' schedule didn't prepare them for postseason play, I don't know what can. They faced 17 tournament teams, including 11 nonconference foes.
The team has always been known as one to pack an offensive punch and that has continued to be the case this year. Of their regular starters, all of them except one are hitting above .300 and three have double-digit home runs, as well as four who have over 40 RBI. Katelyn Boyd is the table-setter, as she leads the team in average (.414), hits (70), home runs (15), RBI (49) and stolen bases (27). Lesley Rogers is a perfect 22-of-22 on the basepaths.
Hilary Bach is the ace of the staff, having compiled a 25-7 record in 37 appearances. She picked up two wins on the weekend, while Megan Elliott pitched a gem in the first game against LIU, only giving up four hits in over five innings.
ASU is 2-1 against Florida, with their last meeting being a loss last year, 8-2.
Florida - The fourth-seeded University of Florida softball team used a 13-3, five-inning victory over FIU on Sunday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in front of 1,503 fans to advance to its fourth straight NCAA Super Regional appearance. With the three Regional wins, Florida improved its all-time record to 16-15 in NCAA Regional action and 29-21 overall in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators finished the season 10-1 against in-state rivals, defeating all three Florida teams in the Gainesville Regional. Florida is hosting Super Regionals for the third time in program history
Stephanie Brombacher picked up wins in all three games, improving her record to 32-6, while only giving up three runs and eight hits the entire weekend. She has struck out 221 batters over her 199 innings pitched.
The Gator offense is stacked as well, as no player is hitting below .266. Francesca Enea leads the team with 20 home runs and 65 RBI. She leads a total of four players who have hit 13 or more home runs on the year. In addition five players have over 40 RBI. Florida also has some speed on the basepaths, swiping 75 of 95 opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment