Oregon's Miranda Elish (rhymes with "relish") delivers a called strike to Arizona State's Kindra Hackbarth and the opening game of the 2018 WCWS is officially underway! After a leadoff single by Hackbarth, followed by two outs, DeNae Chatman delivers a two-run homer for the Sun Devils in the top of the first... Oregon has scored in every inning but one, so far, and leads ASU 11-5 in the bottom of the sixth. Hayley Cruse's two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth gave Oregon some breathing room, expanding a 6-5 lead to 8-5. A three-run shot by the Ducks' Shannon Rhodes in the sixth is the most recent damage... Sun Devils down to their final three outs in the top of the seventh... First two get on for ASU... Single brings home a run, making it 11-6... Force at third for first out (replay suggests runner might have been safe)... Strike out for second out... and another K to end game... Oregon wins 11-6.
Game 2 -- Washington vs. Oklahoma -- is underway. The Huskies strand a runner at second in top of the first... And strand a runner at third in the top of the second... For the third straight inning, U-Dub leaves a runner on base, this time first-base... OU has left some runners on base, as well... Scoreless heading to the fourth... Leadoff walk for Huskies in top of fourth... but nothing comes of it... Washington breaks through with two runs in the fifth on a "small ball" rally (two singles, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and an error)... Sooners can't score, yielding a 2-0 Huskies' win.
Florida leads Georgia 6-3, with the Gators coming to bat in the bottom of the third. UF pitcher Aleshia Ocasio helps herself with three-run homer, making the score 5-2 at the time... Gators close out an 11-3 run-rule victory in five innings.
Getting ready for the final game of the day, between UCLA and Florida State... Bruins threatening in bottom of the first in scoreless game, with bases loaded and two outs... Strikeout ends threat... Six-run sixth -- highlighted by Kylee Perez's three-run blast -- powers UCLA to the win by a 7-4 score.
Excellent day for the Pac 12. One game had a winner out of necessity (Oregon vs. ASU), but two other Pac-12 schools beat teams from other conferences: Washington over Oklahoma (Big 12), and UCLA over Florida State (ACC). The remaining game had an SEC winner out of necessity (Florida over Georgia).
***
The bracket for the WCWS is available here. The field is divided into two four-team pools. One group contains Oregon and ASU, who are the respective No. 1 and No. 8 seeds; No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Washington. The other pool includes No. 2 Florida, No. 7 Georgia, No. 3 UCLA, and No. 6 Florida State.
Game 2 -- Washington vs. Oklahoma -- is underway. The Huskies strand a runner at second in top of the first... And strand a runner at third in the top of the second... For the third straight inning, U-Dub leaves a runner on base, this time first-base... OU has left some runners on base, as well... Scoreless heading to the fourth... Leadoff walk for Huskies in top of fourth... but nothing comes of it... Washington breaks through with two runs in the fifth on a "small ball" rally (two singles, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and an error)... Sooners can't score, yielding a 2-0 Huskies' win.
Florida leads Georgia 6-3, with the Gators coming to bat in the bottom of the third. UF pitcher Aleshia Ocasio helps herself with three-run homer, making the score 5-2 at the time... Gators close out an 11-3 run-rule victory in five innings.
Getting ready for the final game of the day, between UCLA and Florida State... Bruins threatening in bottom of the first in scoreless game, with bases loaded and two outs... Strikeout ends threat... Six-run sixth -- highlighted by Kylee Perez's three-run blast -- powers UCLA to the win by a 7-4 score.
Excellent day for the Pac 12. One game had a winner out of necessity (Oregon vs. ASU), but two other Pac-12 schools beat teams from other conferences: Washington over Oklahoma (Big 12), and UCLA over Florida State (ACC). The remaining game had an SEC winner out of necessity (Florida over Georgia).
***
The bracket for the WCWS is available here. The field is divided into two four-team pools. One group contains Oregon and ASU, who are the respective No. 1 and No. 8 seeds; No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Washington. The other pool includes No. 2 Florida, No. 7 Georgia, No. 3 UCLA, and No. 6 Florida State.