Softball's top five struggle during opening weekend
Stanford and Florida State fall to unranked teams.
The first weekend of softball season came and went with a bang. Two of the top five teams lost, including No. 3 Stanford, which lost twice to Kentucky. The Wildcats defeated the Cardinal by one run each time, winning 2-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. On Friday, Charlotte did enough to beat No. 4 Florida State in a back-and-forth matchup. The game was tied 5-5 in the seventh inning, with Charlotte getting the 6-5 edge in the bottom of the tenth. It was the first time in 49ers history beating a top-five team. It was the first opening-day loss for the Seminoles since 2014, but they responded by beating Charlotte 11-0 the following day.
No. 5 Texas put on an offensive clinic opening weekend. After beating No. 8 UCLA 3-2 on Friday, the Longhorns had 32 runs on Saturday. Against San Diego, Texas won 16-1, and against UCLA, the team had two grand slams to win 16-0. On the day, the Longhorns hit .534 with eight home runs.
With four wins over opening weekend, No. 1 Oklahoma continued the longest winning streak in NCAA Division I softball history with 57 games. The Sooners last lost to Baylor in February 2023. Naturally, Oklahoma also holds four of the five longest winning streaks, with the 1996-1997 Arizona team having won 47 games in a row for second place.