Today is for determining the two finalists in the Women's College World Series... OKLAHOMA-TEXAS TECH Even with Sooner magic making its presence, the Queens of College Softball are dead, long live the Queens... Texas Tech makes the championship round versus the University of Texas... Texas Tech leading Oklahoma 2-0 on a walk, triple, and single in B2... Same score, heading to B4... Leadoff double to left from TTU's Alana Johnson... Bunted to third, one out... K for second out... Another K for third out... T5 for OU... Sydney Barker with leadoff single to left-center that lands just away from Tech fielders... Pop for one out... Fly-out to warning track in left for second out... Easy fly to left to end T5... B5, with one out, Red Raiders get runner on first on hard one-hopper to first that bounces off 1B-person. Called an error... Ground single to left, runner on first and second... NiJaree Canady, pitching a shutout thus far, now at bat... Per ESPN, Canady has three HR this year...

Two elimination games today. There's a new twist to the matchups at this stage. Essentially, UCLA and Oklahoma, yesterday's two losing teams, have switched brackets. UCLA, who had been in a bracket with Texas Tech, Oregon, and Mississippi, now switches to the other bracket, playing Tennessee today, with the winner needing to beat Texas twice to advance to the championship round (Texas would need only one win). Oklahoma, formerly in a bracket with Florida, Texas, and Tennessee, will next play Oregon, with the winner needing to beat Texas Tech twice to make the championship round (Texas Tech would need only one win). Oregon-Oklahoma B1, with one out, Duck 2B Kaylynn Jones possibly saves two runs with snare of hard line-drive with Sooner runners on second and third ( video ). Now two down... Walk to load the bases for Cydney Sanders... Foul pop to 3B-person ends threat... Still 0-0... T2, Dezianna Patmon, one of Oregon's postseason offensive heroes, drills a two-out, solo-shot...

Two winners' bracket games today... TEXAS TECH-UCLA Texas Tech (where I've been on the faculty for 28 years) and UCLA (where I did my undergrad work) about to get started. One potential factor is that some UCLA hitters will have faced TTU's NiJaree Canady when she was at Stanford in the two previous years, when the two schools were still in the Pac 12... Taylor Tinsley starting for the Bruins against (presumably) Canady... T1, Raiders down 1-2-3... T6, Tech leads 2-1 on a fifth-inning steal of home as the catcher throws ball back to pitcher ( video ) and sixth-inning homer by Hailey Toney ( video ), compared to the Bruins' one run on a Kaniya Bragg fifth-inning homer, as Bragg goes oppo on Canady high heat (73 mph) and sends a clothesline shot just over the RF wall... UCLA goes quietly in B6... Tech adds a run in T7 to increase its lead to 3-1... Bruins in B7 with runners on first and second and one out, full count on batter... Pitch that may have been high called for s...

Two elimination games today... MISSISSIPPI-OREGON Ole Miss scored three in the top of the seventh -- including on a two-out, two-run single -- to tie its game with Oregon 5-5, but the Ducks scored on a walk-off walk in the bottom of the 10th to win 6-5 ... FLORIDA-TENNESSEE Florida is in extreme jeopardy of being sent back to Gainesville and the Gators' contest with Tennessee is not even a full inning old. Batting in the bottom of the first, Tennessee had taken a 6-0 lead before even one Volunteer batter was retired. It's now 7-0 with one out... Gators get a nice infield double play to end the first... Not much drama as Florida wins 11-3 by run rule after five innings... With the No. 3-seeded Gators eliminated, the field is now missing the Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8 seeds...

The 2025 Women's College World Series is underway!  OREGON-UCLA I couldn't stay up for this late-night contest, as the evening schedule was delayed by rain and also there were also outages in the field light system. UCLA beat Oregon 4-2 with a walk-off two-run homer, as summarized in this article . Video clips are embedded within the article. MISSISSIPPI-TEXAS TECH Finally underway after a weather delay! Ole Miss up first as the visitors... The Lubbock radio station that broadcasts the major Texas Tech sports has sent the person who calls men's basketball and baseball to broadcast the game, to show you the local interest! NiJaree Canady one strike away from striking out the side, facing her opposite number in the circle, Aliyah Binford. Binford swings and misses to end T1... Still scoreless (and hitless) heading into T3. Binford (having allowed HBP and walk) not as dominant as Canady, but no worse for wear... Rebels again go down quietly... B4, Lauren Allred gets first hit ...

We have four games today, all decisive Game 3's, to determine the remaining teams in the Women's College World Series... Georgia-Florida Gators' (home team) run in first inning -- from three singles -- continues to hold up... UF continues to lead 1-0 after three and a half... Gators with eight hits in three innings but only one run!... This game has been in a weather delay for a while, but has resumed... B4, Florida with two walks to open the half-inning, but doesn't score... Bulldogs batting T5... B5, Gators with two-out, two-run homer by Rylee Holtorf ( video ) to get a cushion, leading 3-0... Florida now up 5-0 T6... T7, Georgia down to final at-bats... Infield error and UGA homer cut Bulldogs' deficit to 5-2... Next two batters retired... Line single up the middle... Force at second ends it, Gators advance to WCWS... Mississippi-Arkansas Now underway... Ole Miss with four in T1, but Arkansas with bases loaded on three walks, one out, in B1... K for second out......

Seven games today, one a deciding Game 3 (Clemson-Texas) and the other six featuring teams trying to close out two-game sweeps and advance to the Women's College World Series. Below are my summaries and comments on the ongoing games... Liberty-Oregon GAME 2 (Oregon leading one game to none) No drama here -- Ducks take it 13-1 to advance to WCWS... Alabama-Oklahoma GAME 2 (Oklahoma  leading one game to none ) Just underway... Sooners scoreless in T1, Crimson Tide batting in B1... OU gets a T2 run via small ball (walk, walk, single)... B2, double and walk give Bama two runners with one out... K for second out... Full count on next batter... Swing and miss to end Bama threat... T3, Sooners' Gabbie Garcia with line shot into the right-field bleachers for two-run homer and 3-0 lead... Now 9-0 Oklahoma, still T3... 13-2 is your final, as the Sooners head to another WCWS... Georgia-Florida GAME 2 (Florida  leading one game to none ) Unseeded Georgia gets solo homers in first and seco...

All eight series have games today. The two winners from last night, Texas Tech (over Florida State) and Clemson (over Texas) will try to earn slots in the Women's College World Series. Below are my summaries and comments on the ongoing games... Liberty-Oregon GAME 1 The Flames, who conquered national No. 1-seeded Texas A&M last week in the regionals, and No. 16-seeded Ducks (home team) are underway... Oregon wins 3-2 in eight innings, as line single drives in runner from third ( video )... Alabama-Oklahoma GAME 1 In this all-SEC matchup, the No. 2-seeded Sooners (home team) lead the No. 15-seeded Crimson Tide 2-0... OU with a leadoff double B5... Two-out single makes it 3-0 Sooners... No further scoring, as OU takes the series opener... Georgia-Florida GAME 1 In the early game, No. 3-seeded Florida  defeated unseeded Georgia 6-1 in this all-SEC contest... Mississippi-Arkansas GAME 1 The unseeded Rebels (visitors) lead No. 4-seed Arkansas 9-5 in another matchup of SEC rivals, a...

The 2025 super-regionals are underway. ESPN.com has a nice preview of them ( link ). Two games are on tap for tonight, No. 12-seed Texas Tech at No. 5-seed Florida State, and No. 11-seed Clemson at No. 6-seed Texas... All series are two-out-of-three to get to the Women's College World Series... Clemson-Texas After a long weather delay -- including lightning strikes -- the Tigers (visitors) and Longhorns are underway... B1, Texas goes up 1-0 when runner on first scores on a bunt that Clemson throws away ( video )... No further scoring in the inning... T3, Tigers tie game 1-1 based on two singles and an infield error... With bases loaded and one out, Clemson double (with outfield error added in) drives in two, 3-1 Tigers... Fly-out to right doesn't advance runners, now two outs... K to end Clemson rally... B3, Mia Scott answers with solo shot for Longhorns, now 3-2 Clemson... B5, single, followed by a double to the wall in left give Horns two runners in scoring position with none...

It was a late night on Saturday, with five of the regionals playing elimination games beyond midnight Eastern. The chart at the bottom shows what we're left with for Sunday. In each region, there's an undefeated team that needs only one win to advance to the super-regionals and a one-loss team that must beat the undefeated team twice. All other teams have been elminated. Of note, five national seeds have lost at least once heading into Sunday, including No. 1 Texas A&M who has one loss and No. 10 LSU who is gone. Below are my comments on the games... NO. 1-SEED TEXAS A&M VS. LIBERTY GAME 1: Liberty (home team) with early 1-0 lead over No. 1 Texas A&M B2... Flames add a run B2 to lead 2-0... Now 6-0 Liberty... A&M (trailing 6-1 after three) closes to within 6-2 T4... Word of Texas A&M's demise is premature. Aggies end up with six runs in T4 to lead 7-6. After two were out in T4, A&M gets single, single, HR, and HR before Flames get the final out... Ag...

The NCAA tournament brackets were released on Sunday and, as an annual traditon here at the College Softball Blog, I have mapped out where teams are coming from to participate in the 16 regional sites. As shown below, each regional contains four teams, with the one nationally seeded team (seed number in parentheses) hosting (you can click on the graphics to enlarge them). Play in the double-elimination regionals begins Friday. The big question is whether Oklahoma (No. 2 national seed) can make it five national titles in a row at the Women's College World Series. The SEC, into which Oklahoma and Texas moved this year, was absolutely loaded. Fourteen out of the SEC's 15 softball-playing schools made the NCAA field and seven of the eight top national seeds are from the SEC (No. 5 seed Florida State is from the ACC). The SEC standings -- with Oklahoma (17-7), Texas A&M (16-7), Texas (16-8), and Tennessee (15-9) in a logjam at the top -- show that no team went unscathed. Even...

ESPN.com's Bill Connelly offers an overview of the college softball season thus far (mid-April), reviewing the top teams and players. As Connelly writes, the SEC is domiant. However, the conference's two newest arrivals -- pre-season favorites Texas and Oklahoma -- have each lost a few games. Instead, for the moment at least, the focus is on Texas A&M (15-5 vs. RPI top 25 and winners of 16 of its last 17 games) and Tennessee (winners of four out of six games combined vs. Oklahoma and Texas, but only 10-8 vs. the RPI top 25).

Four-time defending national champion Oklahoma suffered its first loss of the 2025 season after a 28-0 start, falling to Missouri 3-1 in the middle game of a three-game series. The Sooners won the first (8-0 run-rule) and third (5-1) games against Mizzou, leaving OU currently at 29-1. Texas Tech travelled to South Carolina for a three-game nonconference series and the Gamecocks took two of three. South Carolina took the opener 5-2 and the second game 1-0. In the latter, the Gamecocks' Jori Heard and Sam Gress combined for a three-hit shutout . Combined, they struck out only two Raider batters, meaning that Texas Tech put a lot of balls in play. NiJaree Canady made her only start of the weekend in this game, giving up just a third-inning solo-shot to South Carolina's Natalie Heath ( video ). Canady struck out nine, allowing only two hits and two walks. The Red Raiders were in real danger of getting swept, as they trailed 5-0 after three innings in Sunday's finale, before sco...

No. 2 Texas took two of three from No. 3 Florida in Gainesville this past weekend (actually Saturday through Monday) in a battle of national contenders. The Longhorns swept a Saturday doubleheader 7-2 and 13-7. After the teams skipped Sunday action due to weather considerations, the Gators came back to salvage Game 3 on Monday by a 3-1 score.  No. 1 Oklahoma moved to 26-0 overall, sweeping Arkansas in Fayetteville, 7-0, 6-4, and 10-7.

The Big 12 opened up on an exciting note last Friday, with No. 13 Oklahoma State (a program that has made the last five Women's College World Series) visiting No. 15 Texas Tech for a three-game series in Red Raider pitcher NiJaree Canady's conference debut. With newly added outfield seats  in place, a  stadium record 2,122 fans  attended Friday's opening doubleheader. The crowd was not disappointed , as Texas Tech not only swept the doubleheader, but also held the Cowgirls scoreless on the night by scores of 9-0 (run-rule) and 2-0. After an off-day Saturday due to forecast inclement weather, Oklahoma State did salvage Sunday afternoon's finale, 10-1 (run-rule). As shown in the following chart, Raider coach Gerry Glasco limited Canady's innings to some extent, as she threw nine innings total out of a possible 17. This included only two innings on Sunday, during which Canady allowed five baserunners (four hits and a walk). Cowgirl ace Ruby Meylan, who did not pitch ...

With the most recent ESPN.com/USA Softball poll (Week 2) showing eight of the Top 10 teams being from the SEC (No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 9 Georgia, and No. 10 Arkansas), it's very tempting to just wait for SEC conference play to begin. At that point, the teams will be playing three-game series against each other, which will be a better gauge of the teams' relative standing than some early-season tournaments. At this point, we have only a fragmentary sense of how good these teams are. Texas is off to an 11-0 start, but narrowly survived visiting Texas Tech and NiJaree Canady in a 2-1, nine-inning win on February 14. With Canady not pitching for the Red Raiders in a rematch two days later, however, the Horns  romped 11-0 in a five-inning rule-run decision.  OU is 10-0, but have been taken to extras against unranked San Diego State and Long Beach State. Florida is 13-1, with the Gators' loss coming last ...

This weekend's Clearwater Invitational includes four Top 10 teams, namely No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida State, and No. 10 Oklahoma State. ESPN.com's preview, which provides an overview for all 16 participating teams, is available here .

Several big stories surround the opening of the 2025 college softball season, which begins tomorrow for many leading teams. Can Oklahoma make it five Women's College World Series national championships in a row? I recognize only a few names on the Sooners' 2025 roster . On NCAA.com's list of 10 players to keep an eye on , only one is from OU (Ella Parker, No. 8). Oklahoma is ranked No. 3 in the preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball poll , behind No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Florida. NiJaree Canady, the star pitcher who transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech with a million-dollar Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal , is No. 1 on the NCAA.com list. The Red Raiders have never before been a major national contender, but that could change this year, as the team is ranked No. 10 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Another star transfer pitcher, Jordy Bahl, is scheduled to return for Nebraska . After transferring last year from Oklahoma to Nebraska, Bahl suffered an ACL injury in the Cornhus...