Softball Games of the Week 4/17 – 4/23
#1 California vs #12 Oregon - Friday, Saturday & Sunday (4/20 6pm, 4/21 5pm, 4/22 12pm Pacific, Eugene, OR)
The Golden Bears continue to be the class of D1 softball even though they lost a game to Arizona over the weekend. They are 39-2 overall and atop the Pac-12 standings at 11-1. The team is hitting .337 with a staff ERA of 1.27, tops in the conference. At the plate, senior Valerie Arioto has just been unbelievable all season long. Her numbers are staggering, hitting .413 with 19 home runs, 50 RBI and 55 walks, driving an on-base percentage of well over .600. Sophomore Jolene Henderson leads Cal in the circle at 22-1 with a 1.15 ERA. Arioto has been excellent pitching as well, going 17-1 in 18 starts with a 1.30 ERA. Oregon is currently third in the conference at 8-5. The Ducks are 29-9 overall. They are hitting .319 as team led by Samantha Pappas’s .386 average. Kelsey Chambers and Kaylan Howard have both belted eight home runs. Jessica Moore does the lion’s share of work in the circle with a record of 20-6 and a 2.01 ERA. The Ducks will need to be at their best to take a game from Cal.
#2 Alabama vs #14 Georgia - Thursday, Friday, Saturday (4/19 7pm, 4/20 5:30pm, 4/21 1:30pm, Central, Athens, GA)
The Tide are 40-2 overall and 17-2 in the SEC, half a game behind Florida. An offensive juggernaut, this powerful group has hit 69 bombs in 42 games. Seventeen different players have gone yard for Alabama this season, led by Kaila Hunt’s 16 and Amanda Locke’s 10. The long balls have helped Bama average 7.7 runs a game. That outrageous run production, coupled with their staff ERA of 1.82, makes for a formidable foe. Jackie Traina is 26-0 with a 1.33 ERA. At 34-10 overall and 12-7 in conference play, the Bulldogs are coming off a disappointing weekend where they lost 2 of 3 to Kentucky on the road. Kristyn Sandberg and Paige Wilson lead the way on offense hitting .373 and .331 respectively. Sandberg has also contributed 15 home runs. Erin Arevalo and Morgan Montemayor have done a nice job keep the Bulldogs in games with Arevalo hurling most of the innings with a 1.37 ERA. She is 18-4 and will have to work hard to keep the Tide’s sluggers under control. The short fences down the lines in Athens will not be Georgia’s friend this weekend.
#4 Arizona State vs #20 Stanford - Friday, Saturday & Sunday (4/20 7pm, 4/21 7pm, 4/22 12pm Pacific, Tempe, AZ)
The Sun Devils had the weekend off and will look to keep pace with Cal at home against Stanford. They stand second in the conference standings at 8-2, offensively hitting .357 and an ERA at 1.27. Arizona State is led by Katelyn Boyd at the plate. She is hitting .438 with 15 bombs, 41 RBI and is slugging .938. Hillary Bach and Dallas Escobedo continue to get the job done in the circle. Bach is 17-0 with a 1.21 ERA. Escobedo is 14-4 and has a 2.41 ERA. Stanford comes off a 4-2 week, where they lost 2 of 3 to UCLA, but swept Oregon State at home over the weekend. The Cardinal are seventh in the Pac-12, but 32-12 overall. Offensively, they are fourth in the conference hitting a robust .330, averaging just over six runs per game. In the circle though, the staff has a 3.09 ERA. Unfortunately, for Stanford, the combination of the Sun Devil’s potent offense and quality pitching is not the best match.
#6 Oklahoma vs #13 Missouri - Friday, Saturday & Sunday (4/20 7pm, 4/21 2pm, 4/22 2:30pm, Central, Norman, OK)
The Sooners and Missouri sit first and third in the Big 12 standings. This is Missouri’s last series against the top teams in the conference. OU still has Texas on the schedule. Missouri will need to sweep OU to give themselves a realistic chance to repeat as Big 12 Champs. The OU offense is hitting .328 and the lineup is scary. Jessica Shults is hitting .431 with 12 HR’s. Keliani Ricketts and freshman Lauren Chamberlain are hitting .381 and .379 respectively. Chamberlain leads the conference with 19 homers. Ricketts has hit 11. In the circle Ricketts is very difficult on left hand hitters. Missouri is coming off a weekend where they lost 2 of 3 to Texas Tech at home and were one-hit by Tech lefty Brittany Talley. The Tigers Chelsea Thomas has had a great year, but has lost a few close games because of a lack of run support. Thomas must bring her “A”-game against the Sooners to keep Big 12 Title hopes alive.
#16 USF vs #17 Louisville - Wednesday (4/18 4pm & 6:30pm Eastern, Louisville, KY)
The South Florida Bulls are 40-6 overall and first in the Big East at 13-1. The Bulls have continued to surprise all season primarily as a result of Sara Nevins incredible work in the circle. She has a 0.74 ERA with wins over Florida, Michigan and Mississippi St. The 2010 and 2011 Big East Champions, Louisville is 38-2 and 9-2 in conference, right behind USF. Syracuse and DePaul will surely be rooting for Louisville to bring USF back to the pack this weekend. If Louisville can do what few other teams have and figure out Nevins, they may have a chance to knock the Bulls from the top spot.
#22 Florida State vs #25 LSU - Wednesday (4/18 6pm Central, Baton Rogue, LA)
This is a fun mid-week matchup with no real down side for either club. Both teams are headed for the post season and will benefit from playing the solid competition. Today, Florida State is on top of the ACC, just in front of Georgia Tech and North Carolina. At 37-10 they have had a quality season and if they win the Monday night (4/16) TV matchup with Georgia Tech they will have the inside track to the regular season ACC Title. It has been a rough couple of weeks for LSU, losing five out of six to Alabama and Tennessee. They are currently fourth in the league and second in the SEC West. After starting slowly, the Bengal Tigers put a strong mid-season run together. They will face a strong McNeese State squad on Tuesday before this matchup, so they should be ready to go.
