1.Some early season surprises include Oregon who has started the season 14-0 including big wins over tough teams like Oklahoma State and Mississippi State. Last season there was a time when it didn’t even look like they’d have enough players to field a team. So good for them staying the course and building the program back to a very competitive team.

2. Ole Miss has gotten off to a rough start at just 5-10. It looks like the loss of Mike Smith at head coach has the program trying to find its footing.

3. I thought Texas would be good this year but they have really gotten off to a great start at 14-0 before losing their first game of the season to Duke, 1-0. So far this season Texas has been hitting the heck out of the ball and gotten great pitching from all of their starting pitchers.

4. This looked like a dream year for Alabama being picked number one in some polls but there season has gotten off to a bit of a shaky start at 9-5. Part of the problem has been pitcher Montana Fouts (2-2, 2.66 ERA) who hasn’t looked as sharp as last year so far this season. But in recent outings she has shown signs of the pitching form that she had last season. A positive so far this season for the Crimson Tide is the pitching of freshmen Lexi Kilfoyl (4-2, 2.22 ERA), a right-handed pitcher from Land O’Lakes, Fla. who has been really doing well in the circle.

5. Since Missouri is banned from post season play this year they’re gonna have to make their statement during the regular season. So far this year they’ve done that with a 12-5 starting record. They’ve had some big wins over Minnesota, Oklahoma State and Oregon State.

6. Tennessee is off to a slow start at 7-6 with a team batting average of only .272 and last in the SEC with a pitching staff ERA of 3.98.

7. My pick to win it all this season the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are now 11-3 with some big series coming up this week. First against Texas in Austin for a doubleheader on Tuesday, Feb. 25th then they travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a three-game weekend series with Florida scheduled for Friday-Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1 at Katie Seashole Pressly
Stadium.

8. LSU pitcher Maribeth Gorsuch threw the first seven-inning perfect game in program history. She faced the minimum 21 batters and threw 21 first-pitch strikes. She struck out a career-high 16 including eight straight from the second through fourth innings in their win over Belmont 4-0.