7 Wild & Unbelievable Moments From Last Week In Softball
7 Wild & Unbelievable Moments From Last Week In Softball
Arizona softball clinches Pac-12 title. Oregon sweeps No. 2 Florida State. Oklahoma resurges.
The NCAA Softball regular season concluded for nearly every team this weekend, except for a few Pac-12 teams. And, there was just so much wildness. First, let's start with the Pac-12.
Arizona needed to beat UCLA once in Los Angeles to take the conference title. And, after losing the first two games against the Bruins, the Wildcats finally broke through with a big win on Sunday.
In the first two games, UCLA crushed the former No. 1 Wildcats in stunning fashion: 8-0 with a run-rule win on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday. Arizona, as one of the top hitting teams in the country, only recorded two hits on Friday and five hits on Saturday on the way to very rare back-to-back shutout losses.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/861029037921128448" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The Wildcats then beat the Bruins 7-2 on Sunday to win the conference. This broke Oregon's streak of winning four straight conference titles from 2013 to 2016.
As the Pac-12 champion, Arizona automatically qualified for their 31st consecutive NCAA Tournament, which is a new record.
It was a tough way to get to the conference title this weekend, but UCLA has proven to be a tough place to play this season. Congratulations Arizona!
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/UA_Softball/status/861418758778142720" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
2. Florida State Swept by Oregon?!
No. 2 Florida State finally beat No. 1 Florida on Wednesday. Then, the Seminoles packed their bags and traveled to Oregon for their final regular season series.
Apparently FSU forgot to pack their bats on the trip. On this wild weekend, No. 5 Oregon swept No. 2 FSU in a marquee non-conference series.
Avert your eyes, Seminoles fans. One of the top hitting teams in the country scored a total of two runs in the series.
The Ducks run-ruled FSU 11-0 on Friday, won 3-1 on Saturday, and won 2-1 in extra innings on Sunday.
Perhaps FSU spent so much energy in their extra innings, walk-off win against in-state rival Florida that they didn't have much left in the tank when they traveled across the country to face Oregon. That especially appeared to be the case on Friday.
Or, Oregon has completely regrouped after hitting a rough patch where they went 3-6 after starting the season undefeated.
After losing a series against Arizona in mid-April, the Ducks have won seven in a row. They did not win the Pac-12 conference, but they have a chance to finish the regular season strong this weekend against Stanford.
If Oregon can win the road series in Palo Alto, it will solidify second place in the conference and give them tremendous momentum heading into NCAA Tournament.
As for FSU, the Seminoles must regroup after their cross-country adventure. They will start their ACC Tournament run Thursday in North Carolina trying to stay undefeated in ACC play this season.
The Gators swept a three-game series against North Texas by a combined score of 25-1, then shutout Florida A&M 7-0 in the second game on Sunday.
Shockingly, the one run that Florida allowed the entire weekend was a home run against Kelly Barnhill.
Barnhill entered the week having not given up a home run or triple the entire season. She gave up two homers and a triple in the game against FSU. Then, in Sunday's game against North Texas, Barnhill allowed a home run against N. Texas' Lacy Gregory.
Barnhill finished the regular season 22-1 with this ridiculous statline, even after a challenging final week of the regular season:
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/GatorsSB/status/861367110123048964" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Now, the Vols look like a contender again after this wild weekend. Tennessee traveled to Texas A&M for a Top 10 matchup and won two-out-of-three games.
More impressively, Tennessee lost the first game on Friday, then won 8-4 on Saturday and 8-6 on Sunday to take the road series.
On Sunday, the Vols were powered by Meghan Gregg, who delivered a grand slam in the second inning to give UT enough separation to hold off a late A&M rally.
The result was important because it moved Tennessee into third place in the SEC. The Vols and Aggies both finished 16-7 in the conference, but Tennessee's win on Sunday gave them the head-to-head edge.
Meanwhile, Auburn locked up second place in the SEC by virtue of a big series win on the road against in-state rival Alabama. The Tigers won 3-0 and 4-1 in the first two games, but lost 3-2 on Sunday.
Auburn has had one of the most up-and-down softball seasons in recent memory, but they found a way to finish second place in their conference.
Now, we'll see how the Tigers fare this coming weekend in the SEC Tournament as they look to defend their title after winning in 2015 and 2016.
Final SEC Top 4 Standings
The Gophers crushed Penn State in all three road games to officially win the regular season title. The run-rule final scores were 11-1, 14-1, and 10-1. The only thing Minnesota did not do was record a shutout.
But, the Gophers set all kinds of program records this season, finished the regular season 51-3 overall and 21-1 in the conference, had the fewest losses of any team in the country, and are currently riding a 22-game winning streak into the postseason.
The Gophers' combination of dominant pitching and aggressive, power hitting has been lethal all season. Now, the road warriors from Minnesota head into the Big 10 tournament this coming weekend on Michigan's home field.
Minnesota and Michigan did not face each other during the regular season, but perhaps the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Big 10 will meet in the tournament. That would be must-watch softball!
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/GopherSoftball/status/861306648161386498" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The defending National Champions are very dangerous heading into postseason play.
The Sooners finished conference play 17-1, with the only loss being against Baylor in their epic showdown last month.
Now, the Sooners head into the Big 12 conference tournament looking to improve their national seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
The conference tourney kicks off Friday in Oklahoma City, setting the stage for the Women's College World Series. Will OU make another run this year?
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The Grizzlies were one game away from a perfect season before the start of the NJCAA Tournament. But, Seward County made themselves famous by defeating Butler 6-5 in the Region VI Tournament.
That ended Butler's 88-game winning streak dating back to last season for manager Doug Chance.
But, Seward County had to beat Butler twice to win the Region VI Title. That was not going to happen against Regan Mergele, who shut out Seward County 10-0 in the Region VI Title game.
Mergele finished the schedule 25-0 on the season. Now, the sophomore sensation will look to lead Butler in the NJCAA Tournament after the Grizzlies posted a 51-1 season record. That sting of that one loss will soon be erased if Butler wins back-to-back NJCAA National Titles.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ButlerGrizzlies/status/861416391714492416" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
1. Arizona Wins Pac-12 Title
So, the Arizona Wildcats won the conference this year... after losing a weekend series.Arizona needed to beat UCLA once in Los Angeles to take the conference title. And, after losing the first two games against the Bruins, the Wildcats finally broke through with a big win on Sunday.
In the first two games, UCLA crushed the former No. 1 Wildcats in stunning fashion: 8-0 with a run-rule win on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday. Arizona, as one of the top hitting teams in the country, only recorded two hits on Friday and five hits on Saturday on the way to very rare back-to-back shutout losses.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/861029037921128448" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
The Wildcats then beat the Bruins 7-2 on Sunday to win the conference. This broke Oregon's streak of winning four straight conference titles from 2013 to 2016.
As the Pac-12 champion, Arizona automatically qualified for their 31st consecutive NCAA Tournament, which is a new record.
It was a tough way to get to the conference title this weekend, but UCLA has proven to be a tough place to play this season. Congratulations Arizona!
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/UA_Softball/status/861418758778142720" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
2. Florida State Swept by Oregon?!
No. 2 Florida State finally beat No. 1 Florida on Wednesday. Then, the Seminoles packed their bags and traveled to Oregon for their final regular season series.Apparently FSU forgot to pack their bats on the trip. On this wild weekend, No. 5 Oregon swept No. 2 FSU in a marquee non-conference series.
Avert your eyes, Seminoles fans. One of the top hitting teams in the country scored a total of two runs in the series.
The Ducks run-ruled FSU 11-0 on Friday, won 3-1 on Saturday, and won 2-1 in extra innings on Sunday.
Perhaps FSU spent so much energy in their extra innings, walk-off win against in-state rival Florida that they didn't have much left in the tank when they traveled across the country to face Oregon. That especially appeared to be the case on Friday.
Or, Oregon has completely regrouped after hitting a rough patch where they went 3-6 after starting the season undefeated.
After losing a series against Arizona in mid-April, the Ducks have won seven in a row. They did not win the Pac-12 conference, but they have a chance to finish the regular season strong this weekend against Stanford.
If Oregon can win the road series in Palo Alto, it will solidify second place in the conference and give them tremendous momentum heading into NCAA Tournament.
As for FSU, the Seminoles must regroup after their cross-country adventure. They will start their ACC Tournament run Thursday in North Carolina trying to stay undefeated in ACC play this season.
3. Florida Back To Form
After No. 1 Florida lost to No. 2 FSU on Wednesday, the Gators finished the regular season with four non-conference home games. And, Florida was absolutely dominant.The Gators swept a three-game series against North Texas by a combined score of 25-1, then shutout Florida A&M 7-0 in the second game on Sunday.
Shockingly, the one run that Florida allowed the entire weekend was a home run against Kelly Barnhill.
Barnhill entered the week having not given up a home run or triple the entire season. She gave up two homers and a triple in the game against FSU. Then, in Sunday's game against North Texas, Barnhill allowed a home run against N. Texas' Lacy Gregory.
Barnhill finished the regular season 22-1 with this ridiculous statline, even after a challenging final week of the regular season:
- 0.33 season ERA
- 22-1 record
- 278 Ks
- 7 earned runs allowed (4 in the final week)
- 13 Complete Games in 23 Starts
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/GatorsSB/status/861367110123048964" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
4. Don't Sleep On Tennessee
Last week, Tennessee looked like a pretender when they lost a home series against the Florida Gators.Now, the Vols look like a contender again after this wild weekend. Tennessee traveled to Texas A&M for a Top 10 matchup and won two-out-of-three games.
More impressively, Tennessee lost the first game on Friday, then won 8-4 on Saturday and 8-6 on Sunday to take the road series.
On Sunday, the Vols were powered by Meghan Gregg, who delivered a grand slam in the second inning to give UT enough separation to hold off a late A&M rally.
The result was important because it moved Tennessee into third place in the SEC. The Vols and Aggies both finished 16-7 in the conference, but Tennessee's win on Sunday gave them the head-to-head edge.
Meanwhile, Auburn locked up second place in the SEC by virtue of a big series win on the road against in-state rival Alabama. The Tigers won 3-0 and 4-1 in the first two games, but lost 3-2 on Sunday.
Auburn has had one of the most up-and-down softball seasons in recent memory, but they found a way to finish second place in their conference.
Now, we'll see how the Tigers fare this coming weekend in the SEC Tournament as they look to defend their title after winning in 2015 and 2016.
Final SEC Top 4 Standings
- Florida: 20-3 in conference
- Auburn: 17-7
- Tennessee: 16-7
- Texas A&M: 16-7
5. Watch out for Minnesota!
The Minnesota Golden Gophers left zero doubt about the Big 10 title this weekend.The Gophers crushed Penn State in all three road games to officially win the regular season title. The run-rule final scores were 11-1, 14-1, and 10-1. The only thing Minnesota did not do was record a shutout.
But, the Gophers set all kinds of program records this season, finished the regular season 51-3 overall and 21-1 in the conference, had the fewest losses of any team in the country, and are currently riding a 22-game winning streak into the postseason.
The Gophers' combination of dominant pitching and aggressive, power hitting has been lethal all season. Now, the road warriors from Minnesota head into the Big 10 tournament this coming weekend on Michigan's home field.
Minnesota and Michigan did not face each other during the regular season, but perhaps the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Big 10 will meet in the tournament. That would be must-watch softball!
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/GopherSoftball/status/861306648161386498" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
6. Is Oklahoma the Most Dangerous Team in the Country?
Watch out, here comes Oklahoma. The Sooners traveled to Stillwater this weekend and swept in-state rival Oklahoma State to officially win the Big 12 conference title.The defending National Champions are very dangerous heading into postseason play.
The Sooners finished conference play 17-1, with the only loss being against Baylor in their epic showdown last month.
Now, the Sooners head into the Big 12 conference tournament looking to improve their national seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
The conference tourney kicks off Friday in Oklahoma City, setting the stage for the Women's College World Series. Will OU make another run this year?
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/OU_Softball/status/859944408027992064" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
7. Butler NJCAA So Close to Perfection
You won't believe it, but top-ranked NJCAA program Butler lost a softball game during this wild weekend.The Grizzlies were one game away from a perfect season before the start of the NJCAA Tournament. But, Seward County made themselves famous by defeating Butler 6-5 in the Region VI Tournament.
That ended Butler's 88-game winning streak dating back to last season for manager Doug Chance.
But, Seward County had to beat Butler twice to win the Region VI Title. That was not going to happen against Regan Mergele, who shut out Seward County 10-0 in the Region VI Title game.
Mergele finished the schedule 25-0 on the season. Now, the sophomore sensation will look to lead Butler in the NJCAA Tournament after the Grizzlies posted a 51-1 season record. That sting of that one loss will soon be erased if Butler wins back-to-back NJCAA National Titles.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ButlerGrizzlies/status/861416391714492416" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]