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Michigan’s head coach reclaims title
Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins became the winningest coach in collegiate softball history on Friday with victory No. 1,675. The record-breaking win came against Northern Kentucky at the Duke Invitational.
At Duke Softball Stadium, @UMCoachHutch became the winningest coach with 1,675 wins.
She did this on the turf built by former player and our Head Coach @DukeCoachYoung. ? pic.twitter.com/M2ZR1oNehK
— Duke Softball (@DukeSOFTBALL) February 25, 2022
Hutchins previously broke the record for wins with 1,457 in 2016 when she passed Fresno State coach Margie Wright. Former Arizona head coach Mike Candrea and Hutchins duked it out until he retired at the end of the 2021 season.
Back the Pac
It was an incredible weekend for pitchers in the Pac-12, specifically pitchers at Oregon State and Stanford.
Mariah Mazon, P, Oregon State
Senior Mariah Mazon helped the Beavers to a 5-0 weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. She collected 3 wins, including a no-hitter against Cal State Northridge and a complete-game, 11-strikeout performance against then-No. 17 Tennessee.
Mazon struck out a combined 27 batters in 17 2/3 innings and surrendered 8 hits, 4 walks and 1 earned run.
Offensively, Mazon led all players in the tournament in hits (11-for-20), RBIs (13) and doubles (4). Additonally, she led the Beavers with 2 home runs and 8 runs scored.
Molly Millar, Regan Krause, Alana Vawter, P, Stanford
The Stanford Cardinal pitching staff combined for 3 consecutive no-hit performances over the weekend. Vawter’s game in the middle against Fresno State was perfect.
The historic weekend is believed to be the 1st time in NCAA history that a team has had 3 consecutive no-hitters thrown by 3 different pitchers.
Three different pitchers.
Two no-hitters.
One perfect game.The Cardinal pitchers were untouchable this weekend.#GoStanford x @NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/Od65dsK0wn
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) February 27, 2022
Krause threw the program’s 1st no-no since 2018 on Friday night against Mount St. Mary’s. She allowed 1 walk in 5 innings with 4 strikeouts.
Vawter’s perfect game was Stanford’s 1st since 2013. She struck out 8 in 5 innings.
Millar capped the weekend with a 14-strikeout game against Mount St. Mary’s. She allowed only 3 baserunners via hit by pitch.
San Diego State is legit
Despite going 2-3 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, the Aztecs proved to the softball world that their performances on the field aren’t a fluke.
They opened the tournament with a 7-3 loss to Cal State Fullerton, beat UC Davis 9-1 and then gave No. 10 Northwestern, No. 5 Washington and No. 14 Mizzou a run for their money.
SDSU fell 7-6 in 9 innings to Northwestern on Friday, then took down Washington 7-5 Friday night and finished the tournament with a 7-6 loss in 8 innings to Mizzou.
Ole Miss transfer Mac Barbara is tearing it up offensively, leading the team with 7 home runs, 15 RBIs, 5 doubles, 48 total bases, a .941 slugging percentage, 7 walks and a .500 on-base percentage. She is 2nd on the team with a .431 batting average, 11 runs scored and 22 hits.
Are you serious? @mac_softball31 goes opposite field for her SEVENTH home run of the season! (courtesy @FloSoftball)#RiseUp #Tribe pic.twitter.com/loRwbGSBp3
— San Diego State Softball (@AztecSoftball) February 26, 2022
In the circle, Maggie Balint is 4-3 with a 2.64 ERA in 8 appearances. She has 80 strikeouts in 45 innings, and opponents are hitting a measly .189 against her.
Maren Angus is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has covered softball for various outlets over the last several years. When she isn’t watching softball, she is obsessing over the Los Angeles Dodgers, playing ice hockey with her husband or trying to avoid singing Baby Shark with her stepdaughter.
