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Last Dance for Pacific 12 Softball

The Pacific 12's motto " Conference of Champions " has applied particularly well to softball. Member schools have captured 24 (UCLA 12, Arizona 8, ASU 2, Cal 1, Washington 1) of the 40 NCAA titles awarded in the sport.  However, the 2024 Pac 12 season, which begins this weekend, will be the last.* UCLA, Washington, Oregon, and (non-softball) USC will be leaving for the Big Ten; Arizona, ASU, Utah, and (non-softball) Colorado will head to the Big 12; and Stanford and Cal will join the Atlantic Coast Conference. Oregon State will be the only remaining softball school, as Washington State does not field a team in the sport. As shown in the following graph, the three teams going to the Big Ten (UCLA, Washington, and Oregon) were consistently among the best in the Pac 12 over the past decade, with the exception of a Duck downturn when Coach Mike White moved to the University of Texas (the grey bar denotes the cancelled COVID-19 season in 2020). Stanford and Utah have been r
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Oklahoma Win Streak Ends at 71

Oklahoma's enormously long winning streak had to end sometime. However, it seemed unlikely that an opponent with a losing record would be the one to knock off the Sooners. So is the mystery of sports that Louisiana-Lafayette, which brought a 9-12 record into today's game with OU, would do the unthinkable. The final score was 7-5 Ragin' Cajuns, in eight innings, ending the Sooners' win streak at 71 games ( box score ). ULL led 4-2 as OU came up in the bottom of the seventh. The Sooners quickly found themselves with two out and a runner on second. Oklahoma had been in precarious spots before during this streak, but always managed to pull through. Lightning struck again today -- for a while at least -- as OU put together two singles (the latter with an ULL error added on) to tie the game ( video ).  In the past, Oklahoma would have shut ULL down in the top of the eighth and scored the winning run in the bottom half. Not today. A single, OU error, and another single loaded

2024 Opening Weekend

SATURDAY Texas won its second game vs. UCLA a little more decisively than it won its first contest with the Bruins -- 16-0 . Kentucky defeated No. 3 Stanford for the second day in a row, but the Wildcats fell to San Diego State later in the day. Texas Tech dropped a heartbreaker at Florida State, as the Seminoles scored two in the bottom of the seventh for a 9-8 victory. FSU trailed 8-7 with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh before getting a walk to load the bases and a two-run single to finish it off ( video ).  Michigan earned one of its best wins in a while by edging No. 18 Florida , 2-1. FRIDAY No. 1 Oklahoma had a close call with No. 10 Washington Friday night. The Sooners scored a single run in the top of the sixth to tie the game and a go-ahead run in the eighth, en route to a 4-3 victory over the Huskies in the Puerto Vallarta tournament. No. 5 Texas has held off No. 8 UCLA by a 3-2 score Friday night in Los Angeles. The Longhorns led 3-0 going into the botto

Guide to 2024 Major In-Season Tournaments as Play Begins Tomorrow

The 2024 college softball season begins tomorrow, Thursday, February 8 (see ESPN.com preview ). Much of the action during the opening weeks of the season occurs via tournaments, the most prominent of which are listed below in charts I created. The charts also show the leading teams appearing in each tournament, with teams' rankings (if any) from the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Poll appearing in parentheses. You can click on the charts to enlarge them. Three-time defending Women's College World Series winner Oklahoma begins the season as the No. 1-ranked team, with Tennessee (2), Stanford (3), and Florida St. (4) expected to give the Sooners their toughest competition. Check back over the weekend for comments on some of the tournament games!

Jordy Bahl Transferring from Oklahoma to Nebraska

The college softball world has thrown us a "Curve Bahl," if you will. Such is the unexpected news that Oklahoma ace Jordy Bahl has announced that she will transfer to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Bahl is from the Omaha suburb of Papillion, Nebraska. Three thoughts jump out at me: Bahl was absolutely indispensable to the Sooners' 61-1 national championship season, coming up with numerous clutch strikeouts in tight tournament games against Clemson (super-regionals, Game 2 ) and Stanford ( WCWS semifinals ).    OU benefited greatly this season via the transfer portal, bringing in Haley Lee  from Texas A&M,  Alex Storako from Michigan, and Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres from Arizona State. Bahl's transfer is the first major one in the modern portal era (to my knowledge) in the other direction. Nebraska becomes an instant national championship contender, in my mind. Other players around the country may find it attractive to join Bahl in Lincoln but even if

2023 WCWS Championship Round -- Game 2

Game 2 will be getting underway shortly... The Sooners are one game away from not only winning their third straight NCAA championship but also from setting a record for fewest losses in a championship season (a potential 61-1 record), which would replace the 1992 UCLA squad's mark of 54-2... Kathryn Sandercock, who was held out last night, is starting for the Seminoles... Top 1 -- OU goes down 1-2-3... Bottom 1 -- Sooners start Michigan transfer Alex Storako in the circle... Storako greeted by single from FSU's Kaley Mudge... Second batter bunts, OU 3B-person throws ball into center field trying to get Mudge at second... Seminoles with runners on first and second and none out... OU does not allow a lot of scoring opportunities, so Florida State really has to capitalize when it can (especially with Storako [1.06 K/inning] not being as much of a strikeout pitcher as Jordy Bahl [1.31])... Liner to 3B for first out... Hard grounder back to Storako, bobbled briefly, so only play