Opening weekend of the 2022 College Softball season

Things got started for the 2022 college softball season Thursday night with several games and ran through Sunday.

I got to see parts of several games and some complete ones even though a lot of the play was found on subscription types of viewing venues.

From what I seen there was a lot of what you might expect to see in early season play like fielding mistakes, bad basic base running and pitchers that looked like they needed to work the rust off.

Here’s some news from week one.

Florida softball picked up a 3-0 victory Friday evening over Illinois State on Opening Day at the USF – Rawlings Invitational. The Gators were led in the circle by Natalie Lugo, Elizabeth Hightower and Lexie Delbrey. The trio combined for 11 strikeouts and the program’s 21st career opening day shutout.

Florida Gators softball picked up a big early season win Saturday with a 4-0 shutout at the Rawlings Invitational. Cheyenne Lindsey broke a scoreless tie in the 6th inning hitting a grand slam over the right center field wall off of Michigan’s ace Meghan Beaubien, while Gators’ freshman right-handed pitcher Lexie Delbrey tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout against Michigan. Lindsey’s grand slam against the Wolverines was the first of her career.

Florida defeated South Florida 12-0 early Sunday afternoon on the final day of the USF – Rawlings Invitational. The three-hit shutout was the third time this weekend that UF held opponents scoreless. The Gators (4-0) picked up another solid pitching performance from its staff as senior Elizabeth Hightower (3-0) hurled 4.0 innings and only allowed one hit, while junior Rylee Trlicek (Hallettsville, Texas) picked up her first save of the year with 3.0 quality innings worth of work in relief. Over the weekend, Hightower threw 12.1 innings, struck out 12 batters and allowed only one run. The Monticello, Fla. native held opposing batters over that stretch to a .140 batting average.

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The University of Georgia softball team fell to the UCF Knights in their season opener Thursday evening, dropping a 7-6 decision in eight innings.

University of Georgia softball team picked up a pair of comeback wins Friday afternoon on day two of The CFX Classic, defeating Longwood and Minnesota. Georgia came back from down one early to defeat Longwood 4-2 in the first game of the day, earning head coach Tony Baldwin his first career victory. In the nightcap, the Bulldogs were held hitless through four innings before a three-run fifth erased a two-run deficit and gave Georgia the only lead it needed in the contest en route to a 3-2 victory over the Golden Gophers.

Georgia softball picked up two more wins in Orlando on Saturday, defeating Fresno State 11-5 in the first game of the day then picked up an extra-inning 5-4 victory over Minnesota in the final game of the day.

Georgia softball team earned its first run rule victory of the season, defeating Longwood 16-3 on Sunday at the UCF Softball Complex. Georgia concludes opening weekend with a 5-1 record. “I’m really proud of the offense responding,” said head coach Tony Baldwin. “The game…you can’t predict how it’s going to go. They came right out and punched us in the mouth. They squared up some balls and put us back on our heels, but really proud of the way we responded. That’s been something we’ve done well all weekend. We’ve had a good answer back—just about every time the other team scored, we answered right back. It would be nice to not let them score, but at the end of the day, we put together some really quality at-bats. We had a number of girls stick to the plan and see the result of doing that. Proud of the girls and back to work this week.”

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Penn State softball took SEC powerhouse Missouri Tigers to extra innings in their 2022 season opener, before losing 2-1 in eight innings at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. Senior lefty Bailey Parshall got the start for Penn State going 7.0 innings with 10 strikeouts, one walk, four hits and no runs. While Missouri’s Jordan Weber threw 6.0 innings with 10 strikeouts, two walks, one hit and no runs. Extra innings in the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament features the International Tie-Breaker Rule, which places a runner on second base to start each frame. Senior pitcher Bailey Parshall reached and surpassed the 400 career strikeouts mark after starting the game with 396. For Parshall it was her 11th career double-digit strikeout game. Penn State players freshman Lydia Coleman and junior transfer Cassie Lindmark both made their Penn State debuts in the starting lineup.

Penn State had split results on day two of the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament, shutting out Eastern Kentucky, 4-0, in the first game before falling to UConn, 2-1 in their second game of the day played on Saturday. Penn State senior pitcher Kylee Lingenfelter got the shutout and win in the circle. It was her first career solo shutout. Junior transfer Cassie Lindmark recorded her first hit and first two RBI as a Nittany Lion against EKU. Sophomore Liana Jones collected her first career RBI with a sacrifice fly against EKU. Nittany Lions seniors Lilia Crouthamel also got her first career triple.

Penn State picked up two big wins on Sunday afternoon over Akron, 3-2, and Pittsburgh, 1-0, to conclude opening weekend at the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament held at Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex.

“I am so proud of the fight and resiliency of our team all weekend, especially with all the close one-run games we had to battle through,” said head coach Clarisa Crowell. “Our goal each game is to be competitive and give ourselves an opportunity to win, and we did that each game. I was very pleased with our pitching and defensive performance this weekend, and I was encouraged by our offense’s ability to score runs when needed. I am looking forward to seeing the growth of our team throughout the rest of our non-conference tournaments.”

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Pitt softball fell 1-0 in a pitching duel in their opening game Friday at the Northern Lights Invitational against Michigan State, but came back in game two of the day defeating Akron by the score of 10-0. Pitt sophomore EC Taylor finished the day with three hits, one RBI and two stolen bases. She led off both games with a single. Then Pitt offense picked up 12 hits while redshirt freshmen Dani Drogemuller shut down Eastern Kentucky in the circle, allowing one hit and striking out eight in a 7-1 victory Saturday afternoon in the Northern Lights Invitational. Pitt fell twice Sunday afternoon in the final day of the Northern Lights Invitational, falling to Iowa 9-4 and dropping a pitcher’s duel contest to Penn State, 1-0.

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Texas A&M softball opened its 2022 season with two run-rule wins Friday on Day One of the Aggie Classic. The Aggies took the 9-1 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in six innings before defeating UT Arlington 9-0, in five innings. With the season-opening victory over the Islanders, head coach Jo Evans moved to a perfect 26-0 in home openers. Senior standout Haley Lee carried over her 16-game hitting streak from 2021, registering a pair of hits in each contest, while Trinity Cannon finished opening day with three homers.

Texas A&M picked up a pair of wins on the second day of the Aggie Classic at Davis Diamond. The Aggies slid past Western Kentucky, 2-0, before grabbing the nightcap, 11-3, in five innings from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Texas A&M softball team (5-0) concluded the 2022 Aggie Classic on Sunday with a 9-1 victory over UT Arlington (0-4) at Davis Diamond.The five-inning win marked the fourth run-rule of the weekend for the Aggies. Junior Shaylee Ackerman made her first collegiate appearance in the circle for A&M, tossing the complete game while striking out six Mavericks.

Head coach Jo Evans

On the team’s overall performance this weekend…

“You expect to win all the games you play, and we did that. You don’t want to get into a situation where you overlook an opponent, and you have a hiccup, and you lose a ball game you shouldn’t lose. I saw some good things out of our team, and I saw some things that we can do better, but as a start of the season, I’m pleased to see our progress. I thought our pitchers did a really nice job. I think we had three of those pitchers, [Shaylee] Ackerman, [Kayla] Poynter, and [Emiley] Kennedy, that had one inning where they got behind in counts and got some runners on, but all three of them did a great job just to settle themselves in and take care of business on the mound.”

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LSU softball shutout South Alabama, 3-0 and knocked off Illinois, 4-2 on day one of the Tiger Classic at Tiger Park. Georgia Clark paced the team with a hit in both games including a home run, and Shelbi Sunseri got it done on both sides of the field as she tossed a complete game shutout in game on and hit her first homer of the season in game two.

LSU split day two of the Tiger Classic with an 8-1 win over South Alabama and a 3-2 loss against Central Arkansas Saturday at Tiger Park. Shelbi Sunseri and Georgia Clark combined for four home runs against South Alabama, while LSU pitcher Ali Kilponen earned her second win in this season.

LSU softball split the final day of the Tiger Classic after suffering a 5-2 setback against Illinois in eight innings and bounced back with a 2-1 win over Central Arkansas.

Coach Beth Torina

On the weekend…

“We have a lot of ways to get better. I knew this weekend would show us a different set of things to work on and we have definitely seen it. It is obvious we did not swing well and that happens from time to time. It is good that we found ways to win. I think we showed that we have good pitching. I think we can play defense and we know we can hit. Once we put it all together, we will be in good shape. It happens sometimes and I’m glad we found ways to win.”

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On Friday evening at the FGCU Softball Complex, Texas extended its undefeated run in season openers to 26 with a 4-0 blanking of Clemson, before losing by the score of 6-4 to home-standing FGCU in the nightcap. The victory over Clemson marked Texas’ first season-opening win over a ranked team since 2014 when the Longhorns won at No. 17 LSU, 6-1. Senior second baseman Janae Jefferson & senior catcher Mary Iakopo each made their 200th career starts during the win over Clemson. Senior pitcher Hailey Dolcini registered her first Texas win and 65th career pitching triumph in topping the Tigers. Junior left fielder Lou Gilbert (played both games), sophomore right fielder Bella Dayton (played both games, freshman pinch runner Mya Holmes (vs.Clemson) and sophomore pitcher Estelle Czech (vs. FGCU) all made their Texas debuts on Friday.

Texas softball climbed back into the win column on Saturday evening at the FGCU Softball Complex by getting two strong pitching performances while bashing five total HR’s to sweep match-ups from Boston College (7-0) and FGCU (10-2, 6 inn.).

On Sunday morning at the FGCU Softball Complex, Texas softball finished off its opening weekend by shutting out Boston College, 5-0.

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Alabama softball shut out Southern Utah, 11-0, in its 2022 season opener at the Candrea Classic. Alabama moves to 21-5 all-time in season openers and today was its 11th shutout. It was also the seventh time Alabama scored double-digit runs in its season opener, doing so in three of the last four seasons. Alabama hit four home runs, including two from freshman Megan Bloodworth. Jenna Johnson finished with a career-high three hits. Ally Shipman tied her career high with three RBIs in her Crimson Tide debut. Jaala Torrence earned the complete-game victory in the circle with just one hit allowed and a career-high nine strikeouts. While all 16 position players saw game time, with the nine newcomers each making their Alabama debuts

Alabama softball showed its offensive power next in a pair of wins Saturday at the Candrea Classic, beating Oregon State 5-1 before a convincing 11-0 run-rule shutout over ninth-ranked Arizona in the nightcap. Alabama hit .333 as a team over two games against Oregon State and Arizona, blasting six home runs while allowing just one run to cross the plate over 12.0 innings. Ashley Prange hit two home runs against Arizona, part of a 4-for-6 day with three runs scored and four RBIs. Megan Bloodworth and Jenna Johnson each had three hits on the day, with Bloodworth hitting her third home run of the season. In the circle, Montana Fouts earned the complete-game win against the Beavers with 14 strikeouts while Lexi Kilfoyl got the win over the Wildcats, adding a home run to help her own cause on offense. The Oregon game marked Montana Fouts’ 29th career game with double-digit strikeouts. Ally Shipman tallied three RBIs in each of the first two games of the season

Alabama softball capped an undefeated opening weekend at the Candrea Classic with an 8-3 win over New Mexico Sunday afternoon.

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Ole Miss softball split its opening day matchups, taking down Dixie State 10-1 in the first game of the Easton Invitational and dropping a tight neutral-site game to Oregon, 0-3, on Thursday.

Ole Miss stormed back in both games on the second day of the Easton Invitational, taking down Colorado State, 7-6, and Cal State Fullerton, 6-5. The Rebels never quit, overcoming four-run deficits in both games.

Ole Miss Softball wrapped up its weekend in California at the Easton Invitational with a doubleheader split on Saturday, falling to San Diego 2-5 before bouncing back with a 1-0 win over California.

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Tennessee softball opened the 2022 campaign in winning fashion on Friday, taking victories over UNC Greensboro and Maryland by scores of 4-0 and 2-1, respectively, on the first day of FIU’s Felsberg Invitational.

The Tennessee Lady Vol softball team tallied two wins on Saturday with a pair of victories over Felsberg Invitational host FIU. Tennessee took the first game over the Panthers in come-from-behind fashion, 4-3, before capping the night with a dominant 7-1 outing at Felsberg Field.

Due to heavy rain Sunday morning in Miami and team travel schedules, Sunday’s meeting between Tennessee and Maryland for the Felsberg Invitational championship game was canceled.

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University of Missouri softball took one of two games on the first day of the season. The Tigers downed Penn State by a score of 2-1 in extra innings to get the season started but fell in the second game of the doubleheader to UConn 6-2. Mizzou pitcher Jordan Weber went six innings and allowed only one hit while striking out 10 batters against Penn State.

University of Missouri split its two games played on the second day at the Northern Light’s Invitational. The Tigers defeated Wisconsin 8-1 behind a three-hit game from Brooke Wilmes but then fell to Virginia Tech 4-3.

Missouri closed out the weekend Sunday with a 6-5 win over No. 24 Liberty. The Tigers held off the Flames’ late rally to pick up their first top 25 win of the season.

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Now that the first weekend of play is over most games from now on can now be seen on ESPN’s large network of sports’ channels that are found on most cable or streaming services.

Here’s a link to the complete viewing schedule for all the upcoming ESPN college softball games.