Throughout the 2017 softball season, the NFCA will feature some of the sport's highest-profile contests in our "Featured Five" Games of the Week.
Each weekly installment will be released on Thursday, providing live stat links, game notes, team info, social media accounts and any available broadcast links in hopes of becoming another reason for fans to visit us during the season for information on some of collegiate softball's best games.
As the year continues, we will attempt to expand our focus to include matchups throughout as many divisions as possible. This week's featured games come from NCAA Division I, II and III.
Make sure you follow the NFCA on our social media (NFCAorg) through Twitter
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No. 3 Florida (15-1) vs. No. 7 UCLA (13-3)
March 3 - 7:30 p.m. PT | Fullerton, Calif. | Judi Garman Classic
Follow: Live Stats | Watch ($) | Audio (UF)
On Twitter: @GatorsSB | @uclasoftball
Series Notes: UCLA leads the all-time series, 5-4.. Florida has won the last two meetings and four of the last five.
Florida (Notes / Preview): The Gators swept through their competition at the Citrus Classic last weekend, highlighted by a pitching staff that allowed one unearned run and shut out Lehigh, Fordham, Elon and Syracuse... UF has not allowed an earned run since its loss to Maryland on Feb. 18, outscoring opponents, 39-1 over the last seven games... Kelly Barnhill upped her scoreless inning streak to 34.0 innings after allowing zero hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts in the win over Lehigh... Amanda Lorenz and Kayli Kvistad have extended their reached base streak to 16 games as the duo has reached safely in every game for the Gators this season.
UCLA (Notes / Preview): The Bruins are coming off a 3-2 showing at the Mary Nutter II... They picked up wins over nationally-ranked Georgia and LSU, and dropped contests to nationally-ranked Oklahoma and Florida State... UCLA will play three more ranked programs this week... Kelly Inouye-Perez will be head coaching her 600th game on Thursday against Michigan... The Bruins are 11 wins away from 1,800 as a program... UCLA had 17 comeback victories last season and already has five this year... The Bruins were 22-0 last year when leading after five innings and 23-0 when up after six... Junior Johanna Grauer has given up one or zero runs in six of her eight outings. She has at least six strikeouts in four games
No. 10 Minnesota (14-0) at No. 13 LSU (13-3)
March 4 - 7:30 p.m. CT | Baton Rouge, La. | LSU Invitational Softball Tournament*
Follow: Live Stats | Watch (SEC+) | Tournament Central
On Twitter: @GopherSoftball | @LSUsports
Minnesota (Notes / Preview): The Gophers are off to their best start and have earned their highest ranking in program history... Minnesota is batting .347 as a team with four players hitting over .400... Sydney Dwyer is tearing it up so far with a .488 average, including five doubles, two home runs, a team leading 18 RBI and a slugging percentage of .756... As a pitching staff, they have a combined 1.67 ERA this season... Leading the way is two-time NFCA All-American Sara Groenewegen at 7-0 with a 0.66 ERA and 53 strikeouts.
LSU (Preview): The Tigers are coming off a 4-2 win at Southern Miss on Wednesday... Prior to that, LSU posted a 3-2 mark at the Mary Nutter II with both its defeats coming against nationally-ranked UCLA and Utah... Bailey Landry leads the Tigers with an eye-poppiong .547 batting average on 29 hits... Additionally, she has a team-best three triples, 21 runs scored, a .755 slugging percentage and .569 OBP... The Tiger pitching staff has posted a 1.69 ERA and held opponents to a .193 batting average... Sydney Smith and Allie Walljasper are 5-1... Smith has a 0.94 ERA with a .168 opponent's batting average, while Walljasper has a 1.42 ERA and 20 strikeouts... Carley Hoover is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA and has a staff-best 45 strikeouts in 31.1 innings, while holding her oppoents to a .130 average.
No. 8 Washington (11-2) vs. No. 22 Baylor (14-3)
March 4 - 5 p.m. PT | Fullerton, Calif. | Judi Garman Classic
Follow: Live Stats | Watch ($) | Listen (Baylor)
On Twitter: @UWSoftball | @BaylorSoftball
Statistics (Baylor)
Washington: The Huskies are coming off a 4-1 showing at the Mary Nutter II with their lone loss coming to then-No. 2 Missouri... Washington has won 10 of its last 11 games... Senior Ali Aguilar was selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award.
Baylor: The Bears posted six wins to claim their second straight Baylor Invitational title... Shelby Friudenberg was named the Big 12 Softball Player of the Week... For the year, Friudenberg is batting .340 with a team-best three home runs, 14 RBI and .553 slugging percentage... Kyla Walker is tops on the squad with a .500 average, 26 hits, two doubles, two triples, 14 runs scored and a .552 OBP... In the circle, Kelsee Selman is 7-2 with a 1.31 ERA, 39 strikeouts and a .177 batting average against in 48 innings of work.
Other Notable DI Games
Judi Garman Classic (All Times Pacific)
Watch ($)
March 2
2:30 p.m. - No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 20 Arizona State
7:30 p.m. - No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 14 Michigan - Live Stats
March 3
10 a.m. - No. 20 Arizona State vs. No. 22 Baylor - Listen (Baylor)
12:30 p.m. - No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 22 Baylor - Listen (Baylor)
2:30 p.m. - No. 3 Florida vs. No. 23 California - Listen (Florida)
March 4
3 p.m. - No. 20 Arizona State vs. RV South Carolina - Live Stats
March 5
11:30 a.m. - No. 7 UCLA vs. RV South Carolina - Live Stats
2 p.m. - No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 22 Baylor
Other Division I Matchups (all times ET)
March 3
3:30 p.m. - No. 12 James Madison vs. RV South Alabama (Orlando, Fla.) - Live Stats
6:30 p.m. - No. 4 Oregon at No. 24 Missouri - Live Stats | Watch | Listen (Missouri)
8 p.m. - No. 6 Arizona vs. RV Texas - Live Stats | Watch
8:30 p.m. - RV Florida Atlantic at No. 13 LSU - Live Stats | Watch (SEC+)
March 4
4:30 p.m. - No. 10 Minnesota vs. RV Florida Atlantic - Live Stats
6 p.m. - No. 16 Georgia vs. RV Michigan State - Live Stats
6:30 p.m. - No. 4 Oregon at No. 24 Missouri - Live Stats | Watch
8 p.m. - RV Texas at No. 6 Arizona- Live Stats | Watch
March 5
1:30 p.m. - No. 16 Georgia vs. RV Michigan State - Live Stats | SEC+
2 p.m. - RV Texas at No. 6 Arizona - Live Stats | Watch
DII
No. 22 Lubbock Christian (16-2) at No. 17 Angelo State (17-1)
March 2 -2 & 4:30 p.m. CT | San Angelo, Texas
Follow: Live Stats | Watch ($) (G1 / G2) | Listen (G2)
On Twitter: @LCUCHAPS | @AngeloSports
Statistics (LCU / Angelo State)
LCU (Preview): Lubbock Christian is nationally ranked as a NCAA Division II program for the first time in program history... Current Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week Sydney Beuthien, who has reached base safely in all 18 games, leads LCU in batting average (.518), hits (29), slugging percentage (.964) and runs-batted-in (25)... Courtney Medina leads the Lady Chaps in stolen bases (16)... In the circle, Katera Eltsosie is 8-0 with a 1.09 ERA... Monique Garcia paces the staff with 41 strikeouts in 50.2 innings, while Katlyn Holmes is tops on the team with three saves this season.
Angelo State (Preview): The Rambelles have won 13 straight entering this top-25 matchup... ASU's pitching staff has twirled six shutouts... Kenedy Urabny is 6-0 with a team-low 1.03 ERA and two shutouts, holding opponents to 27 hits, a .176 batting average and eight runs in 40.2 innings... Brandy Marlett is 7-1 iwth a 2.12 ERA and has fanned a Lone Star Conference best 73 batters in 53 innings... At the plate, three Rambelles are batting above .400... Courtney Barnhill is tops with a .442 average and has reached base safely in 16 straight games, along with leading the team with 18 runs, an .827 slugging percentage adn .540 OBP... Bailey Wallace (.413) has reached base safely in 17 consecutive contests, while recording 19 hits, two doubles and 10 RBI... Danae Bina (.410) has posted 17 runs, five doubles and eight stolen bases.
DIII
No. 6 Manhattanville (0-0) vs. No. 10 Rowan (0-0)
March 4 - 10 a.m. ET | Virginia Beach, Va. | Beach Blast Tournament
On Twitter: Virginia Wesleyan | @RowanUSoftball
Series Notes: Both teams are coming off the best seasons in school history and are looking for more in 2017 as they kickoff the season at Virginia Wesleyan College’s annual Beach Blast Tournament.
Manhattanville: The Valiants return 16 of 18 players from their record-setting 41-5 campaign in 2016. Included in that mix are NFCA All-Region selections Desiree Buboi (.464, 14 homers, 52 RBI), a sophomore infielder, junior pitcher Alycia Feeney (25-5, 1.47 ERA, school-record 12 shutouts), sophomore pitcher/infielder Aarin Hartenstein (54 RBI) and senior infielder Alicia Marino (55 RBI). … Manhattanville compiled the third-best winning percentage (.891) in Division III last season and led the country in homers (67), with the eighth-best total in Division III history. … The team set school records for runs (369), hits (460), doubles (105), RBI (334), total bases (792), wins (41) and shutouts (16).
Rowan: The Profs went 42-11 and were one of the eight teams that advanced to last year’s NCAA Championship in Salem, Va. … Rowan won both the NCAA Cortland Regional and NCAA Ithaca Super Regional titles to advance to the elite eight. … NFCA All-Americans Shilah Snead and Ashley DeYoung and pitchers Beth Ann Hyland and Allison Nolan were all offseason losses, and despite that, the Profs are favored to win another New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title. … Snead and Hyland were the NJAC Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. … Sophomore Carly Anderson, who hit .409 and 41 RBI, 13 doubles, six homers and 20 walks last year, will replace Snead at shortstop and as the top threat in the lineup. … Freshman Lauren Shannon, who pitched an one-hitter in the state championship for Washington Township High last spring, figures to be a big factor in the circle.
Other Notable DIII Games (All Times Eastern)
March 4
10 a.m. - No. 6 Manhattanville vs. No. 10 Rowan — Live stats
Noon – No. 6 Manhattanville vs. No. 11 Virginia Wesleyan — Live stats
