College softball is putting on a home run chase reminiscent of the epic showdown between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa nearly 30 years ago.Back in 1998, McGwire hit 70 homers to edge out Sosa’s 66 as both players blew past Roger Maris’ single-season major league record of 61. The duel between the St. Louis Cardinals slugger and his Chicago Cubs counterpart helped rejuvenate baseball.College softball has a similar home run race going on this year, providing an opportunity to boost an already rising sport.Laura Espinoza’s single-season record of 37, set for Arizona way back in 1995, could fall in the coming days. Oklahoma’s Kendall Wells leads the pack with 36. A pair of UCLA seniors also are in the mix — Megan Grant has 35 homers and Jordan Woolery has 33 as the teams head into their conference tournaments.Grant said pitching speeds increased in recent years and the hitters have caught up. UCLA and Oklahoma both have 173 home runs, having already shattered Oklahoma’s single-season record of 161 set in 2021.Woolery said the game evolves in cycles.“I think it’s just kind of one of those years or like, probably the next few years where we’ll see a lot of offensive power,” she said. “Then maybe in four years, when this freshman class is seniors, we’ll some more dominant pitching and go back to those 1-0 games. I think it’s going to ebb and flow throughout time.”The trio of sluggers aren’t the only ones hitting the long ball. Teams this season have exceeded last year’s home run total across Division …
