Skip to main content
As most readers of this blog would probably be aware, there's some major softball going on, with the KFC World Cup taking place in Oklahoma City. Games involving the USA squad are being shown on ESPN and ESPN2. This article shows the schedule.

Team USA opened up last night with a run-rule-shortened 9-1 win over Venezuela.

As I write, the USA is playing its second game, leading 8-0 over China after three complete innings; another run-rule game thus seems likely.

All three American pitchers that have gone so far are ones who ended their collegiate careers in 2006. Jennie Ritter (Michigan) and Alicia Hollowell (Arizona) threw last night, and Cat Osterman (Texas) is currently in the circle.

Other players on the US roster include former Arizona outfielder Caitlin Lowe and former Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott, who faced each other in this spring's Women's College World Series; Natasha Watley, one of the heroes of UCLA's 2003 NCAA championship; and Jennie Finch, the star pitcher of Arizona's 2001 NCAA championship team.

Update: The USA finished off China, 8-0, in a five-inning game shortened by run-rule.

Popular posts from this blog

Washington used a first-inning grand-slam homer from pitcher Danielle Lawrie and some late insurance runs to defeat Georgia by a score of 9-3 in tonight's late game. The win gives U-Dub a spot in the best-of-three championship series against Florida starting Monday (Georgia had defeated Washington earlier today, 9-8 in nine innings, to force tonight's rematch). The Huskies thus claimed "top dog" status over Georgia on their side of the bracket. Florida got a two-out grand-slam homer from Ali Gardiner in the bottom of the seventh to edge Alabama 6-5. The Crimson Tide made a strong recovery in the tournament after looking "not ready for prime time" in an opening-round loss to Michigan. But, as a result of tonight's heartbreaking loss to the Gators, Bama is now eliminated. Lowrie's and Gardiner's grand-slams are among four that have been hit so far in this World Series.

Pitching Star NiJaree Canady Reportedly in the Transfer Portal

Stanford pitching ace NiJaree Canady has reportedly entered the transfer portal ( link ), having completed two seasons in the circle for the Cardinal. Stanford has made the WCWS in both of Canady's seasons on the team. Another school hit hard by the transfer portal is the University of Washington, with an exodus of eight Huskies . This list of the top ten players in the portal includes four from UW. Today is the final day of the 30-day window for players to enter the portal.

Florida Shines at Kajikawa Classic

The University of Florida, ranked No. 14 and 15 in the two major national preseason polls, pulled two major upsets en route to an undefeated 5-0 performance at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic at Arizona State. Among the Gator victims were three Pac 12 schools: No. 3 Cal (by a score of 7-4), No. 5/6 Oregon (1-0), and No. 13/14 Arizona (14-3). Full results of the tournament are available here .