Opening Weekend's Top Nine Performances

Indiana

The Hoosiers 5-0 start is their best since 1990. They outscored their opponents 32-11 while hitting .311 at the FAU First Pitch Classic in Boca Raton. They used a station-to-station approach at the plate as only eight of their 37 hits were for extra bases. They did, however, steal 17 of 22 bases.

Tara Trainer led the pitching staff with 16 innings and a complete-game victory over No. 6 Georgia.

Taylor Lambert finished the weekend 6-for-13 with seven runs scored, two doubles, two RBIs and six stolen bases.

N.C. State

The Wolfpack followed up its 23-31 finish last season with a fresh start under the new direction of Jennifer Patrick-Swift. The Wolfpack went 3-2 at the USF Opening Weekend Invitational in Tampa against No. 10 Michigan, Illinois State, USF, No. 7 Arizona and No. 5 Florida.

The big upset came on Sunday when the Pack took down Arizona 4-1 behind freshman Sydney Nester’s complete game. It was her first collegiate win and she allowed an earned run on seven hits. The follow-up performance fell just shy as Florida walked off with a 2-1 win in the seventh.

Bailey Hemphill

In five games, Alabama’s Bailey Hemphill hit .571 (8-for-14) with three doubles, a home run, five runs scored and 11 RBIs. Her best game of the weekend came against Murray State when she was 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBIs.

LSU

The No. 16 LSU Tigers scored 73 runs and allowed two in five games. Amanda Sanchez paced the offense going 9-for-13 with seven doubles, 10 runs scored and 11 RBIs. Aliyah Andrews scored 14 runs and was a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen bases.

The player who shouldn't be overlook is Shelbi Sunseri. She was 7-for-11 with two doubles, four homers and 14 RBIs. She was also 2-0 in the circle with a 0.00 earned run average in 10 innings. She allowed five hits and struck out nine against 35 batters.

Uh-LIS-ah

If the pronunciation guide to your name is Uh-LIS-ah, you probably had a good weekend.

Georgia’s Alyssa DiCarlo was 8-for-13 with a double, a triple, four home runs, seven runs scored and 11 RBIs.

Arizona’s Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza was 8-for-15 with a double, three home runs and six RBIs.

Louisiana’s Alissa Dalton hit .455 with a double, triple, home run and collected nine RBIs.

Baylor’s Alyssa Avalos made her presence known defensively when she robbed a potential homer.

Mary Haff

Arkansas sophomore Mary Haff continues to climb the program record books as she earned her 32nd career win over the weekend for sixth all-time. She pitched three complete-games to open 2019 and tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts against Campbell on Sunday. In 20 innings, Haff has not allowed a single run and only surrendered four hits.

Firsts

Melyssa Lombardi (Oregon), Tori Tyson (Howard) and Jimmy Kolaitis (UAB) were just three of the several first-year head coaches who earned their first career victory over the weekend. North Alabama (3-0) and Cal Baptist (1-4) also earned wins in their first weekend of D-I action.

Oregon

Oregon dominated the Kajikawa Classic going 5-0 including run-rule victories over Kansas, CSUN and Bradley. Freshmen Rachel Cid and Hannah Galey powered the offense with three homers each. Additionally, Cid finished 8-for-17 with 10 RBIs while Galey was 6-for-15 with nine RBIs. Jasmine Sievers also made her collegiate debut in the final game of the weekend. She was 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs.

Jordan Dail pitched 22.1 innings and was 3-0 in four appearances. She gave up 16 hits, eight earned runs and struck out 26.

UNLV

The Rebels of UNLV went 5-0 in their first weekend of 2019. The start is the best since 2007 and marks the third time in program history that the Rebels have gone undefeated in their first five games.

They scored six or more runs in each contest and batted .364 as a team. UNLV’s 1-2 punch of Reina Bondi and Lauren Tycksen finished 13-for-31 with 20 runs scored, seven RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

Transfer Nia Carter Hopes For Fairytale Ending At Arkansas

Nia Carter transferred to Arkansas this offseason for her final year of NCAA eligibility.