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Weekend Roundup -- March 16-19, 2018

Washington and UCLA were both undefeated and ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll before last Friday. However, once the first weekend of Pac-12 play was over, each had two losses. The Huskies lost two out of three to Arizona State, whereas the Bruins did likewise at Oregon. The University of Arizona swept three games from Utah, with the closest margin in any of the games being three runs.

The standings were also shaken up in the SEC. Florida, which was No. 2 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and 3-0 in conference after sweeping Kentucky March 9-11, lost two of three games to Georgia, including one via run-rule.

Tennessee, which swept Missouri the weekend of March 9-11 and then breezed through mediocre opposition in a Hawai'i tournament this past weekend, has now jumped to No. 2 in both national polls. The Vols (30-1) have some good wins this season (Arizona State, Oregon), but their real proving ground will come against top SEC competition. Tennessee's only loss so far came against Florida Atlantic in mid-February.

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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.

Florida Shines at Kajikawa Classic

The University of Florida, ranked No. 14 and 15 in the two major national preseason polls, pulled two major upsets en route to an undefeated 5-0 performance at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic at Arizona State. Among the Gator victims were three Pac 12 schools: No. 3 Cal (by a score of 7-4), No. 5/6 Oregon (1-0), and No. 13/14 Arizona (14-3). Full results of the tournament are available here .

Pitching Star NiJaree Canady Reportedly in the Transfer Portal

Stanford pitching ace NiJaree Canady has reportedly entered the transfer portal ( link ), having completed two seasons in the circle for the Cardinal. Stanford has made the WCWS in both of Canady's seasons on the team. Another school hit hard by the transfer portal is the University of Washington, with an exodus of eight Huskies . This list of the top ten players in the portal includes four from UW. Today is the final day of the 30-day window for players to enter the portal.