Carol Hutchins, whose 38-year stint as head coach at Michigan included leading the Wolverines to the only Women's College World Series championship won by a Snow Belt school (2005), has retired ( Michigan announcement , Michigan photo essay ,  ESPN.com article ).  Among the great Hutch memories, it's hard to top her postgame interview after this year's squad beat Northwestern in the semifinals of the B1G tourney. As shown in the following screenshot, the team snuck up on Hutch, singing "Sweet Caroline" and spraying her with a water-soaker ( source ). UM associate head coach Bonnie Tholl, a fixture on the Wolverine bench for 29 years, has been named head coach .

Here's some summer reading for college softball fans! It's the story of the short-lived Kennedy College of Wahoo, Nebraska, which not only fielded a successful women's softball team but was also instrumental in the creation of a Women's College World Series. The article from the Lincoln Journal Star is available here . Thanks to Merritt Clifton, whose message to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) e-mail discussion group brought the Kennedy College story to my attention.

Over on another of my blogs -- the Hot Hand, pertaining to sports streaks -- I evaluate how Oklahoma softball compares to other women's collegiate sports dynasties such as UConn basketball and North Carolina soccer ( link ).

Texas, a team that has bounced back when facing elimination before, must do it again tonight and tomorrow night, against an Oklahoma squad that may be the best offensive outfit in college softball history.  TOP 1: Estelle Czech starting tonight for the Longhorns, who are the home team... Jayda Coleman lines a sharp single to right to lead off for Sooners, bringing up Jocelyn Alo... Strikeout looking, a rare out for Alo (who was 4-for-4 in the semifinal clincher vs UCLA and 3-for-3 last night vs. Texas)... Tiare Jennings grounder to second bobbled, giving OU runners at first and second with one out... Easy infield pop for second out... Another infield pop to end threat... BOTTOM 1:  Jordy Bahl in the circle for OU... After a brief delay to reduce the slipperiness of the pitching circle, Janae Jefferson steps in and singles up the middle for Texas... Mia Scott follows with single to left... Per ESPN graphic, Texas was 0-for-7 last night with runners in scoring position (RISP).....

Game 1 is underway, with Texas the designated visitors... The ESPN networks are presenting a dual broadcast. Conventional coverage is on ESPN. A special episode of 7 Innings Live  (7IL) appears on ESPN-U, with live commentators combined on a split-screen with the game...  7IL also bringing in guests via online video, starting with former James Madison pitcher Odicci Alexander, now living in Japan... TOP 1: OU's Hope Trautwein retires the first two batters, before Bella Dayton doubles and advances to third on a wild pitch... Walk adds a runner on first... Another walk to load bases, with Courtney Day coming up... 3-0 count... Day takes a strike... Next pitch is low, walking in a run, 1-0 Longhorns... Easy fly to left to end threat... BOTTOM 1:  Jayda Coleman leads off with double for Oklahoma, bringing up Jocelyn Alo... Didn't take long for one of Alo's trademark home runs ( video ), quickly making it 2-1 Sooners... 7IL commentators calling for immediate removal of Hailey...

We're now down to four teams in the Women's College World Series, three from the Big 12* (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas) plus UCLA. TEXAS-OKLAHOMA STATE (Game 2): Czech pitching again for Longhorns... After Texas doesn't score in top of the first, Oklahoma State's Chelsea Alexander leads off the game  bottom of the first with a single, steals second and advances to third on errant throw, then scores on infield grounder, just beating the throw home . 1-0 Cowgirls... One-out walk for Texas in top of second... Nothing comes of it... One-out single for OSU in bottom of second... One out later, Kiley Naomi slugs two-run homer to left ( video ), making it 3-0 Cowgirls... As OSU comes up in bottom of third, Hailey Dolcini in to pitch for Longhorns... Karli Petty with two-run blast to right ( video ), making it 5-0 Cowgirls... Longhorns with runners on first and second with one out in top of fourth... Courtney Day with her second three-run homer of the day, cuts Texas de...

ARIZONA-TEXAS:  Wildcats and Longhorns underway in Sunday's second elimination game. Texas is the home team, with Hailey Dolcini in the circle... U of A goes quietly... Hanah (with one "n") Bowen in the circle for the Cats... UT likewise goes quietly in first... Still scoreless after two... Zona with runner on second, one out in top of third, after HBP and bunt... Fly for second out... Hard grounder to third, but UT fielder picks it up and throw out batter to retire side... Courtney Day solo-shot ( video ) puts Texas up 1-0 in bottom of third...  Single, walk, single to load bases for Arizona with none out in top of fourth... Carlie Scupin doubles deep to right, just inside the foul line, to drive in two ( video ), Zona leads 2-1... Pop to SS for first out... Texas pitching change, with Estelle Czech coming in... K for second out... Another K ends Wildcat threat... Horns with walk to lead off bottom of fourth... Line single up the middle gives UT runners on first and seco...

FLORIDA-OKLAHOMA STATE:  Scoreless in first... Gators strand two in top half of inning... Cowgirls with one-out double in bottom half... Grounder for second out... Miranda Elish, formerly a star pitcher at Oregon and Texas and now mostly a designated-player at Oklahoma State, strikes out to end the inning... Cowgirls score single runs in the third and fourth innings -- without benefit of an extra-base hit in either inning -- and Kelly Maxwell allows only three hits, as Oklahoma State takes it 2-0... Cowgirls (2-0) remain undefeated at the WCWS, whereas UF (1-1) will face UCLA (1-1) in an elimination game on Sunday... OKLAHOMA-TEXAS: The heavily advertised Oklahoma-Texas game on ABC is minutes away... Both teams are 1-0 in the WCWS, as are Oklahoma State and Florida, who will play at 6:00 pm Central on ESPN... Texas is the home team vs. Oklahoma... Sooners waste no time in threatening with leadoff double by Jayda Coleman to the wall in right-center... And Jocelyn Alo doesn't wast...

ARIZONA-OREGON STATE:  Tied 1-1, as Beavers bat in the top of the third... Two-out grounder with runner on first looked like it would end Oregon State's half-inning, but Wildcats drop throw at second base... Nothing comes of it, however... Bottom 6: Arizona's Carlie Scupin doubles to the wall, the ball just beyond the center-fielder's reach ( video ), driving home go-ahead run. 2-1 Wildcats... Single makes it 3-1... Beavers will need at least two runs in the top of the seventh to keep their season alive... One-out walk brings tying run to the plate... U of A conference in the circle, as count on next batter goes to 2-0... Hard liner to third snared for second out... Oregon State down to last strike on 2-2 count... Pitch just outside, count goes full... High, ball four... Runners on first and second with two out... Sliding catch on fly to left ends it... Wildcats stick around, Beavers go home... UCLA-NORTHWESTERN: The Bruins and Wildcats are underway in the first of two Fri...

ARIZONA-OKLAHOMA STATE:  Scoreless after two... Wildcats with runners on first and second with two out in the top of the third... Strikeout swinging to end the threat... Skipping ahead to the top of the fifth, Arizona's postseason trademark -- the long ball -- gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead, as Sharlize Palacios slugged a two-run homer to left ( video )... The Cowgirls countered, however, with a three-run shot from Karli Petty ( video ) in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-2 lead... U of A now down to its final three outs in the top of the seventh... Leadoff single for Wildcats... K for first out... Another K for second out... Cats down to final strike on 1-2 count... K to end game... Cowgirl pitcher Kelly Maxwell -- still blowing 69 mph fastballs by Arizona hitters in the top of the seventh -- finishes with 14 strikeouts. OREGON STATE-FLORIDA:  The evening session is just underway, with Oregon State now batting as the visiting team and Florida in the field as the home team......

With this year's WCWS set to begin tomorrow morning at 11:00 Central with UCLA taking on Texas, I wanted to examine how upset-laden the 2022 NCAA tournament has been. I also wanted to feature my new-look design! To start the discussion, I created a graphic to show which of the seeded (and unseeded) teams have made it to Oklahoma City. (You can click on the graphics to enlarge them.) If the seeding had been perfectly predictive, of course, then eight of the eight top-seeded teams would be in OKC. Instead, only three of the eight top-seeded teams are (the Nos. 1, 5, and 7 teams), the lowest total since the advent of super-regional play in 2005. If the seeding had been just a little off, we would expect some of the teams seeded Nos. 9-16 to fill in the gaps. However, only two of these teams qualified for the WCWS (Nos. 9 and 14). That leaves three openings, which of necessity are filled by unseeded teams. Of the unseeded teams, two looked at various points in the regular season like O...

ESPN.com has published the television schedule ( link ) for the Women's College World Series, which begins Thursday.

Only two games today, both decisive third games to send a team to the Women's College World Series. Arizona State takes 1-0 lead over Northwestern on Alynah Torres homer ( video ) to lead off bottom of first... Bottom 3: Single drives in ASU's second run ( video ), before Emily Cazares unloads for three-run shot ( video ), making it 5-0 Sun Devils... Northwestern has rallied in the two previous games, however, so don't count out the Wildcats... No sooner do I say that than Northwestern leads off top of fourth with two singles, then scores both runners when next hitter grounds to short and throw to second to get force goes into right field... 5-2 ASU, with NU having a runner at first with no outs... K for first out... Single to right puts Wildcat runners on the corners with one out... Walk to load bases... Deep single to left-center gap drives in two, pulling Northwestern within 5-4, Cats now with runners on first and second with one out... ASU pitching change... Walk to rel...

Three Big 12 teams have now qualified for the Women's College World Series -- Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas... The SEC, which had 12 teams in the tournament, has only one hope left, namely Florida, which forced a Game 3 vs. Virginia Tech tomorrow...  UCLA with an early threat against Duke with runners on the corners and none out in the top of the second... Sac-fly makes it 1-0 Bruins... Nothing further for UCLA in the second... Maya Brady sends one off the scoreboard in left to make it 2-0 Bruins, top four... Caroline Jacobsen two-run shot ( video ) ties it for Duke, 2-2, in bottom of fourth... Single and steal gives UCLA runner on second with none out, top five... Ground-out and K keep Bruin runner on second, now two outs... Delanie Wisz doubles in go-ahead run, 3-2 UCLA... Brady up... Singles to shallow right, Wisz out at plate (pending replay, perhaps of whether tag was made or catcher obstruction)... Call of "out" confirmed... Bottom 6: Walk and misplayed bunt ...

Below are my comments on the games. At the very bottom is a chart, showing the winners of all games in this year's super-regionals... Oklahoma State finishes off Clemson 5-1 to advance to Women's College World Series... Texas defeats Arkansas 3-1 to force decisive Game 3 on Saturday... UCLA with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to overcome early two-run deficit and beat Duke 3-2 in series opener... Oregon State with three-run second inning (including this Madison Simon  two-run homer ) en route to 3-1 win at Stanford in series opener... Northwestern with a come-from-behind win at Arizona State. Trailing 3-0, the Wildcats get a two-run homer in the top of the sixth and a solo-shot in the seventh to tie the game 3-3, before winning in 11 innings. Highlights of the game are available here . Oklahoma up 8-0 over Central Florida after three... That's the final score via run-rule (five innings). Florida at Virginia Tech also underway (1:00 pm Central)... Emma Ritter solo...

This year's super-regionals get underway tonight with two match-ups, unseeded Texas at No. 4 Arkansas (6:00 pm Central) and No. 10 Clemson at No. 7 Oklahoma State (8:30 Central). This year's five unseeded teams are the most since 2012, when there also were five. As usual, I'll have my chart to track all of the games, plus my comments on the action. Clemson and Oklahoma State scoreless, with Cowgirls batting in the bottom of the second... No scoring until bottom of fifth, when one-out single with runners on second and third gives Oklahoma State 2-0 lead ( video )... That's your final. Cowgirls up 1-0 in the series... Two-run error puts Arkansas up 3-0 in bottom of fifth. With Razorbacks leading 1-0, bases loaded, and one out, Texas throws home on infield grounder, but throw gets away, allowing two to score. Arkansas now with runners on second and third... 7-1 is your final. Hogs up 1-0 in the series... Match-Up (Seeds) Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 ...

Yesterday, we had a few national seeds lose (Virginia Tech, Alabama, and Missouri). They, and all other one-loss teams, will have a chance to come back through the losers' bracket and then try to beat the winners' bracket winner (which has no losses) twice to win the regional and advance to the super-regionals next week. Below is a chart of how many losses each team has in each region, who has been eliminated (i.e., two losses), and who will be moving on (based on this page from the NCAA website). Teams advancing to the super-regionals shown in red in the chart, with unseeded teams advancing shown in italics... In today's final game -- the Texas-Washington winner-take-all rematch -- the Horns break through with a two-out, two-run double by Bella Dayton ( video ) in the top of the fifth to lead 2-0... Huskies with runners on first and second with one out in their half of the fifth... Double-play (grounder to 3B-person who steps on bag and fires to first) ends U-Dub threat ...

The big story of the day is the success of Pac 12 teams, "chalk" wins for UCLA and ASU, upsets for Stanford and Arizona.  No. 1 Oklahoma has defeated Texas A&M, but by a much closer margin than many would have expected. OU lead 3-0 after four innings, but the Aggies scored two in the top of the sixth. There was no further scoring, so the final was 3-2 Sooners ( box score ). No. 2 Florida State shuts out South Florida, 8-0 ( box score ). No. 3 Virginia Tech leading Kentucky, 4-1, as Hokies bat in bottom of sixth ( gametracker )... Wildcats rally for four runs (so far) in top of seventh -- highlighted by Renee Abernathy three-run shot ( video ) -- to take 5-4 lead... Key replay pending with two out in bottom of seventh... UK 1B-person found to have stepped on bag before batter got there on strange play, for final out... Kentucky wins... Oregon and No. 4 Arkansas are scoreless as the Ducks bat in the top of the sixth ( gametracker ). Razorbacks break through with six run...

I'm a little late this year with my annual geospatial maps, showing where teams are from and where they are being sent for the NCAA regionals. I experimented with different formats until I found one that I liked. As you'll see, many regionals feature three teams that are geographically near each other plus one team from a greater distance. In all cases, the one nationally seeded team within a region (shown with a seed number in parentheses) will host. Each region is depicted in the school colors of the host school. Also, to minimize clutter, I show no more than four regions per map. Play begins tomorrow.  One interesting statistic before we begin: Four conferences account for 33 teams -- more than half -- of the 64-team field. There are 12 SEC teams, eight Pac-12 teams (out of nine softball-playing schools), seven Big 10 [abbreviated B1G] teams, and six ACC teams. The first map displays the regionals hosted by the top four seeded teams (you can click on the graphics to enlarge ...

We've got a good one going in the Big 12 tournament final, with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State tied 2-2 in the top of the fourth... The Cowgirls have the bases loaded with two out... Force-out at second ends the OSU threat... Cowgirls take 3-2 lead in top of fifth with an unusual run. After leadoff single and advancement to second on throwing error, second OSU batter bunts for base-hit, but then takes off for second to induce a run-down, while baserunner scores from second ( video )... Sooners coming up in bottom of fifth...One-out homer by Jocelyn Alo ties it 3-3... Cowgirls coming up in top of sixth... OSU with runner on first, one out... Great OU catch in right field by Rylie Boone likely saves a run ( video ), but throw to double-up runner from first goes awry, so inning continues... Ground-out ends threat... Nothing for OU either in the sixth. Still 3-3 going to seventh... Cowgirls with some hard-hit balls in the top of the seventh, but no runs... Leadoff bunt single for Boone i...

This past weekend in Tempe, Arizona State took two of three from UCLA, giving the Sun Devils (18-3 in conference) a two-game lead in the Pac 12 standings over the second-place Bruins (16-5). Each team has three games left, ASU at Washington and UCLA at home vs. Cal (both series start Thursday). After routs in the first two games of the UCLA-ASU series -- 6-1 Sun Devils in the opener and 9-3 Bruins in Game 2 -- the finale was a close contest. UCLA led 3-0 after five and one-half innings. However, ASU scored three runs in the sixth on this two-out bases-clearing double by Bella Loomis ( video ) and added a walk-off three-run homer by Emily Cazares in the seventh ( video ) for a 6-3 victory.  UCLA's reaction (borrowing from the television show " The Good Place ") must have been "What the fork???!!!"

No. 1 Oklahoma swept No. 7 Oklahoma State this weekend to finish the regular season with an overall record of 48-1 (17-1 in conference). After winning handily in the first two games of the series (by scores of 7-1 and 6-0), the Sooners faced more of a challenge in Game 3 . OU trailed 2-1 after four and one-half innings, before getting a grand-slam homer from Jocelyn Alo ( video ). The Cowgirls scored one in the top of the sixth to close within 5-3 and there was no further scoring. If Oklahoma can go undefeated in next week's conference tournament and then all the way through the NCAA tournament, it will set the record for fewest losses en route to a Women's College World Series title. The 1992 UCLA team holds the record at 54-2.

No NCAA women's softball team has ever completed a perfect season and, despite a 38-0 start, the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners will not become the first team to do so. Texas salvaged the final game of its three-game series with OU in Austin, winning 4-2 and taking the Sooners to 38-1. Texas led 4-0 as Oklahoma came up for its final at-bats in the top of the seventh. The Sooners have shown some late-inning magic this season, so a Longhorn win was not automatic. Indeed, OU got a one-out two-run homer, before a pop-up and a foul-out ended the game Which teams historically have won the Women's College World Series with the fewest losses in a season? The 1992 UCLA squad finished with a record of 54-2 , whereas in 1994, Arizona was 64-3 . Two Oklahoma teams had four-loss seasons (2013, 57-4 , and 2021, 56-4 ). 

ESPN.com has a nice profile article on Oklahoma pitcher Jordy Bahl. In only her first year as a collegian, Bahl has been dominant in the circle. The article talks about how, after some initial difficulties in a game at Kentucky earlier this season, Bahl turned things around on a dime and finished with 12 strikeouts and no walks allowed .  In the Sooners' opener of a three-game series at Texas last night -- a bit of which I caught on the Longhorn Network -- Bahl did a similar thing. With OU leading 3-0 as UT batted in the bottom of the sixth, a single and a double gave the Horns runners at second and third with no outs. Bahl then roared back and struck out the next three batters. The pitch sequences for the three strikeouts (according to the play-by-play sheet ) were as follows: Foul/foul/ ball /swinging strike Swinging strike/swinging strike/swinging strike Looking strike/swinging strike/swinging strike Nine strikes, one ball, and nothing put in play. Bahl went the distance, endin...