Softball Games of the Week 3/13 – 3/18
Some very competitive events are coming up this weekend in Fullerton, CA and Honolulu. The games will pit two of the five unbeatens against one another and deliver other fantastic fan friendly matchups.
Judi Garman Classic (3/14 – 3/18, Fullerton, CA).
Cal State Fullerton hosts some of the nation's best teams in Southern California on their dual diamond Titan Softball Complex. Named for the former Titan Hall of Fame Head Softball Coach, this event is likely the most competitive mid-season collegiate tournament in the country. Six top ranked teams will compete. This group includes two of last year’s WCWS teams, five 2011 Super Regional competitors and 11 clubs that played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Louisiana is the only undefeated team in the event, at 22-0. This will be the Ragin’ Cajun’s toughest weekend so far in 2012.
#10 Oklahoma vs. #22 DePaul Thursday (3/15 1pm Pacific)
The Sooners have won 11 in a row and are 20-3 overall. Both the pitching and hitting are working at a high level. The OU staff has pitched six shutouts during the unbeaten streak, three for junior Samantha Ricketts, one each for Michelle Gascoigne and Kirsten Allen. The sixth was a combined Gascogine and Allen effort. Gascoigne is 9-0 in the circle. Jessica Shults, Lauren Chamberlain and Ricketts have been really driving the ball, hitting a barrage of homeruns over the weekend. DePaul comes in at 14-5, going 3-1 over the weekend in Miami. The Blue Demons have been pitching effectively by committee, with strong efforts coming from Mary Connolly, Hannah Penna, Kristen Verdun and Bree Brown. At the plate Samantha Dodd, Verdun, Connolly and Katelyn Braget can do serious damage. DePaul will have to pitch and defend well to control the power of the Sooners.
#6 Arizona St. vs. #11 Louisiana Thursday (3/15 7:30pm Pacific)
The Sun Devils have won 21 straight. The defending WCWS champs have gotten a lift from Hillary Bach and Mackenzie Popescue in the circle. Bach is 11-0 with a 0.71 ERA. Popescue is 5-1 with a 1.44 ERA. Last year’s ace, Dallas Escobedo is 9-1, fanning 91 in just under 63 innings. Interestingly, each of the hurlers has started nine games. The powerful Arizona St. lineup boasts six hitters who have five or more homeruns. Katelyn Boyd leads the way with 11 and Elizabeth Caporuscio has 10. The team is hitting .375 with five regulars hitting over .400. Louisiana is 22-0. This will be Arizona State’s toughest test to date. This lineup also hits for power. Seven hitters have gone yard. Christi Orgeron is hitting .438 with nine bombs. Paige Cormier has seven and Arizona transfer Matte Haack has six. Orgeron and Haack’s have delivered extra bases on around half of their hits. They are slugging .913 and .766 respectively. In the circle six different pitchers have wins. Ashley Brignac and Jordan Wallace have carried most of the load, making all 22 starts between them. Brignac is 9-0. Wallace is 10-0. This should be an incredibly entertaining game.
#6 Arizona St. vs. #16 Michigan Friday (3/16 5:30pm Pacific)
The Sun Devils pitching staff may control the Michigan hitters and their offense will put the young Wolverine pitching staff to the test. At 16-7, Michigan has been a little inconsistent, but has some big wins including victories over UCLA, LSU and Auburn. Hitting just .258 as a team, it could be very tough to score enough to stay with the Sun Devils. Ashley Lane and Amanda Chidester lead the Big Blue with six and four home runs respectively. Hayie Wagner and Sara Driesenga have most of the Wolverines starts. Wagner looks to be the ace, now 11-2 with a 1.32 ERA. Michigan routinely seeks out the tough competition and they have found it here.
#3 Washington vs. #10 Oklahoma Saturday (3/17 11am Pacific)
UW is 23-1 with a 2-0 loss to Missouri as its only blemish. This club is balanced, delivering in the circle and at the plate. Ten of their wins have been shoot outs, eight have been run rules. The Huskies are hitting just .323 as a team, 7th in the PAC-12 and have a team ERA of 1.78, also 7th in the conference. Coach Tarr has prepared her team for the tough conference schedule ahead, beating the likes of Florida, A&M, Georgia and Nebraska. This weekend will be more of the same. This is a great matchup with quality pitching and hitting on both sides. Expect a low scoring affair.
#9 Arizona vs. #11 Louisiana Saturday (3/17 3:30pm Pacific)
The Wildcats have won seven consecutive and 14 of their last 15. They were rained out this past weekend at Baylor and have not played since March 4. Late February wins over Fresno State, Oklahoma State, Syracuse and Long Beach State demonstrate they are back on solid footing after an uncharacteristically shaky start. The Wildcats are hitting .327 with five players who have four or more big flys. Shelby Pendley leads her team with eight. She is slugging .875. In the circle Kenzie Fowler leads the way at 7-0 with a 1.55 ERA. Babcock is 7-4 with a 1.97 ERA.
#10 Oklahoma vs. #16 Michigan Thursday (3/15 5:30pm Pacific)
#3 Washington vs. #22 DePaul Friday (3/16 1pm Pacific)
#16 Michigan vs. #22 DePaul Saturday (3/17 1pm Pacific)
#9 Arizona vs. #22 DePaul Sunday (3/18 9am Pacific)
Hawaii Spring Fling (3/13 – 3/17, Honolulu, HI)
Some fantastic action will be added to the beauty of Honolulu. The weather was not that good in Hawaii last week, flooding accommodations, causing some fans from Texas to miss the trip. Not sure about this week’s weather, but if it holds up, the softball should be top notch.
#5 Texas vs. #13 Hawaii Tuesday (3/13 6pm Hawaii)
The Longhorns are an impressive 19-1. Their only loss was 5-4 to Florida. An all-around solid club so far this season, the team is hitting .371, slugging .561 with a .586 on-base percentage and has a team ERA of 0.98. Lexy Bennet has returned from a 2011 injury and is having more than an outstanding season with a .528 average, five long balls, three triples and three doubles. Bennet is slugging .981. Courtney Craig, Karina Scott and Taylor Hoagland each of have three home runs. Four Texas pitchers have wins. Blaire Luna is still the ace, at 8-0 with a team leading 0.71 ERA. She has struck out 80 in 49 innings. Sophomore Rachel Fox has six starts and is 6-0 with a 1.02 ERA. Hawaii should come into the contest unbeaten at 21-0. The team has power up and down the lineup. Nine hitters have gone deep, seven have three or more long balls. Jessica Iwata and Leisha Li’ili’i are hitting .443 and .442 respectively. Li’ili’I leads the team with six home runs. Stephani Ricketts and Kaia Parnaby have been outstanding in the circle. Ricketts is 12-0 with a 0.53 ERA. She has fanned 96 in 76 innings. Parnaby is 9-0 with a 0.48 ERA. Good pitching beats good hitting, so expect both strong offenses to struggle.
#1 Cal vs. #23 Texas A&M Wednesday (3/14 11am Hawaii)
The Golden Bears are outstanding in every phase of the game and are undefeated. The 21 wins include topping Tennessee, Syracuse and LSU, 10 shut outs and nine run rules. Cal leads the PAC-12 with a .375 team batting average and is third in HR’s with 30. Cal leads the conference with a team 1.18 ERA and has allowed just 22 earned runs, best in the PAC-12. The Golden Bears .979 team fielding percentage is second only behind Arizona in the league. Arioto leads Cal at the plate. Arioto is hitting .500, has nine home runs and has been walked 30 times. Arioto and JoLene Henderson have been stellar. Henderson is 12-0 with a 1.14 ERA. Arioto is 9-0 with a 1.00 ERA. The Aggies are 16-7 so far, with quality wins over teams like Arizona, Stanford, BYU and Nebraska. Mel Dumezich leads the Ags in the circle and delivers at the plate. She is 11-4 with 122 strikeouts in 102 innings of work. Dumezich leads her team with 8 homers and 25 RBI. Megan May has four HR’s and has been walked 28 times. A&M will battle, but they will need to be at their best to hang with the country’s top team.
#1 Cal vs. #13 Hawaii Thursday (3/15 6:30pm Hawaii)
This could be a duel of undefeated teams, if they both prevail on Tuesday and Wednesday.
#1 Cal vs. #5 Texas Thursday (3/15 4pm Hawaii)
#13 Hawaii vs. #23 Texas A&M Friday (3/16 6:30pm Hawaii)
Other Games
#7 Georgia v. #17 Auburn Friday – Sunday (3/16 5pm, 3/17 12pm, 3/18 12pm, Central, Athens, GA)
The Bulldogs are 21-3, 2-1 in SEC play. They are hitting .314 as a team. Ashley Pauly leads the way at .394. Kristyn Sandberg has a .388 average with seven home runs. Five Bulldogs have three or more bombs. Ashley Razey and Tess Sito each have five long balls. A team ERA of 1.50, the staff is anchored by Morgan Montemayor and Erin Arevalo, both with eight wins. Many expected Georgia to take a small step back this season after graduating a quality core, but they are off to a good start. Auburn started the season 15-0 before losing to Michigan and North Carolina in Orlando. The Tigers are 21-3 heading into conference play. The offense is powerful, with home runs from 10 different hitters. Elizabeth Eisterhold has seven dingers and is hitting .414. Caitlin Jordan and Brooke Lathan have hit 5 and 4 homers respectively. A solid staff has posted an ERA under one. The total innings are spread fairly evenly between Lauren Schmalz (6-2), Angel Bunner (8-0) and Jenee Loree (7-1). The games in this series will be low scoring and close.
#2 Alabama vs. #14 Oregon Wednesday (3/14 5pm Pacific, Eugene OR)
The Tide makes a rare trip to the west coast to take on Oregon. At 21-0 Bama has beaten UMass, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State. The tilt against the Ducks may be their toughest this season. Eight of their wins have been by run rule. The Tide offense is averaging over eight runs per game. Thirteen Bama hitters have hit home runs. Amanda Locke leads her crew with five. The speedy Kayla Braud is hitting .455 with 19 stolen bases. Jackie Traina leads the Tide pitching staff at 12-0 with a 1.12 ERA. She has fanned 101 in 69 innings. Leslie Jury is 7-0. The Ducks are 18-3 and have won 17 of their last 18, including NC, Illinois State, Nebraska and OK St. Oregon is hitting .336 as a team with a 1.67 staff ERA. They rank last in the PAC-12 in fielding at .948. This matchup is one of the few non-conference measuring sticks for the Tide. Expect them to travel well and come out on top.
#7 Georgia vs. Georgia Tech Wednesday (3/14 7pm Eastern, Atlanta, GA)
The Bulldogs will warm up for Auburn with a mid-week battle close to home. There is no love lost between these clubs. Georgia Tech is 15-12 but has had some high quality wins, including over Oregon State, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Illinois State. The Jackets have had some inexplicable slip ups as well, but have proven they have the ability to compete with top teams. Hope Rush does the heavy lifting for the Jackets in the circle, but her ERA has ballooned to 2.25 and her record has dropped to 9-7. Injury has thinned the Yellow Jacket staff and Rush will have to continue to pile up the innings for her team to compete. Interestingly, Georgia Tech has not beaten the Bulldogs since April 9, 2008 where they won a double header at home. The winning pitcher in the second game, the last Georgia Tech pitcher to earn a win against Georgia was Emily Schreck, a walk-on from Texas.
