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Showing posts from February, 2012
Here's a summary of some notable team performances in this weekend's Cathedral City (Palm Springs) tournament: A couple of SEC teams -- No. 1/3 Florida and No. 13 Georgia -- each went 4-1, with each losing only to No. 5/7 Washington. Florida's loss to Washington was the Gators' first setback of the season. Georgia closed out its slate with a win over No. 6 Oklahoma (who finished 3-2). Washington likewise went 4-1, losing to No. 11 Missouri on a no-hitter by the Tigers' Chelsea Thomas. Mizzou went 3-2 for the tourney. Another squad to go 4-1 was No. 8 Texas, who lost only to Florida . Cal, which like Florida was ranked No. 1 in one major national poll and No. 3 in the other, went 4-0 at Cathedral City, but did not play any national "heavy hitters" (the Golden Bears' opponents were Fordham, New Mexico State, Cal Poly, and Cal State Northridge). No. 15 Arizona went 5-1 (losing to Georgia); U-of-A's highlight win came over No. 21 Oklahoma
The annual Cathedral City (Palm Springs) softball tournament gets underway tomorrow, featuring six of the top eight teams in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll ( tourney website ). These teams include No. 1 Cal, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 Washington, and No. 8 Texas. In the other major poll, USA Today/NFCA, Florida is No. 1 and Cal No. 3.
Here's a link to the Louisville Slugger/UNLV tournament homepage.
Preseason No. 1 Arizona State's two losses during its own tournament last weekend have dropped the Sun Devils down to No. 5 and 6 in the two major national polls.
The 2012 season gets underway today with a plethora of tournaments around the country. The leading tourney is, of course, the annual Kajikawa Classic at Arizona State ( master schedule ). The host Sun Devils, who won last year's NCAA championship, are ranked No. 1 in both major national polls (see links section to the right). All of the Pac 12's softball schools are participating in the Kajikawa except UCLA (which hosts its own tournament featuring up-and-coming Kentucky). Cal (3/4) joins ASU as a preseason top 5 team. Top teams in the Kajikawa from outside the Pac 12 include Tennessee (9/14), Texas A&M (15/17), Nebraska (20 tie/21), and Georgia Tech (23/unranked).
The Texas Tech Daily Toreador interviews shortstop Raven Richardson about how personal problems nearly derailed her career a few years ago, before she landed with the Red Raiders.
Defending NCAA champion Arizona State has been picked by Pacific 12 coaches to win the conference. Of the nine coaches (USC, Washington St., and Colorado don't field teams), six voted for ASU, two for Cal, and one for Arizona. National runner-up Florida is narrowly picked over Tennessee to win the SEC.