Skip to main content

Stanford Stops UCLA Win Streak; VT Takes Series from FSU

Following a February 20 extra-inning loss to Florida State, UCLA held a 7-3 record. The Bruins than ran off 25 straight wins, including three-game sweeps of leading conference rivals Arizona (without allowing a run all weekend) and Washington, and a series-opening win this past Friday at Stanford. This winning streak vaulted UCLA up to No. 2 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

Stanford bounced bounced back on Saturday, however, defeating UCLA 1-0 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh and ending the Bruins' win streak at 25. Showing it was no fluke, the Cardinal shut out UCLA again on Sunday by a 1-0 score (the run coming in the bottom of the third). As this article from the Stanford athletics website noted, "UCLA (32-5, 10-2 Pac-12) entered this weekend having not been shut out once all season but suffered back-to-back shutouts at the hands of the Cardinal (26-10, 5-4 Pac-12)."

With the two losses, UCLA dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. I may be biased, having received my undergraduate degree from UCLA, but that seems like a pretty steep fall after such close games. Oklahoma (36-0) remains No. 1, followed by Alabama (33-5), Virginia Tech (29-5), and Florida State (37-4). This past weekend, in fact, Virginia Tech took two of three from FSU in ACC play. The series win over UCLA propelled Stanford into the Top 25 at No. 24.

Popular posts from this blog

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.
Read more

NiJaree Canady Transferring to -- of All Places -- Texas Tech

NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times  even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.
Read more

2024 WCWS -- Day 6

Oklahoma has kept its quest for a fourth straight WCWS title alive with a 6-5 eight-inning win over Florida to advance to the championship round. The Sooners will take on Texas in a two-out-of-three series beginning Wednesday night. Florida held a 5-2 lead after three innings and looked well on its way to beating OU for the second straight day, which would have eliminated the Sooners and taken the Gators to the final round. However, UF scored no further runs, whereas Oklahoma chipped away with two in the fourth, one in the sixth, and one in the eighth. The final run came via Jayda Coleman's opposite-field walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth.  Sooner starter Kelly Maxwell went the distance, allowing only four hits. Three of those hits were home runs within the first three innings; the only other Gator hit was an infield single in the top of the sixth. Maxwell also walked five and struck out eight. Florida starter Keagan Rothrock also went the distance, allowing 1...
Read more