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Showing posts from February, 2020

Judi Garman Classic 2020 -- Saturday

Texas has just edged Michigan , 1-0, with a double, sac bunt, and sac fly in the sixth. The Longhorns go to 2-1 in the Garman Classic, having lost to Fresno State earlier Saturday, and beaten Washington on Friday.

Judi Garman Classic 2020

The 14-team Judi Garman Classic gets underway today in Fullerton, California. The nation's No. 2, 3, and 4 teams according to the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll -- Washington, Texas, and LSU -- are participating in the Garman . The only other ranked teams from this poll in the field  are No. 11 Michigan and No. 24 Texas Tech. LSU edged Texas Tech 6-5 this afternoon. The Red Raiders rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game, only to have the Tigers score a run to win in the bottom half of the inning... With the win over Texas Tech, LSU avoided what would have been an embarrassing 0-2 start in the Garman Classic, as the Tigers dropped their opener to Loyola Marymount...  Tech, on the other hand, goes 0-2, losing also to host Cal State Fullerton. *** Before Texas joins the field at the Judi Garman Classic, however, the Longhorns are playing tonight at No. 1 UCLA. A gametracker is available here . Texas leads 2-1 at the moment (6:40 pm Pacific), with

Mary Nutter Classic 2020

The annual Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, California (near Palm Springs) gets underway today ( tournament website ). The 30-team field (29 college teams plus the US Olympic team) is heavy on Pac 12 teams. Except for Stanford, all of the conference's softball-playing schools will be in the Nutter Classic (Arizona, ASU, Cal, Oregon, OSU, UCLA, Utah, Washington). In the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, the Bruins are ranked No. 1 in the nation, Washington No. 2, and Arizona No. 5. Top participating teams from the rest of the country (with their ranking in the same poll) include Oklahoma (No. 3), Florida (No. 9), Missouri (No. 19), and Mississippi State (No. 24).

UCLA Stays Undefeated with Narrow Sunday Night Win Over Florida State

With UCLA trailing Florida State 2-1 in the top (Bruin) half of the seventh, two out and two on, Aaliyah Jordan drives one to the wall in left ( video ). If caught, FSU wins, but the ball pops out of the fielder's glove as she collides with the wall. UCLA takes a 3-2 lead and that's how it ends . Bruins now 11-0 on this young season, Seminoles 7-4.

UCLA Dominates Alabama on Friday

A fifth-inning UCLA error ended the possibility of a perfect game for Bruin pitcher Megan Faraimo and an Alabama single in the sixth took away a possible no-hitter, but Faraimo was nothing short of dominant in No. 2 UCLA's 7-0 win over Alabama in the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational ( play-by-play , game story ). The Bruin sophomore walked none and allowed two hits total. The day before, No. 1 Washington fell to Alabama , 8-0 in a run-rule game. UCLA still has a tough road remaining in Florida this weekend -- facing Georgia, South Florida, and Florida State -- but if the Bruins can take all three (or perhaps even two of three), they should be No. 1 in next week's polls.

2020 Pre-Season Polls

The 2020 pre-season polls are out. There are now at least five such polls: ESPN.com/USA Softball, USA Today/NFCA, FloSoftball, Softball America, and D1 Softball (see links section for particular polls). Four polls are consistent in having Alabama and Washington in the top two, some with the Crimson Tide atop and others with the Huskies. FloSoftball takes a different approach, saying that "UCLA remains at the top until a team knocks them off the mountain. We know that Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles are irreplaceable. Losing the duo to Team USA is bittersweet but we do know the Bruins are still loaded with an explosive offense and promising pitching." Just as the polls are in general consensus regarding their top two, most agree on the No. 3-5 teams: Oklahoma, UCLA, and Arizona (in different orders). The 2020 season begins play on Friday!