Daily Dozen: Friday, February 25

1. Hutch moves to the top of the list. You can’t tell the story of softball’s past or present without Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. And she’s a big reason why the sport has the future it does. Michigan’s victory against Northern Kentucky allowed Hutchins to surpass Mike Candrea as the NCAA all-time leader in wins. Win No. 1,676 was even sweeter, as No. 17 Michigan held off No. 9 Duke 3-2 in the nightcap. That was Hutchins’ second victory of the day against a team coached by one of her former players. Read more here.

2 Jordy Bahl and Tiare Jennings a perfect alternative to history. Just in case anyone was worried about the future of the Sooners when Jocelyn Alo moves on … all right, no one was worried about that. We wait for Alo to surpass Lauren Chamberlain (she came close on a double to the wall amid a bunch of walks against pitchers uninterested in throwing the ball near the plate. But the Sooners still entertained Friday, thanks to freshman Bahl’s first perfect game and Jennings producing her third two-homer game of the young season. Bahl was sensational against Fullerton. striking out 11 in the six-inning, run-rule victory. And with seven home runs this season, Jennings is again ahead of Alo’s pace through the same number of career games.

3. San Diego State finally got the top-10 upset after a marathon of a night. The Aztecs looked primed to beat Northwestern after a Danielle Romanello double put San Diego State up one in the seventh. The Wildcats scored with two outs in the bottom half to send it to extra innings, where they eventually beat SDSU 7-6. But the Aztecs didn’t have much time to dwell on it as they turned around to another field where No. 5 Washington awaited. After taking an early lead over the Huskies, it quickly evaporated. Nevertheless, San Diego State kept fighting and took the lead in the sixth on a Romanello double. Dee Dee Herandez went on to close it out.

4. North, South, East or West, Danielle Williams and the Wildcats keep winning. Williams picked up her fifth win of the season and third victory over a ranked opponent in the last week. The lefty ace two-hit No. 12 Oregon in the first game of the day at the Mary Nutter Classic. Williams, who brought a no-hitter into seventh, needed a bit of help to seal the deal. Left fielder Angela Zedak cut down the game-tying run to end the game with a perfect toss to the plate. Jordyn Rudd’s solo shot in the fourth provided just enough support for the Wildcats in the 1-0 victory. As mentioned early, the Wildcats outlasted San Diego State in an extra-inning battle to go 2-0 on the day.

5. Leanna Johnson and Courtney Vierstra staged the pitching duel expected of two premier aces when Troy and Miami (Ohio) squared off. Both carried no-hitters into the seventh inning before both teams scored runs to send the game into extra innings. Troy pulled away in the 8th for a 5-1 win. Johnson had a perfect game going until Miami scored in the seventh. She allowed one hit and no earned runs with eight strikeouts. Vierstra was touched for six hits and one earned run with nine strikeouts. Among other notable pitching performances, UC Riverside’s Chrys Hildebrand had a Division I program-record 18 Ks in a 2-0 win over Southern Utah. Hildebrand allowed two hits and walked three. Oklahoma State’s Kelly Maxwell threw a one-hitter with a career-high 13 strikeouts as the Cowgirls beat Texas A&M 1-0 for the Aggies’ first loss of the season. Georgia freshman Kylie Macy threw a five-inning perfect game as the Dawgs beat Bryant 18-0. Macy struck out 13 of the 15 batters she faced and walked none. Birthday girl Sydney Kuma hit a grand slam to back Macy’s gem. Stanford’s Regan Krause threw the program’s first no-hitter since 2018 in a 10-0 win over Mount St. Mary’s in five innings.

6. Some leave their heart in San Francisco; No. 24 BYU will leave its ranking in Cathedral City. New to the Top 25 this week, BYU might have been able to withstand Thursday’s loss to No. 20 Tennessee — although the comprehensive 10-3 defeat was over almost before it started. But Friday’s 6-3 setback against decidedly unranked Cal Baptist seals the Cougars’ exit. BYU left 10 runners on base in the game, leaving the bases loaded on two occasions and making the final out with the tying run at the plate. The team from Provo also committed two costly errors that led to five unearned runs for Cal Baptist. Any team with Autumn Moffat-Korth and Violet Zavodsnik can bounce back, but it will be from the outside looking in. And a tip of the cap to CBU sisters Alyssa and Amanda Argomaniz. Alyssa got the win in the circle, while Amanda hit the three-run home run that provided the difference. 

7. Keely Rochard goes the distance. A week ago, Alabama got the best of No. 7 Virginia Tech’s Rochard in a pitching duel. And as a certain former Bulls guard might say, she took that personally. Rochard made sure she was on the correct side of the pitching duel Friday, going all nine innings in a 1-0 victory against Ohio State, allowing just three hits and striking out a season-high 17 batters. Since the Crimson Tide scored their lone run on a walk, error and single in the second inning a week ago? Here is Rochard’s line: 22 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 43 K, 2 BB. That dominance put Ohio State’s Lexie Handley in the position of hard-luck loser. She also worked all nine innings, allowing just four hits. Unfortunately for her, one of those hits was Mackenzie Lawter’s RBI double in the ninth.

8. Oakland upsets the upset specialists. Oakland (the one in Michigan) has never been to the Women’s College World Series. But DePaul and James Madison both have. You probably remember the latter’s appearance. So it merits mention that the Horizon League team opened its season Friday by defeating both the reigning Big East regular season champion and the reigning CAA champion at UCF’s tournament in Orlando. All-Horizon League pitcher Sydney Campbell ruled Oakland’s opening day. She went the distance in the win against James Madison, allowing three earned runs, then came out of the bullpen to throw 4.1 innings of shutout relief in the extra-innings win against DePaul.

9. If you don’t want to end up on a Shannon Doherty bat flip video, maybe stop pitching to her with the game on the line. Remember when Doherty kicked off the softball season with her walk-off blast against Georgia. She did it again on Friday night. UCF entered the sixth inning against Ole Miss with little offensive production. The Knights finally put together a rally to tie the game. That left the door open for Doherty in the seventh. She blasted a three-run shot that still might not have landed, adding her bat flip as a final touch to the comeback. 

10. Welcome back Ashley Rogers. The Tennessee senior pitcher was medically cleared to return to play for the Mary Nutter Classic. Rogers missed nearly all of the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational last weekend after leaving the opening game with a “medical issue.” She was taken to a local hospital, and needed to pass more medical tests once the team returned to Knoxville. Rogers got the start in UT’s first game in Cathedral City, allowing three hits and three earned runs in a 10-3 win over BYU. Rogers struck out eight and walked three. Oregon State knocked Rogers out early in her second start of the tournament on Friday afternoon as the Beavers and ace/slugger Mariah Mazon beat the Lady Vols 5-2. Mazon threw a complete game and was a triple short of the cycle. 

11. Erin Coffel started the 2022 Strikeout Cancer Classic with a bang. The Kentucky sophomore had three home runs and eight RBIs in two wins on Thursday. Coffel hit two three-run home runs and tied a single-game program record with six RBIs in a five-inning win over Jacksonville. It was the third time in Coffel’s career she’s had six RBIs in a game. In the nightcap, Coffel went deep again as the Wildcats beat host FAU.

12. In a fitting end to Black History Month, Alabama State is hosting the HBCU Celebration Tournament this weekend. Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, Grambling State and South Carolina State are in Montgomery to play a total of 10 games at the Barbara Williams Softball Complex. 

Going Long: It was a very productive day for power-hitting catchers. Stony Brook’s Corrine Badger and Mississippi State’s Mia Davidson both hit four home runs over two games. Davidson was 5 for 6 with four homers, eight RBIs and reached base safely in seven of her eight appearances against Longwood and Belmont. Badger was 4 for 4 with four homers, seven RBIs and four runs scored against Drexel and FIU. The junior was hit by a pitch and drew a walk in six plate appearances.

BONUS: What a time to hit your first career home run. Georgia Tech senior Ariella Jackson ended what had been a scoreless game in walk-off fashion with a big blast. Jackson entered the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh with only one hit in five total at-bats this season.