History! Fouts' 12 Ks set new AUSL record

We just saw one of the greatest pitching performances in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s young history.

Utah Talons ace Montana Fouts set a new league record with 12 strikeouts in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Texas Volts. She completed all seven innings, scattering five hits and taking home a key W after the Talons had just been swept in three games by the Portland Cascade.

The performance dethroned the previous record of 10 strikeouts, set just days earlier by Portland’s Kenzie Brown against the Talons.

Fouts’ day didn’t necessarily look destined for history early on. She allowed a single and a double to the first two batters she faced, struck out one and then allowed another RBI single to give Texas a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning. After a flyout and another single, a strikeout finally quelled the Volts, and she absolutely buckled down.

Fouts retired the next 15 batters she faced (16 total, including the final out of the first). Another Texas hitter did not reach base until the bottom of the seventh inning. Tiare Jennings launched a solo home run to start the inning, the first Fouts had allowed all year, to make the game interesting at 4-3. But Fouts wouldn’t be bested again, going strikeout-flyout-strikeout to wrap up an incredible performance.

Utah’s bats did just enough to support Fouts’ dominance, with a two-run fifth inning making the difference. Jadelyn Allchin and Jordan Woolery smacked back-to-back doubles in the frame to score the eventual game-winning runs.

Fouts is now 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA to begin the 2026 season, the third-best ERA in the league for pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched. She’s following up her stellar 2025 in which she posted a 2.21 ERA, second only to teammate Georgina Corrick, en route to a Talons championship in the AUSL’s inaugural season.

Fouts is additionally no stranger to history. A four-time All-American in her days at Alabama, she famously threw a perfect game against powerhouse UCLA during the 2021 Women’s College World Series -- AND did so on her 21st birthday.

Fouts recently revealed on an episode of "No Easy Outs" on MLB Clubhouse that she nearly quit softball altogether when she was younger. It's a good thing she didn't, as she's now one of the game's biggest stars.