Division 1
JMU Upsets Auburn & Tennessee,
Jacelyn Ford Named National Pitcher of the Week
After big wins last weekend over BR-8 Tennessee and BR-1 Auburn, BR-14 James Madison returned from the road to continue their winning ways. In their home opening weekend Macado's Invitational, the Dukes swept games against BR-216 Toledo, BR-165 Saint Joseph’s and BR-198 Robert Morris.
JMU came out firing, plating seven runs in the first inning and allowing just three hits to Toledo cruising to a 12-3 victory in five innings.
Coming off a weekend that saw the Dukes go a perfect 5-0 at the Michele Smith Pediatric Center Foundation Invitational that included those wins over Auburn and Tennessee, as well as BR-154 DePaul, BR-72 Fordham, and BR-129 Oklahoma State, senior pitcher Jailyn Ford was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Pitcher of the Week.
After taking down 2 SEC giants, @JMU_Softball's Jailyn Ford earns @espnW player of week: https://t.co/LnWt3uu5to pic.twitter.com/QDtcLO19Bd
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) February 25, 2016
Ford went 2-0 in the circle, earning both the wins against the Tigers and the Vols. She allowed just two earned runs over the 13 2/3 innings against the SEC powers, allowing just two hits against UT, and three against the Auburn. She also earned a save against the Cowgirls.
At the plate, Ford contributed four hits in the five games for a .333 batting average, paired with a .833 slugging percentage that included a double, a triple and a home run.
Oklahoma Freshman Step Up, Sooners Upset UCLA
The Sooners upset BR-16 UCLA 11-7 after pounding out 18 hits – the second highest hit-total allowed by Bruin pitching in program history.
BR-15 Oklahoma freshman Sydney Romero hit her second home run in as many days, and extended her hitting streak to 10. Classmate Jayden Chestnut was called to the circle in relief early and while she allowed five runs on nine hits and six walks, she struck out six and kept the Bruins from gaining any momentum – Chestnut picked up her second win of the season.
Oregon Comes From Down 7, Tops Missouri
BR-6 Oregon came back from a 7-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, to defeat BR-9 Missouri, 8-7 in eight innings Saturday night at the Mary Nutter Classic out in Cathedral City, California.
After a six-run bottom of the fourth – then tying things up in the bottom of the fifth, the Ducks and Tigers were even after seven innings. In the tiebreaker, the Ducks had Hailey Decker on second to start the bottom of the inning. when Geri Ann Glasco produced a sacrifice bunt that moved Decker over to third. Gwen Svekis stepped to the plan, then roped the pitch over short driving Decker in for the game-winner.
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Division 2
UIndy's Foley Sets D2 K-Record … Again
BR-11 Indianapolis pitcher Morgan Foley (pictured above) added her name to another spot in the D2 record books, fanning the maximum 21 batters in seven-innings, during a 2-0 no-hitter against BR-134 Hillsdale at the Music City Invitational in Nashville. Foley already holds the NCAA all-division record for strikeouts in a game, punching out 30 hitter over 13 innings.
BREAKING | @UIndySoftball's Morgan Foley sets #NCAAD2 record w/ 21 Ks in 7-inn no-no @NCAAStats @NFCAorg @IndyStar pic.twitter.com/BflNgpyxLd
— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) February 27, 2016
West Texas A&M opens up 20-0
BR-1 West Texas A&M continued their season opening roll with a 6-0 showing at last weekend’s Lady Bluff Invite. With a doubleheader sweeps over BR-268 Lincoln, BR-129 Western Oregon, and BR-174 Newman, the Lady Bluffs moved their overall record to a perfect 16-0.
For the weekend, WT hit .476 as a team, with 18 double, four triples and nine homeruns. They outscored their opponents by a 75-9 margin in five games, while in the circle Lady Bluff hurlers combined for a 1.06 ERA on four complete game showings – three of them shutouts. Opponents hit only .233, scoring five earned runs with 30 strikeouts.
In their Lone Star Conference opener, Lady Bluffs freshman outfielder Brittany Cruz had a pair of walkoffs, including a two-run single with two out in the seventh in the nightcap to complete a sweep of BR-26 Tarleton St.. WT is now 20-0 on the season, and off to their best start in program history.
Catawba starts 10-0; Tysinger Gets 1,000th K – Named National Pitcher of the Week
BR-32 Catawba hurler Carley Tysinger went over 1,000 career strikeouts as Catawba remained undefeated with a 5-0 victory over BR-80 Columbus State in the Lenoir-Rhyne/Catawba Invitational, moving the Indians to 10-0 on the season. The senior was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division 2 National Pitcher of the Week for this past week.
Tysinger punched out the first 18 batters she faced to take a perfect game to the final frame. After hitting CSU’s Katie White to start the seventh to end the bid for the school's first perfect game, Callie Star broke up the no-hitter with a one-out single. Tysinger improved to 6-0, striking out seven and allowing just the two base runners.
In her first three starts, Tysinger went the distance with 10 strikeouts per contest, including two shutouts and an upset win over BR-12 Georgia College.
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Division 3
Batten Fires No-Hitter, Has Two-Win Day
All-American hurler Kelsie Batten recorded a no-hitter and two wins to lead BR-10 Texas-Tyler to a doubleheader sweep with an 8-0 Complete game, and two-out relief appearance (3-2) over BR-106 Letourneau this weekend.
#TalonsUP for Kelsie Batten for throwing a no-hitter and recording two wins on Saturday to… https://t.co/SHLpKphlR0 pic.twitter.com/mOdsATuBK9
— UT Tyler Patriots (@uttylerpatriots) February 28, 2016
Starting in the circle in game two, Alaina Kissinger struck out two, allowing five hits and a run in six and a third, until Batten came in to finish up in getting the last two outs of the game. After Emilee Burkhardt drove the left field line in the bottom of the seventh to score Cheyenne Thompson from second, Batten was credited with the win.
