Tag: NCAA Softball

Former Duke softball star Jala Wright joining Tennessee as a graduate assistant

Jala Wright, last season’s ACC Pitcher of the Year, revealed on Tuesday that she’ll serve as a graduate assistant for Tennessee.

Former Duke softball star [autotag]Jala Wright[/autotag] isn’t giving up the college game quite yet.

Wright announced through social media on Tuesday that she would join the Tennessee program as a graduate assistant for the upcoming season. She paired the announcement on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) with a screenshot of her acceptance into the school’s graduate program.

“This game I love continues to bless me in more ways than one,” Wright wrote. “Grateful to give back to the game in a different way!”

Wright authored one of the best pitching seasons in Duke history as a senior this past year, finishing the season with a 19-3 record and a 1.50 ERA. She averaged 8.6 strikeouts per seven innings in the circle and tossed eight complete games, and she earned ACC Pitcher of the Year honors for her work. She also contributed to Duke’s first trip to the Women’s College World Series.

Wright has also kept Duke fans updated on her new professional career with the Texas Smoke, posting about her first practice and other updates.

Stanford’s NiJaree Canady intends to enter the transfer portal per reports

USA Softball National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady intends to enter the transfer portal, according to multiple reports.

One of the biggest names in the sport of softball is on the move. According to multiple reports, Stanford’s [autotag]NiJaree Canady[/autotag] is expected to be in the transfer portal.

According to Landon Reinhardt of NBC News outlet KSNT in Topeka, Kan., Canady will enter the transfer portal.

A source in the Canady family tells 27 News that the Stanford Cardinal and Topeka High grad will enter the transfer portal. – Reinhardt, KSNT

 

WIBW’s Vince Lovergine is also reporting that Canady is in the transfer portal.

This is arguably the most notable player to hit the portal in the modern transfer era. She’s been the best pitcher in the sport the last two years, carrying Stanford to the [autotag]Women’s College World Series[/autotag] in both seasons.

Both in 2023 and 2024, the Cardinal’s two losses came to the No. 1 team in the tournament. In 2023, it was the Oklahoma Sooners who knocked off Canady and the Cardinal in the WCWS. In 2024 it was Texas who handed Stanford both losses in Oklahoma City. This year, the lack of run support from the Cardinal lineup was glaring. Texas held Stanford scoreless in both games.

Canady was special in elimination games for Stanford this postseason. After dropping the opener to LSU in the super regionals, she shutout the Tigers shut out Oklahoma State and beat UCLA in elimination games.

In 2024, Canady was named USA Softball’s National Player of the Year. She led the nation with 337 strikeouts and a 0.73 ERA and was 24-7 for Stanford. She allowed just 44 walks. She held opponents to a .147 opponent’s batting average and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.69.

This is a landscape-changing transfer portal entry. Canady is arguably the best player in softball and with two years left of eligibility, the program that earns her commitment will become a shoe-in for the Women’s College World Series and potentially the team to beat in 2025.

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Duke softball star Gisele Tapia writes emotional reflection as collegiate softball career ends

Duke’s Gisele Tapia, who wrapped up her collegiate career at the Women’s College World Series last week, penned an emotional goodbye to the sport.

Duke softball star Gisele Tapia couldn’t leave the sport without saying goodbye.

After her collegiate career came to an end in Oklahoma City last week, Tapia wrote a ‘Dear Softball’ letter and narrated it for the NCAA account.

Tapia, a graduate student who spent the last five seasons with the Blue Devils, played in more than 250 games with Duke. She batted .362 in 2023, her first senior season (she earned an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 extension in 2020). She also set career-highs with 12 doubles and 50 RBIs that season, and she finished her career with 17 home runs.

Tapia also watched the rise of Duke’s softball program. Her freshman season in 2020 was the third season in program history. Two years later, Duke reached its first Super Regional in school history, and this past year, she helped lead the Blue Devils to their first Women’s College World Series berth.

“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Tapia told the sport in her letter. “I truly couldn’t have imagined this life without this sport.”

Watch Tapia’s entire goodbye message to her college sport below.

Top photos from Alabama softball’s upset win over Tennessee in Knoxville Super Regional

Alabama softball’s huge upset win over Tennessee in the Knoxville Super Regional keeps the Tide’s season alive. See the top images from the Super Regional win!

Alabama Crimson Tide softball was down 1-0 on the Knoxville Super Regional series against the Tennessee Lady Vols, but bounced back in Game 2 after a lengthy extra-inning contest and started out strong in Game 3 winner-take-all matchup with a four-run first inning.

Offense had been a concern for Patrick Murphy’s 2024 team, but the bats have come alive in the postseason and the pitching has stood strong against quality teams.

For the 15th time in program history, the Crimson Tide moves on to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Before looking ahead to what”s next for Alabama, relive the excitement of the Game 3 win with this photo gallery.

Top photos from Alabama Softball’s NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional win

Alabama softball advances to the NCAA Super Regionals. Relive the excitement from the Crimson Tide’s Regional win with this photo gallery.

Alabama Crimson Tide softball ranks No. 14 in the nation and is now preparing to take on the No. 3 Tennessee Lady Vols in the Knoxville Super Regional in the next round as the team looks to continue its postseason run for another national championship.

Though offense has been this team’s biggest struggle, the bats came alive early in the Tuscaloosa Regional finals matchup against Southeast Louisiana. The Crimson Tide managed to put up a whopping win runs in the first inning, as the team went on to win the contest in a five-inning run-rule that finished with a final score of 12-2.

Before looking ahead to Alabama’s matchup in Knoxville against SEC foe Tennessee, relive the excitement from the Tide’s win over Southeast Louisiana that sent the team through to the next round.

Duke softball set to play Missouri in Columbia Super Regional

After sweeping the Durham Regional, Duke will travel to Columbia to play the Tigers this weekend with a Women’s College World Series berth on the line.

The Duke softball team knows its Super Regional opponent.

The 10th-seeded Blue Devils will travel to Columbia to play No. 7 Missouri in the best-of-three series beginning on Friday. The winner will advance to the Women’s College World Series, a bracket Duke has not reached in program history.

The Tigers defeated Omaha 1-0 in the Columbia Regional Final on Sunday just hours after Duke clinched the Durham Regional with a dominant win over South Carolina.

Despite Duke’s 50 wins this season, three more than Missouri’s 47, the Tigers will host due to their higher seed.

The Blue Devils made a Super Regional in each of the past two seasons, but they have yet to win a game in this round of the NCAA postseason. The Stanford Cardinal swept them out of the proceedings in 2023, winning 3-1 and 7-2. UCLA did the exact same thing the year before, beating Duke by one run in the first game before an 8-2 win to clinch the series.

The first game of the series starts at 2 p.m. on Friday.

Duke softball beats South Carolina by mercy rule to advance to Durham Regional Final

The Blue Devils, led by the first career home run from leadoff star D’Auna Jennings, needed only six innings to dispatch the Gamecocks on Saturday.

For the fourth straight year, the Duke softball team advanced to the Regional Final after an 8-0 Saturday win over South Carolina.

After two-and-a-half scoreless innings to start the game, sophomore centerfielder D’Auna Jennings hit her first collegiate home run in the bottom of the third to put the Blue Devils on the board. She threw her arms into the air as she rounded the bases, embracing teammate Claire Davidson once she returned to the plate.

One inning later, first baseman Gisele Tapia smacked a single up the middle to drive home two more runs. However, it was the sixth (and final) inning that really drove home the final margin.

With the Blue Devils only leading by three, Jada Baker started the run with a one-out double. With the bases loaded and two outs a few at-bats later, Davidson did her thing. She pushed a single through to left-center for a two-run single, pushing the lead out to five.

After a walk from Aminah Vega loaded the bases once again, the Gamecocks walked two more Blue Devils in a row for back-to-back free runs. One Kelly Torres single later, and Duke met the run-rule requirement with an eight-run advantage.

Jala Wright, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, did her usual work in the circle. In her 19th win of the season, she dealt six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine batters. Through two games of regional action thus far, Wright has struck out 12 batters and allowed five baserunners in 11 innings.

The win gives Duke 49 triumphs this season, the single-season program record, and moves the Blue Devils within one win of a third straight Super Regional appearance. Since regionals are double-elimination tournaments, they’ll need to lose twice in a row to whoever advances from the loser’s bracket to not advance.

Duke softball beats Morgan State in opening regional game

The Blue Devils beat the Bears by five runs after stringing together 13 hits during the Friday opener.

The No. 10 Duke Blue Devils started the NCAA postseason right where they left off.

After winning both the ACC regular-season title and the conference tournament, the Blue Devils defeated Morgan State 6-1 on Friday to advance into the champion’s bracket at the Durham Regional.

In the circle, the Bears had no answers for ACC Pitcher of the Year Jala Wright. The senior held Morgan State to two hits and a walk through her five innings of work, and she forced six straight harmless groundouts from the second inning through the fourth.

Wright ended the afternoon with three strikeouts, two hits, and one walk allowed.

After four scoreless innings to start the game, the Duke bats rallied in the bottom of the fifth to crack the game apart. The Blue Devils hit three home runs in a single inning. Gisele Tapia started the scoring with a solo shot to right before ACC Player of the Year Claire Davidson followed with a two-run shot just two batters later.

Standout sophomore Aminah Vega, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, knocked a one-run shot herself to cement the four-run advantage.

Lillie Walker entered the game in the sixth inning, relieving Wright, and immediately worked her way into a jam. After an opening out, the Bears rattled off three straight singles to score one run and get two runners aboard.

Instead of letting Morgan State back into the game, however, Walker struck out the next two batters to limit the damage.

Duke tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to limit the damage, a two-RBI double from Davidson to give her four for the afternoon. They proved unnecessary, however, as Walker blanked Morgan State in the final inning.

The Blue Devils will advance to play South Carolina at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. The four-team bracket is double-elimination, so the winner between Duke and the Gamecocks will advance to the title series. The loser will face the winner between Utah and Morgan State in an elimination game.

Get to know Auburn’s opponents in Tallahassee Regional

Ahead of Auburn’s first game in the NCAA Tournament, get to know the teams that are in the Tallahassee Regional this weekend

The Auburn Tigers are preparing to make their 19th appearance in the postseason in program history. The Tigers are heading to the Tallahassee Regional in this year’s NCAA Softball Tournament, hosted by the No. 15 seed Florida State Seminoles.

On top of Florida State, the regional also features the UCF Knights and the Chattanooga Mocs. These four teams make up the field for the fourth time that Auburn is making the trip to this part of the Sunshine State for its starting point in the postseason.

Here is what’s to know about each of the Tigers’ potential opponents in the field:

The Seminoles come in with a 43-14 record on the year after having lost to Duke in the ACC title game. They have a dominating 26-6 record on their home field this year, with their last loss coming to the Florida Gators in the final home game of the year.

Florida State holds the eighth-highest batting average in the nation at .339 and the fifth-most home runs at 85. Jaysoni Beachum is its best batter, posting a .436 batting average, which is good enough to be No. 11 in the country.

UCF enters with a 30-23 record after losing in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Between the away and neutral site games, it is a combined 10-14.

The Knights are making their 11th postseason appearance all-time this weekend. Out of the players who have played in over 45 games on their team, Johneisha Rowe holds the team’s top batting average at .372. Jada Cody and Chloe Evans hold the top hit numbers at 57 and 53, respectively.

Sarah Willis is the team’s number one pitcher, holding a 2.44 earned run average. The staff overall holds a 3.16 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.

Chattanooga enters the postseason for the 13th time holding a 42-14 record after being champions of the SOCON. It holds a 24-7 record between its away and neutral site contests. Despite that, though, it is 7-24 in the tournament over the course of the program’s history.

The Mocs hold a .304 team batting average. Camryn Cernuto, Kaili Phillips and Olivia Lipari are their stars at the plate. Each player holds a .344 average and above, making the trio a big threat for opponents.

Peja Goold and Alyssa Lavdis are the team’s main starters in the circle, each having had at least 15 starts on the season. Goold leads the team in strikeouts at 121 and holds a 2.74 ERA.

The Tallahassee Regional is set to start on Friday. Auburn takes on UCF in game one at 1 p.m. CST on ESPNU, while Florida State will face off with Chattanooga 3:30 p.m. CST on the ACC Network.

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No. 1 Texas softball set to start NCAA Tournament Friday

No. 1 overall seed Texas opens up NCAA Tournament play in the Austin regional against Siena on Friday.

The No. 1 overall seed Texas Longhorns softball team opens up NCAA Tournament play in the Austin regional against Siena Friday. Continue reading “No. 1 Texas softball set to start NCAA Tournament Friday”