2–6–14 (Thur.)

CSB360 Gameday Recaps Pages (click on links below, or use navigation links/arrows above to scroll pages).
Feb. 12–13  |  Feb. 9  |  Feb. 8  |  Feb. 7  |  Feb. 6 (below)

OPENING DAY – GAMEDAY RECAP PAGE – Thursday (Feb. 6, 2014)

Farish Beard

Ace pitcher Farish Beard led South Alabama to a season-opening win over fellow top-25 team UAB, as the Jaguars opened their tournament that included another top opponent in Syracuse.

 Note: of the 44 teams that received votes in the 2014 preseason national polls, 32 of them opened the season at a tournament with at least one other such top team … here's a quick rundown of those top week-1 tournaments (with links to tournament home page, when available):

• Kajikawa Classic  (at Arizona State, other top teams include Oregon, Stanford, Cal, NC State & Oregon State)
• 
USF-Wilson Demarini Tournament  (top teams include Florida, Michigan, South Florida & Wisconsin)
• 
Mizuno Invitational  (at Long Beach State; other top teams include Kentucky)
• 
Easton Tournament  (at Cal State Fullerton; other top teams include Oklahoma & Kentucky)
• 
Sportco Kick-Off Classic  (Las Vegas, NV; top teams include Washington, Baylor & Arkansas)
• 
Louisiana Classic  (top teams include Texas, host Louisiana-Lafayette & North Carolina)
• 
Mardi Gras Invitational  (top teams include host South Alabama, UAB & Syracuse)
• 
Hotel Encanto Invitational  (at New Mexico State; top teams include Nebraska & Florida State)
• 
Kama'aina Classic  (top teams include UCLA & host Hawaii)
• 
Tiger Classic  (top teams include host LSU & Minnesota)
• 
FAU Kick-Off Classic  (top teams include Louisville & Tulsa)
• 
Plainsman Invitational  (top teams include host Auburn & Notre Dame)

The 2014 college softball season kicked off on Thursday, Feb. 6, with several noteworthy teams taking the plunge to play on the first day while most others played their opening games on Friday the 7th. The Feb. 6 games included 18 involving teams that received votes in the national polls, led by six head-to-head battles. Based on the preseason polling, only four of these 18 day-1 games results in upsets (all of them among teams that were "receiving votes" outside of the top-25).

The most compelling opening-day matchup came in Baton Rouge, as 10-ranked Texas won 6-1 at (17/19) LSU. There were two other top-25 matchups on day-1, with (4/3) Florida winning 10-3 at (25/23) South Florida while (20/22) South Alabama opened its home tournament with an 8-0 win over (21/25) UAB).

Among the six head-to-head matchups between teams receiving votes in the preseason polls, only one was won by the team receiving fewer votes, essentially a minor upset as (39/35) Oregon State beat (32/27) North Carolina State, 6-2, in Tempe at the Kajikawa Classic. NC State actually played twice on opening day, also dropping a 9-1 game to (22/20) Stanford. Finally, (12/14) Kentucky kicked off its strong opening week in southern California with a 10-0 win at (34/–) Long Beach State, in five innings.

Opening day's three other noteworthy results were losses by teams near the bottom of the receiving votes list, as San Diego State beat (39/35) Oregon State, 6-3 in Tempe, and Troy played to a 5-5 final vs. visiting (33/33) Auburn while Weber State posted a 4-3 win over (38/–) BYU, in St. George, Utah.

These 18 opening-day results are listed below, along with postgame links that include the following:
• Final Runs–Hits–Errors linescore and updated season record for both teams 
• Game recap stories from both teams
• Final game statistics, including HTML versions (often with play-by-play) and PDF/printable (as available)
• Links to photo galleries and video (highlights & post game), often embedded
• Some photos also are included to round out the recap display … 

Stephanie Ceo (below) and her Texas teammates opened the season with a road win over fellow top-20 team LSU … the Longhorns then headed to Louisiana-Lafayette, where an up-and-down weekend was awaiting them.

Stephanie Ceo hit


CSB360 Gameday Recaps Pages
 (click on links below, or use navigation links/arrows above to scroll pages).
Feb. 12–13  |  Feb. 9  |  Feb. 8  |  Feb. 7  |  Feb. 6 (below)

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THURSDAY'S TOP MATCHUPS  (Feb. 6, 2014)
(both teams receiving votes in national polls: NFCA coaches/USA Softball)    italics indicate upsets

tn-4-ncaa-usf

• (4/3) Florida 10–5–1  (1-0)
… won at (25/23) South Florida 3–7–1  (0-1)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  FL Recap  |  USF Recap


• (10/10) Texas 6–7–0  (1-0)
… won at (17/19) LSU 1–4–0 (0-1)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  TX Recap  |  LSU Recap  Photos (LSU)
Texas postgame video below:


• (12/14) Kentucky 10–10–0  (2-0) … won at (34/–) Long Beach State 0–4–1  (0-1)  (5 inn.)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  KY Recap  |  LBSU Recap  |  Photos

• at (20/22) South Alabama 8–7–0  (1-0) … def. (21/25) UAB 0–1–0  (0-)  (5 inn.)
… Final Stats: HTMLPDF  |  So.AL Recap  |  UAB Recap  |  Photos
South Alabama postgame video below:


(22/20) Stanford 9–9–1  (1-0) … def. (32/27) North Carolina State 1–4–2  (0-2)  (5; Tempe, AZ)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  STAN Recap  |  NC-St. Recap

(39/35) Oregon State 6–12–0  (1-0) … def. (32/27) North Carolina State 2–10–1  (0-1)  (Tempe)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  OR-St. Recap  |  NC-St. Recap

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THURSDAY'S OTHER KEY RESULTS  (Feb. 6, 2014)
(teams receiving votes in national polls: NFCA coaches/USA Softball)  italics indicate upsets

• at (7/7) Arizona State 3–5–0  (1-0) … def. Creighton 0–1–1  (0-2)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  ASU Recap  |  Jays Recap

• at (7/7) Arizona State 9–11–0  (2-0) … def. New Mexico 0–4–0  (0-1)  (5 inn.)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  ASU Recap  |  UNM Recap
ASU video (highlight & postgame) below:




• (12/14) Kentucky 6–10–0  (1-0) … def. Santa Clara 0–0–0  (0-1)  (at Long Beach)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  KY Recap  |  SCU Recap

• (16/13) UCLA 10–7–0  (1-0) … def. Delaware 0–0–2  (0-1)  (5 inn.; at Hawaii)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  UCLA Recap  |  DEL Recap

• at (25/23) South Florida 9–10–0 … def. Bethune-Cookman 0–3–4  (5 inn.)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  USF Recap  |  B-C Recap

• at (26/28) Hawaii 2–2–1  (1-0) … def. Hampton 0–3–0  (0-1)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  UH Recap  |  HAMP Recap
Hawaii video recap below


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San Diego State 6–10–1  (2-0)
… def. (39/35) Oregon State 3–6–3  (1-1)  (Tempe, AZ)

… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  SDSU Recap  |  OR-St. Recap

Patrice Jackson (San Diego State)

• at Troy 5–5–1  (0-0-1) … tied. (33/33) Auburn 5–2–0  (0-0-1)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Troy Recap  |  AUB Recap

• at (34/–) Long Beach State 8–9–0  (1-1) … def. Santa Clara 0–3–1  (0-2)  (5 inn.)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  LBSU Recap  |  SCU Recap  |  Photos

Weber State 4–3–1  (1-0) … def. (38/–) BYU 3–4–1  (0-1)  (St. George, UT)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  WS Recap  |  BYU Recap

BYU 10–8–1  (1-1) … def. Southern Utah 2–1–0  (0-2)  (St. George, UT)
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  
BYU Recap  |  So.-Utah Recap

below – Troy's Michelle Phelps

Michelle Phelpsjpg

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