Big Ten Softball Season Update with Sydney Supple

Which Big Ten teams can make a run at the national softball championship? Sydney Supple of Big Ten Network and SiriusXM joins the podcast to analyzes the contenders.

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College Sports Scene Today is hosted by Pete Pistone and produced by Mia Pistone

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hi everybody, Pete Bestoni here, and welcome to College Sports Scene today. Softball season off and running, and especially here in the Big Ten, there's lots to catch up on. And let's bring in from BTN to help us do that. Sydney Supley is with us here on College Sports Scene today. Sydney, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:19

I'm wonderful. Thank you for having me. It's like you said, it's it's a quick race right now.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

It really is. I mean, first of all, the season just flying by like it always does. Um, let me start there. When we went into the season, kind of back, you know, in January to where we are now, anything kind of stand out in terms of surprises or things you didn't expect to see here in the Big Ten, Sydney?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I think the first things first is you not only have a tight race right now to win the Big Ten tournament or the championship in for a regular season, but you also have teams who are separating themselves who are on a journey to end up in Oklahoma City and compete for a national championship. And I think that's one thing that everyone needs to know about the Big Ten is you need to take these teams seriously on a national standpoint.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Well, let's start at the top of the standings in the Big Ten in conference play. And the Washington Huskies are just unbelievable. They're 12-0. They've won 12 in a row, obviously. Give us some thumbnail. What you're seeing from this Husky squad so far this year, Sydney.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

It has to be Heather Tarr's best work if you look at from a year-to-year growth. Back in 2025, last season, they had 18 new players. They didn't have a single person in their bullpen who had ever worn the Washington uniform before. And she just really dedicated teaching and developing a younger group who now you are seeing shine here in year two in 2026. And they have also played tough teams. They've beat Nebraska opening weekend. Morgan Reimer is right now tied for leading the nation in wins as a sophomore. She's also playing for Team Canada, the women's national team. She beat Team Japan, who's the number one team in the world this summer. And to think now that she's competing so well on the college level, this is a group you have to watch out for this season, but then also years ahead because of how much talented younger freshmen and sophomores they have on their team.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

How unique is that to bring people together like this and have it gel as quickly as it is up there in Washington, to your point?

SPEAKER_01 2:15

It's new in this era when you can have kids transfer in and out so quickly if they're not playing their first year, if they're not getting the NAL money that they want. And coaches have really been tasked with that challenge. And a credit to Heather Tarr, who had the rug pulled out under her from her last year. And her number one goal was I just want my players to have fun. So even though it was a hard year at times, these women had fun and they loved the game. So they all came back year two, hungrier than ever. And I think you're starting to see that in a few programs who are having success, that you can still win this old school way of culture and chemistry.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Well, right on their heels is the are the Nebraska Corn Huskers. They're obviously having another good year. Not surprised. I mean, this the pedigree there is so high. What about this particular squad there in Omaha, Sydney?

SPEAKER_01 3:02

When I talked about a having a Big Ten team potential to win it all, I'm thinking about Nebraska in my mind. This is one of the best pitching staffs in the entire nation. We all know Jordy Fromm. We know her. We love her. She was Big Ten player and pitcher of the year, the first time that's ever happened in this conference. But what I love is she's been able to kind of take on a closing role because Alexis Jensen, the freshman phenom right now for the Huskers, has taken up so many valuable innings. And that's really saved Fromm's arm. Right now, Alexis Jensen leads the nation in first year pitchers. She has a 15-2 record. And on top of that, that includes knocking off two number one seeds when they beat Texas and they beat Texas Tech. She played in both of those games and played a significant role. So she's really, I think, the missing piece because now you have Fromm who's able to come in in closing situations. And she recently broke Rhonda Ravel, who's the head coach for Nebraska softball. She was leading, she had the record for saves in Nebraska in 1983. And Fromm has now been awarded that new record. She's up to nine saves on the season.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

It's amazing. So I wouldn't say they're mere images, but they're obviously very good squads, Washington and Nebraska, who you just sort of gave us a thumbnail. Can you compare and contrast between these two in terms of going forward to your point? And maybe who do you think has the deepest opportunity to go all the way to the softball world series?

SPEAKER_01 4:27

What both of them have is two really good pitchers. And that's where you're seeing teams start to emerge. I look even outside the Big Ten, you know, you look at Texas Tech with Nijah Kennedy, one of the best arms in our game. Even they went to the portal and added a second and a third arm because what you're starting to see the workload and the hitters be so good. I mean, you look at softball scores these days, you're looking at football scores in terms, it's 17 to 20. So to be able to have deep pitching staffs is what both of them have. It's going to come down to which team can hit better. Right now, I just like Nebraska's. They have a lot of senior sluggers. I think they might go a little bit deeper in their bats to Washington, but both have excellent pitching.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

On the next team in the standings, and I'm sure they're still celebrating the women's basketball championship help up there in LA is UCLA after what they did on the basketball court, but not to shabby uh on the diamond. What's the UCLA story right now going into the middle of April, Sydney?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Well, we have to give congrats to Megan Grant because I'm not sure if a lot of people know, but UCLA softball star that we're going to get into also won a national championship because she's a part of the women's basketball team as well. So she played in the game on Sunday. She helped her the softball team sweep Indiana and then she got on a plane and was able to go celebrate with her team down in Arizona. So just incredible dual sport athlete. But to your point, UCLA has one of the biggest legacies in all of college softball, and they are breaking every offensive record that has ever been set there. Early April, this past weekend, they already broke their single season home run record that was 108 home runs set in 2010, a year they won it. They're already smashing it and they're past 110 home runs. And that's largely because Megan Grant, who is at 26 home runs, and then Jordan Molly, who's at 21 home runs. And Woolry also leads the nation in RBIs. And they're a team who can get home runs one through nine.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

You know, you've kind of mentioned, like, we're seeing these high scores, football scores, as you said earlier, and UCLA is putting these big numbers up on the board. Can you attribute it to anything? You know, in baseball would say, well, the ball's juiced up. Obviously, they're trying to get some more scoring. What can you attribute some of this, what we're seeing in softball about this offensive firepower we're seeing across the board, Sydney?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

I've asked every single coach that question, and they've all given me the same answer. The scouting and the analytics have gotten so good. So we've always been able to get kind of a scouting report on a picture of she throws rise, drop, change, but now they go, we know what her go-to pitch on every single count. We're seeing her heat map against power righties to a lefty slapper. We're seeing when she gets behind, how does she drop speed so that maybe we can change where we're standing in the batter's box? It's unbelievable. It's almost overwhelming for some coaches to get that much data. So a lot of them have gone out and hired um statistici who have then come in and have helped them really understand this data. And the thing you have to know about our sport, we tend to follow the trends in baseball. And you saw about two years ago baseball be able to collect even more numbers, and now that's hitting the softball landscapes, and hitters are getting so good because of it. They can set up their pitching machines at practice that have a 67 rise ball with this kind of break to emulate the pitcher they're seeing on Friday. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

That is crazy, but again, not uh uh uncommon in this world we're in today, as you say, following sort of the baseball lead. Uh, another team at the top I want to get your take on is the Oregon team and up there in the Pacific Northwest. They're next in the pecking order in the standings. Give us a little thumbnail on Oregon.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

They're catching their stride at the right time, and that's what really matters most. They kind of got punched in the teeth the first two weekends, and head coach Melissa Lombardi said that herself. But since then, they've learned a lot about her their team. They've gotten better in some areas, and they're finding their groove, starting in the circle. It's really key for them that Lindsay Grine, that senior veteran leader, is pitching at her best, and she's starting to do so. Now she's up to 17, 18 wins. That's good for top five in the nation. But they're hitting is, I think, something that surprised people how long that took to get going, because they had a lot of talented freshmen who were in double-digit home runs and were really quieted. And they call it the sophomore slump for a reason. It's finally these teams have the data. They've scouted you, they have an attack planned for you. And they had to weather that storm the first month, but their sophomores have really stepped up uh here in March and April already. Stephanie Mahake, Riley McCoy, and they're a team who's gonna go and compete for a Big Ten title and most likely host a regional as well.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

All right. Now there's a bunch of teams kind of in the logjam at seven to five conference play. Indiana's in there, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, sort of kind of uh sift through that quartet of teams, Sydney, and what you're seeing, and maybe who could break out here as we get to the end of the regular season.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Indiana's always gonna have a chance because of how well they're coached in terms of their hitting their top five nationally every single season, it feels like, in terms of batting average. And that's just a team I think that's gonna be scary no matter who they're playing. You saw them give UCLA everything they could handle. However, the Bruins were ultimately had them pitching that lasted longer, but their bats are gonna keep them afloat. And I think it's a team who gets in the NCAA tournament. I think it's a team who could create a lot of noise here at the Big Ten tournament. Um, and then in terms of you look at the other ones, I think Penn State stands out to me in terms of a good balance between talented pitching with having Bridget Namath back, who was 2024 Big Ten freshman of the year. She was out last year due to injury. She's starting to find that groove on the mound now here in her second season. And they also have a nice balance of hitting. And then you mentioned it, uh Ohio State, they led the nation in home runs last season. I think we're waiting to see that spark come alive at the plate, but they're a team who is going to continue to compete. And I look at this as a conference who I think could get six teams in the NCAA tournament.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Now, not to uh kind of pick at anybody, but is there anybody that maybe we haven't talked about that you thought might be a little bit better, or maybe someone who can maybe make a run here in the second half of the season that we haven't spoken about?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

I think of Purdue right away. And the reason why I say Purdue is because Mariah Poehler, who's their leadoff hitter, is a name that is going to go down in every record in the history book for the Boilermakers. She right now is one of two players in all NCAA Division I softball players who's hitting over 600. She's now leading the nation. She's hitting 6'11, which is just unbelievable as a lefty slapper to be that good at consistent wise. She's also leading the nation in triples, she's double-digit solo in bases. So she just creates such a havoc for any team who has the player and any pitcher has to face her. So I look at that's a team who, when they can connect all the dots, because some days they're so good hitting and some days they're so good pitching, they're still a threat. Who last year they were one of the first four teams out of the tournament. They're chasing to be a team that's in the tournament this year.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

So when we get to the conference tournament, any reason not to believe that uh they're sort of headed uh into a collision course with Washington and Nebraska as we started our conversation?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

In terms of who I think could win the Big Ten tournament, gosh, I I really look at, I think five or six teams could walk away. Um, I just I think between we saw in the Nebraska versus UCLA series, Nebraska won two, UCLA won one. And I think if they were to play 10 times, it could have been closer to five and five. And uh what I love about how the schedule is built this year is we have Washington on top, Nebraska, UCLA, Oregon. However, all of those teams have to play each other in these final three weeks. So the rankings can change up really quick. And I think whoever is going to be riding on a high momentum coming out of the regular season is gonna have a leg up coming into the tournament with just a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Take us into the locker room as a former player. When you get to this time of the season, what's going through the players' minds right now, Sydney?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

You've had all of the at-bats, you've had all of the reps. It's really coming down to how much can you believe in your team making a run? And sometimes it's it sounds so small and minute, but you're not going to be able to have a lot of changes in your swings this time of year or changes in your pitches. So it's just really about performing when your numbers called and not letting any situation get too big. And that's something that I've talked with a lot of coaches come this year. It's how can they calm down the nerves of their players because every game and every at bat starts to matter a little bit more. So the teams that you're gonna see excel are the ones who are so mentally strong and so together chemistry-wise. Those are the teams who win championships. And I think you look at college basketball, Michigan, they always said we never cared about the stats, any game. And that's the reason why we're holding the trophy at the end. And that's gonna come to fruition, whatever softball team wins at all.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Well, as you know, we're getting greedy here in the Big Ten. We got a football championship, a men's basketball championship, a women's basketball championship, a wrestling championship, maybe hockey this weekend. When we get to the big dance, size up this uh this uh conference with everyone else.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Our our top teams coming out of this, I really do believe have a chance to make it deep and make it to Oklahoma City. Uh, I would go on the record saying 100% there's gonna be a Big Ten team in Oklahoma City come the end of the year. I think we could possibly have two as well. Um, which teams we'll we'll wait to see. However, you know, they're gonna be up against some heavyweight battles when you look at how good Oklahoma is swinging the bat right now. I mentioned UCLA has over 110 home runs, while one other team has over 100 home runs, and that's Oklahoma Sooners, who have around 140 right now. They're set to break the NCAA record that was set by themselves in 2021 at 161 home runs. They're projected they could possibly get close to 200 home runs. So that's just a team who can swing the bat so well. I also mentioned Texas Tech. They now have Nigeri Kennedy on the mound, Caitlin Terry, a pitcher who came from UCLA, who is an all-American, and then they have a really good sophomore ace as well. And then you have Texas, who's gonna be wanting to get a repeat in a national championship. They've been top three in the nation all season in the standings. However, if I have to say one Big Ten team who's got a shot to make it far, the reason why I say Nebraska is because they have the number two strength of schedule in the country. Rhonda Ravel challenged her team early, so they'd be ready to perform in May.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Well, there's a long way to go, but it should be very exciting down the stretch. Always appreciate your time and your insight. We'll see how it plays out, Sydney. But thanks for being with us.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

You bet. That's Sydney Soupley from BTN as we break down the Big Ten softball season. And it should be pretty interesting when we get to the softball world series. I'm Pete Fistoni. Thanks for watching College Sports Scene today. We'll see you next time.