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...