College softball is experiencing a home run chase that harkens back to one of baseball's most iconic moments: the 1998 slugfest between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Nearly three decades ago, McGwire's 70 homers edged out Sosa's 66, shattering Roger Maris' single-season MLB record of 61 and breathing new life into America's pastime. Now, a similar power surge is electrifying the softball diamond—and it couldn't come at a better time for a sport already on the rise.
The record books are trembling. Laura Espinoza's single-season mark of 37 home runs, set for Arizona back in 1995, is within striking distance. Oklahoma's Kendall Wells leads the charge with an astonishing 36 dingers, while UCLA seniors Megan Grant (35) and Jordan Woolery (33) are hot on her heels. All three are poised to add to their totals as their teams head into conference tournaments this week.
What's fueling this power explosion? According to Grant, it's a matter of hitters catching up to evolving pitching speeds. "It's just one of those years—probably the next few years, too—where we'll see a lot of offensive power," she explains. "Then maybe in four years, when this freshman class is seniors, we'll see more dominant pitching and go back to those 1-0 games. It's going to ebb and flow over time."
The numbers back her up. Both UCLA and Oklahoma have smashed the previous single-season team home run record (161, set by Oklahoma in 2021), each blasting 173 homers so far. And it's not just these three stars—across Division I softball, teams have already surpassed last year's total home run output with an entire month of play remaining. The current national average of 0.80 home runs per game would top the all-time record of 0.77 set in 2015.
For fans of power hitting, the action is just heating up. Wells and Oklahoma face LSU or Georgia in the Southeastern Conference tournament opener on Thursday, while Grant, Woolery, and UCLA take on Northwestern or Penn State in their Big Ten Tournament debut the same day. With history on the line and every swing carrying weight, this is must-watch softball—and a reminder that the long ball's magic transcends the game itself.