DENTON, Tx. – Another historic milestone was added to the legendary career of Joan Joyce on Friday night. The FAU head softball coach captured her 1,000th career win with the Owls’ 1-0 victory over North Texas. The milestone was also win number 1,000 in FAU program history.
Joyce joins an exclusive thousand-win club with this tremendous milestone. Only 27 NCAA Division I coaches and 43 NCAA coaches across all divisions have reached the thousand-win threshold. Joyce becomes only the 12th active Division I coach with at least 1,000 wins.
No stranger to accomplishments, win number 1,000 is another on a long list of achievements for Joyce. The FAU head coach is a member of 20 Halls of Fame and is considered as one of, if not the best, softball pitchers of all-time. Collegiately, Joyce was a 15-time All-American, and professionally, she was a four-time World Series champion.
Win number 1,000 came in apropos fashion for the pitching guru, as the Owls prevailed in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel. Neither team had a hit until the fifth inning, when Zoey Jones laced a leadoff double to center. Jones extended her career-high hitting streak to seven games with the two-bagger.
After a Myah Murray bunt moved Jones to over to third, Riley Olson drove an RBI sacrifice fly to deep left field to score Jones and get FAU in front, 1-0.
Lynn Gardner was terrific in the circle and had a no-hitter going until the sixth inning. The senior left-hander mowed down the Mean Green lineup and allowed only two singles while striking out four.
In the seventh, North Texas put runners on first and second with one out, when an improbable double play finished the game. Gardner forced a pop up, and the infield fly call was made. The ball fell to the dirt and the Mean Green runner attempted to move to third, but Maya Amm threw to Murray to end the game and clinch win number 1,000.
Gardner tossed her 10th complete game of the season and her sixth shutout. She now stands at 8-4 with a 2.31 ERA.
The win also extended the Owls’ winning streak to six games. FAU is now 15-13 and 4-0 in Conference USA play, and the Owls have not started 4-0 in conference play since the 2016 season.
The Owls and Mean Green will continue the series with game two tomorrow at 2 p.m. eastern time.
