Defending national champion Florida is ranked No. 1 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason poll. The Gators received 20 first-place votes, more than double the number for No. 2 Oregon (8). All eight schools that played in last year's Women's College World Series are in the poll's Top 10: Florida, Oregon, Alabama (3), Oklahoma (4), Florida State (5), Kentucky (6), Louisiana-Lafayette (9), and Baylor (10). The other two Top 10 slots are filled by UCLA (7) and Michigan (8).
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.