Softball Super Regional Game Breakdowns
These two teams will meet for the first time in 2016 after not playing in the regular season or SEC Tournament. For Florida, it’s simple. If they can keep the Georgia hitters in the ballpark, they will be fine and advance on to Oklahoma City without too much difficulty. If the Bulldogs are going to upset the Gators, they have to get an outstanding effort in the circle from Chelsea Wilkinson and find a way to get a few base runners against the Florida pitching to set up Alex Hugo with a chance to hit a three-run homerun. This is the best shot for Georgia to shock the Gators this weekend.
#8 Florida State vs. Utah
Look for this to be a hotly contested series as the Seminoles and Utes are very talented in the circle and have the ability to turn every game into a 2-1 type of battle. Jessica Burroughs was on point all weekend long for the Seminoles in the Tallahassee Regional and will need to be even sharper this weekend in order to slowdown Hannah Flippen and the Utah offense. For the Utes, the pitching duo of Miranda Viramontes and Katie Donovan will need to do a great job of containing the power hitting combination of Alex Powers and Jessica Warren of Florida State in order to advance to Oklahoma City.
These two conference rivals will battle once again in Eugene for the second time this season. The Bruins took two out of three games during the regular season and won’t be intimidated by the raucous atmosphere of Jane Sanders Stadium. Oregon is on a roll as they had little issue whatsoever during the Eugene Regional, dispatching of Fordham and Baylor twice to advance. The Ducks are going to have to a better job against Paige McDuffee in this Super Regional if they are going to get back to Oklahoma City. McDuffee was lights out in 6 2/3 innings of relief in a 4-1 loss on April 3rd that cost Oregon the series.
The Tigers survived a scare in game one of their regional against Jacksonville State, but recovered nicely and run-ruled the Gamecocks 14-2 to move on to Super Regionals once again. Keys for the Tigers against the Wildcats are very simple: they have to be aggressive at the plate and they will have opportunities to put up crooked numbers. In the circle, Auburn needs to keep Arizona in the yard and get great defensive behind the pitcher. For the Wildcats, they just need to continue to play with great confidence and score early to take the pressure off of their pitching staff in order to have a chance for another upset.
#6 Alabama vs. #11 Washington
Both Alabama and Washington played very well last weekend in their respective regionals. If Alabama is going to move on to Oklahoma City, they are going to need the combination of Sydney Littlejohn and Alexis Osorio to keep a lethal Washington offense contained the best they can. For the Huskies, they need to learn from last year’s trip to Tuscaloosa and this year’s regular season trip to LSU and just play loose and aggressive offensively and get quality work in the circle for freshman Taran Alvelo. Overall, this should be a fascinating series to watch unfold as it could very well go three games.
The Sooners are playing outstanding softball as they have won 25 straight games. Their ability to blow a game open with a big inning is going to serve them well against Louisiana in this Super Regional. Paige Parker tossed her 13th shutout of the season in the regional final against Ole Miss. Parker did a nice job of keeping the Rebels off balance and will need to do more of the same against a powerful Ragin’ Cajun lineup. Louisiana won an epic battle with Texas A&M, outlasting the Aggies 9-8. With a healthy Lexie Elkins, this offensive attack will be very difficult for Oklahoma to completely shut down for the entire weekend. Look for both teams to put tremendous pressure on the opposing pitchers all weekend long and this Super Regional should be highly entertaining.
#7 James Madison vs. #10 LSU
This is going to be a battle if both the Dukes and Tigers match up well especially in the circle. James Madison will have the advantage of playing at home in Harrisonburg and will need to be patient at the plate and get big performances offensively from Madyson Moran, Jailyn Ford, Morgan Tolle and Erica Field. In the circle, if Ford and Megan Good can attack like they have all season against a tough LSU lineup, they will put the Dukes in a great position to get to the Women’s College World Series. For the Tigers, it’s going to be critical for them to win game one and ramp up the pressure on the Dukes in front of their home crowd. Bianka Bell, Sandra Simmons and Sahvanna Jahquish are going to have play like stars in for LSU to upset James Madison and return to Oklahoma City.
The Wolverines were efficient all weekend long as they had little trouble advancing out of the Ann Arbor Regional. Sierra Romero leads a nearly unstoppable offense at times. She is hitting .470 with 19 homeruns and 70 runs batted in this season. If Michigan can start fast and put up crooked numbers against Missouri’s pitching, they will have a great shot to end this series in two games. The Tigers will need to generate early momentum for themselves offensively as they failed to do that when they lost 13-0 to the Wolverines earlier this season. Missouri is playing well and has confidence and they will need to play with relentless confidence and great execution in order to upset Michigan in this Super Regional.
