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Showing posts from April, 2017

Weekend Round-Up (4/30/2017)

Florida wrapped up the SEC regular-season title in Saturday's win over Tennessee. Arizona improved its Pac 12 record to 17-4 by taking two of three from ASU this weekend. U of A took tonight's deciding game , 8-0. The Wildcats close out conference play with a three-game series at UCLA May 5-7. Utah (12-4) remains tied with Arizona in the loss column. The Utes will play a three-game series at Oregon State May 5-7 and then host Washington for three May 11-13. Utah also had two conference games cancelled. In the Big 12, Oklahoma (14-1) swept Texas Tech to open up a two-game lead over OSU (12-3), which lost two of three to Baylor.  The Cowgirls will need to sweep the Sooners in their mixed-venue series (May 3 in Stillwater, May 5 in Norman, and May 6 in Stillwater) to win the league title. Finally, Minnesota improved to 19-1 and is closing in on a rare conference title. According to this article , "The Gophers have not won a B1G regular season title since 1991."

Sunday Update (4/23/2017)

Two streaking teams (no, not that kind of streaking) saw their string of wins come to an end this weekend, as several match-ups of top teams took place... Baylor, looking to even its series with Oklahoma at one game apiece, leads 4-3 in the top of the seventh in today's first game of a double-header... Bears miss a chance to add an insurance run, stranding a runner at third. Sooners coming up in the bottom of the seventh... OU retired in bottom of seventh, Baylor wins 4-3 , ending Sooners' 17-game winning streak... Closing game of double-header (and of series as a whole) coming up... Oklahoma takes second game of Sunday's double-header, 6-0, to win series from Baylor... Oklahoma State sweeps today's double-header from Texas Tech, which along with yesterday's Cowgirl win, gives OSU a series sweep... Big 12 standings now show OU (11-1) and OSU (11-1) tied at the top, ahead of Baylor (9-3)... Oklahoma State's next two series are at Baylor (April 28-30) and Ok

NCAA's Interim Top 10 Rankings (April 2017)

As announced on ESPN2 during Saturday afternoon's Oregon-Arizona game, here are the NCAA's Top 10 rankings as of last Thursday: 1. Florida 2. Arizona 3. Texas A&M 4. Florida State 5. Auburn 6. Washington 7. Oregon 8. Minnesota 9. Tennessee 10. UCLA An explanation of what these rankings do and do not indicate is available here . Another set of rankings will be issued on May 6.

Saturday Update (4/22/2017)

Oklahoma (9-0 in Big 12 play) and Baylor (8-1) are scoreless, going to extra innings in Norman... Still no score as Baylor bats in the top of the ninth... The Bears put one across, so OU will have to score in the bottom of the ninth to stay alive (or win)... Sooners with the tying run on second with one out after a sacrifice bunt... Nicole Mendes doubles to the base of the center-field wall to tie the game, 1-1... However, Mendes can't get back to second base on fly out and is doubled up, ending inning. On to the 10th... Baylor scores again in top of 10th, making it 2-1. OU now batting with a runner on first and one out... Walk puts runners on first and second... Fly-out leaves Oklahoma down to final out... Fale Aviu doubles just inside left-field line to the wall, driving home both runners and giving OU a stunning 3-2 win! The Sooners and Bears will conclude their series with a Sunday double-header. Oklahoma State (also 8-1) faces Texas Tech in a single game today and twin-bill

Arizona Takes Series Opener Over Oregon

In a showdown series of two of the Pac 12's top teams, Arizona has taken tonight's opener over Oregon, 2-0. Danielle O'Toole's pitching and Katiyana Mauga's homer to tie the U-of-A career record were too much for the Ducks to handle.

Sunday (4/16/17) Round-Up

Arizona, which had risen to No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and No. 2 in the USA Today /NFCA ranking on the strength of a 40-1 overall record (the Wildcats'  only loss coming to Florida State on February 25) ran into a buzzsaw in Salt Lake City this weekend. After Arizona won the opening meeting on Thursday, No. 16/14* Utah came back to take the series with wins on Friday and Saturday . The Wildcats still lead the Pac 12 standings at 13-2, but the Utes (10-3) and No. 4/4 Oregon Ducks (10-4) are close in pursuit. Things are similarly tight in the SEC. No. 3/3 Florida, which took two out of three from No. 22/21 Kentucky this weekend ( losing the middle game Saturday), sits atop the league standings at 15-2. No. 5/5 Texas A&M, which took two of three from No. --/24Arkansas , is one game behind the Gators in the loss column at 11-3. The same holds for No. 14/16 Tennessee, who is 10-3 at the moment, but is playing later tonight. Tennessee is hosting No. 10/9 Alabama

No. 1/2 Florida State at No. 3 Florida

Florida State, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the major national polls, is playing tonight at consensus No. 3 Florida in a non-conference match-up . The teams are scoreless as the Gators bat in the bottom of the third... UF takes it 1-0 , with the game's only run coming in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out single ( video ). The two teams will meet again in Tallahassee on May 3.

Weekend Round-Up (3/31-4/2, 2017)

Arizona (9-0, 37-1) and Oregon (8-0, 33-0) continue to lead the Pac 12, with Utah (6-2, 24-7) also off to a strong start. The Ducks were ranked No. 1 in the last ESPN.com/USA Softball national poll. Florida (10-1, 33-2), Texas A&M (9-2, 31-3), and LSU (7-2, 31-7) hold down the top three slots in the SEC. So tough is this league that Auburn, the preseason national No. 2-ranked team, is currently tied for fifth (6-3, 31-5). Florida State, No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA poll, continues to make a mockery of the ACC, leading the circuit with a 15-0 mark (35-1-1 overall). Finally, although Michigan has slipped at the national level, it is off to a strong start in B1G play. The Wolverines have not allowed a run in sweeping Penn State and Northwestern. With a non-conference blanking of Central Michigan thrown in, Wolverine pitchers have thrown seven straight shutouts. Minnesota, which lately has been the B1G team with the highest national ranking (sixth in both polls), is 5-1. The G