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A couple developments from Thursday's play...

Stanford stunned Arizona State, leaving the Sun Devils tied at 16-3 with UCLA atop the Pac 10 standings.

Michigan was upset by Michigan State in the first round of the Big 10 tournament. With their national poll rankings at 5 and 6 prior to this loss, the Wolverines may be on a little shaky ground for obtaining a top-8 seed in the NCAA tournament. Such a seeding is necessary to host a super-regional (assuming you win your opening regional). Each of the last two years, Michigan has been a No. 9 seed and has had to go on the road to take on the No. 8 seed in the super-regionals (Tennessee in '06 and Baylor in '07); both times the Wolverines have lost the series two games to one.

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Pitching Star NiJaree Canady Reportedly in the Transfer Portal

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NiJaree Canady Transferring to -- of All Places -- Texas Tech

NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times  even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.

2024 WCWS -- Day 6

Oklahoma has kept its quest for a fourth straight WCWS title alive with a 6-5 eight-inning win over Florida to advance to the championship round. The Sooners will take on Texas in a two-out-of-three series beginning Wednesday night. Florida held a 5-2 lead after three innings and looked well on its way to beating OU for the second straight day, which would have eliminated the Sooners and taken the Gators to the final round. However, UF scored no further runs, whereas Oklahoma chipped away with two in the fourth, one in the sixth, and one in the eighth. The final run came via Jayda Coleman's opposite-field walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth.  Sooner starter Kelly Maxwell went the distance, allowing only four hits. Three of those hits were home runs within the first three innings; the only other Gator hit was an infield single in the top of the sixth. Maxwell also walked five and struck out eight. Florida starter Keagan Rothrock also went the distance, allowing 1...