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...
*National seed in region; #Team with one loss has beaten undefeated team to force winner-take-all game; Bold = team has advanced.
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... Aggies up in T5, bases loaded with none out... Run walked in, 8-6 A&M... Single drives in one (9-6 Aggies)... Force at plate for first out... Infield grounder, runner would have been out at home but Liberty catcher bobbles throw, runner safe... 10-6 A&M... Hard liner to right, caught and runner doubled off at first to end threat... Liberty, trailing 10-6 B6, gets two-out double, driving in runner from second and advancing runner from first to third, now 10-7 Aggies... Tying run at the plate for Flames... K on 3-2 pitch to end threat... Liberty batting in B7, trailing 11-7, in attempt to close out Texas A&M. Rally going, with one run in (11-8), runners at the corners, and one out... An Aggie win would force a winner-take-all rematch... Bloop single to center makes it 11-9 with runners at first and second. A homer would win it for the Flames... Chopper to right side of infield, batter retired on close play at first for second out, runners advance to second and third... Batter with 1-2 count... Low, 2-2... Liner to circle, knocks pitcher's glove off, runner safe at first, run scores (11-10). Runners again at the corners... 3-0 count on next batter... Ball four to load the bases with two outs... HBP to tie the game 11-11... Pitching change, freshman Sydney Lessentine coming into an extreme pressure situation, trying to prevent national No. 1 seed Texas A&M from being eliminated early... Ball 1... High strike for 1-1 count... Foul on high pitch for 1-2... 2-2... Outside, full count! Foul ball. Batter flies out on what looks like it would have been ball four... Going to extras... Aggies score three in top of the eighth, Flames don't score any, so the final is 14-11 A&M... Rematch upcoming...
- GAME 2: Lessentine, who ended Liberty rally in B7 of first game, starts in rematch... T2, Liberty threatening with runners on second and third after double steal, with one out... Walk loads bases... K for second out... Grounder to second to extinguish Flames' threat... Two-run homer for A&M's KK Dement (video) to the camera platform beyond the center-field wall give Aggies 2-0 lead in B2... After A&M goes up 3-0 in B3, Liberty scores one in the fifth and five in the sixth to go ahead 6-3. The Aggies come back with two in B6, but that's all the scoring and the Flames win 6-5 to advance... The final at-bat in B7, with Liberty reliever Kaylan Yoder facing A&M left-fielder Kramer Eschete, was particularly dramatic. With two outs and the potential winning runs on first and second, Yoder quickly got the count to 0-2 (both strikes looking), but then threw three pitches nowhere near the strike zone for a full count before throwing a fastball past the swinging Eschete. Per ESPN, Texas A&M is the first No. 1 national seed not to make it out of its region in the super-regional era (2005-present). At the end of the day, the Flames ensured that the softball world "believed in Liberty."
NO. 2-SEED OKLAHOMA VS. CAL
- Oklahoma leads Cal 4-1, as the Golden Bears bat in the home half of the third... OU finishes it off 12-1 to advance...
NO. 3-SEED FLORIDA VS. MERCER
- Gators with 8-0 mercy-rule win over Mercer to advance.
NO. 4-SEED ARKANSAS VS. OKLAHOMA ST.
- After a long delay due to heavy rains, Hogs burst out to 3-0 lead T1... Arkansas dominates in 12-0 win to advance...
NO. 5-SEED FLORIDA ST. VS. AUBURN
- GAME 1: Auburn with 8-3 win, forcing winner-take-all rematch...
- GAME 2: Two-out, two-run homer by Michaela Edenfield (video) gives Florida State a 2-0 lead B1... Auburn with runners on first and second none out T2, bunt advances them to second and third, one out... Liner to 2B-person for second out... Easy infield pop strands Auburn runners, still 2-0 FSU... Noles lead 3-0 B5... FSU finishes it off 4-0... Per ESPN, it's the Seminoles' 11th trip to the super-regionals in the last 12 years (I'm assuming the COVID year is excluded)...
NO. 6-SEED TEXAS VS. CENTRAL FLORIDA
- Texas is looking strong with a 4-0 lead over Central Florida, with the Knights batting in the bottom of the sixth... Now 6-0 Horns T7... UCF down to its final out, trailing Texas 9-0 B7... Grounder to pitcher ends game, sends Horns to super-regionals, per ESPN the team's sixth straight time...
NO. 7-SEED TENNESSEE VS. OHIO STATE
- In early Sunday action, Tennessee becomes the first team to advance to the super-regionals with a 5-0 shutout over Ohio State...
NO. 8-SEED SOUTH CAROLINA VS. NORTH FLORIDA
- After three and a half scoreless innnigs, Gamecocks (home team) score two in B4 and six in B5 to advance with 8-0 run-rule victory...
NO. 9-SEED UCLA VS. UC SANTA BARBARA
- UCLA (visitors) up 5-0 on UC Santa Barbara, T2... Bruins win 12-1 (run-rule) to advance...
NEBRASKA VS. SE LOUISIANA (NO. 10-SEED LSU ALREADY ELIMINATED)
- Huskers (home team) lead 2-0 B2... Nebraska increases lead to 7-0 B4... 8-0 (run-rule) is your final, Nebraska to supers...
NO. 11-SEED CLEMSON VS. KENTUCKY
- Clemson in a good position, leading Kentucky 4-0, with the Wildcats up T6... UK scores on a two-out single, making it 4-1 Clemson... Walk gives Kentucky second runner, bringing tying run to the plate. Clemson pitching change... K ends Wildcat threat... Kentucky down to its final out, trailing 5-1 B7... Grounder to short for final out, Clemson to supers...
NO. 12-SEED TEXAS TECH VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
- Red Raiders (visitors) up 1-0 T2... TTU lead up to 4-0 B2... Now 6-3 Raiders, but Bulldogs mounting a two-out threat with runners at first and second, B4... Grounder to second ends the inning... TTU now up 7-3, but Mississippi State with runners on first and second and none out B5... Double to the wall cuts MSU deficit to 7-4, runners on second and third... Shallow fly for first out, runners don't advance... Easy infield pop for second out... Flared single to right brings in two, now 7-6 Texas Tech... Per ESPN, NiJaree Canady's eight hits allowed (at this point) the most she's given up in a game this season... K to end Bulldog threat... Solo shot gives Tech two-run cushion (8-6) T6... A couple more hits and it's 9-6 Raiders... MSU batting in B7 trailing 9-6... Bulldogs go relatively quietly, Texas Tech advances to first super-regionals...
NO. 13-SEED ARIZONA VS. MISSISSIPPI
- GAME 1: Arizona (visitors) leading Mississippi 4-1, T2... Wildcats continue the onslaught, winning 10-1 to force a winner-take-all rematch...
- GAME 2: Rebels leading 7-3 B6, but Wildcats have runners on first and second with two out... UA star slugger/pitcher Devyn Netz coming up... Netz walks, loading bases... Easy infield pop ends threat... 7-3 is your final, as Mississippi advances...
NO. 14-SEED DUKE VS. GEORGIA
- GAME 1: Duke (visitor) and Georgia tied 1-1 T4... Blue Devils record six-run sixth to go up 7-1... Duke closes it out 8-1 to force winner-take-all game...
- GAME 2: Duke with two in B1 to lead 2-0... UGA with single runs in the sixth and seventh to send game to extra innings, then with three (so far) to lead 5-2 T8... Double play -- fly-out and Georgia runner out trying to tag -- gets Duke out of the inning... Devils need at least three runs to survive... Duke down to final out with runner on first... Easy grounder for force at second, Georgia wins 5-2 and advances to super-regionals...
NO. 15-SEED ALABAMA VS. VIRGINIA TECH
- After weather delay, scoreless through two... VT fails to capitalize with runners on second and third, with two out, B3... Crimson Tide scores three runs in T5, holds on to win 3-2 as Hokies get two-run shot in B7; Bama advances...
NO. 16-SEED OREGON VS. STANFORD
- GAME 1: Oregon batting in T4, leading Stanford 7-3 in bid to force a winner-take-all rematch... Ducks win 15-5 to force a winner-take-all rematch...
- GAME 2: The Cardinal (visitors) at one point led 7-3, but it is now 7-6 in B5... Oregon's most recent run occurred on a wild pitch; the runner looked to be out at the plate, but was ruled safe due to obstruction... Still 7-6 as UO comes up in B6... Leadoff triple for Ducks... After two strikeouts, chopper in front of home (video) brings in tying run (7-7), as Stanford has no play at each home or first.... HBP gives Oregon runners at first and second with two out... Grounder to short ends rally... T7, one-out walk and single give Cardinal runners at first and second... Hard short-hop to 2B-person, OU gets force at second; Stanford with runners at the corners and two outs... Grounder to third gets batter at first, ending Cardinal threat... Ducks coming up in B7 needing a run to win and advance... Easy pop-up for first Oregon out... Single to right... Runner to third on steal of second and errant throw... Intentional walk, followed by Dezianna Patmon walk-off homer (a real no-doubter; video) gives UO a 10-7 victory to advance...
UPDATED RESULTS CHART FOR SUNDAY OF REGIONALS
| Seed | Site | Needs 1 Win | Needs 2 Wins | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College Station | Liberty | |
|
| 2 | Norman | Oklahoma* | |
|
| 3 | Gainesville | Florida* | |
|
| 4 | Fayetteville | Arkansas* | |
|
| 5 | Tallahassee | Florida St.* | |
|
| 6 | Austin | Texas* | |
|
| 7 | Knoxville | Tennessee* | |
|
| 8 | Columbia | S. Carolina* | |
|
| 9 | Los Angeles | UCLA* | |
|
| 10 | Baton Rouge | Nebraska | |
|
| 11 | Clemson | Clemson* | |
|
| 12 | Lubbock | Texas Tech* | |
|
| 13 | Tucson | Ole Miss | |
|
| 14 | Durham | Georgia | |
|
| 15 | Tuscaloosa | Alabama* | |
|
| 16 | Eugene | |
Oregon*# | |