Arizona and Washington went undefeated in the Cathedral City Classic, and Missouri did so in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, to highlight this past weekend's action. With so many games going on in these tournaments, there was bound to be a few upsets. Indeed, Central Florida took a 3-2 decision over Alabama in the NFCA tourney, whereas UCLA dropped two games in the Cathedral City event, including a 7-0 blowout loss to Ohio State.
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.