The big story of today's games is the precarious status of two leading contenders -- Texas and Oklahoma -- in their two-out-of-three super-regional series... Here's where things stand in tabular form...
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama (1)-LSU (16) | Alabama | --- | --- |
| Texas (2)-Arizona St | Arizona St | --- | --- |
| Oklahoma (3)-Mississippi St | Mississippi St | --- | --- |
| Nebraska (4)-Oklahoma St (13) | Nebraska | --- | --- |
| Arkansas (5)-Duke (12) | Arkansas | --- | --- |
| Florida (6)-Texas Tech (11) | Texas Tech | --- | --- |
| Tennessee (7)-Georgia (10) | Tennessee | Tennessee | --- |
| UCLA (8)-Central Florida | UCLA | --- | --- |
Specifically, we had Arizona State defeating No. 2-seed Texas 4-1 and Mississippi State outslugging No. 3-seed Oklahoma 11-9 (see below for detailed live-blogging of the Bulldogs-Sooners game)...
Other games were blowouts such as No. 1-seed Alabama over LSU 7-0 and No. 8-seed UCLA over UCF 9-1...
Below are summaries today's other games...
Oklahoma State-Nebraska (Game 1 resumption from Thursday night)
Cornhuskers with an early threat, having runners on first and second with only one out in T1... Cowgirl starter Ruby Meylan gets a strikeout for second out... However, Jesse Farrell hits one on the barrel to make it 3-0 Nebraska... Huskers finish off an 8-1 victory...
Mississippi State- Oklahoma
No score, but the Bulldogs are threatening T3 with runners on first and second and only one out... Sooner pitcher Miali Guachino gets a strikeout for the second out... HBP (on the hand or lower wrist) to load the bases... Tatum Silva lines one of Guachino's mitt, ball stays in infield but no play at any base, Mississippi State takes 1-0 lead... Ground-out ends the MSU threat... B3, OU's Kendall Wells slugs two-run shot past the bleachers in center (her 38th homer of the season), 2-1 Sooners... Isabela Emerling with another OU two-run blast in same inning, now 4-1... Third homer of the inning -- Kasisi Pickering on this one -- for a 5-1 OU lead... T4, Des Rivera homer cuts MSU deficit to 5-2... Next batter walks... OU pitching change, with Sydney Berzon entering the circle... Force at second for first Bulldog out... Easy fly to CF for second out... Another force at second to end MSU half-inning... Currently 6-2 OU after five... T6, Rivera with leadoff double, scores as part of Bulldog rally, now 6-4 Oklahoma with runners at the corners and two out... Audrey Lowry coming in to pitch for Sooners... Wild-pitch/Passed-ball brings home MSU run to close within 6-5 (and advances runner from first to second)... Morgan Bernardini singles in tying run (and takes second on throw home)... Easy fly to left ends MSU rally, tied 6-6... B6, Sydney Barker, whose error at third prolonged MSU rally in top of inning, leads off with single up the middle... Kai Minor flies out to the wall in center... Ella Parker singles up the middle, OU with runners on first and second... MSU pitching change, Peja Goold in for Leila Ammon... One pitch to Wells and it's a three-run blast to the "batter's eye" greenery behind the CF wall (her 39th homer), now 9-6 OU... Sooners load the bases with two out, Delainey Everett now in to pitch for MSU... Ground-out ends inning... T7, Bulldogs get first two runners on base (first and second)... Infield bloop caught for first out... Abby Grace Richardson doubles to gap in left-center, now 9-7 OU, with tying runs on second and third... Big meeting in the circle, but Lowry will stay in... OU will intentionally walk Nadia Barbary to load bases... That brings up Xiane Romero... Romero with sharp single to right, one run scores making it 9-8 Sooners, bases remain loaded with one out... Kiarra Sells at the plate... K for second out... All up to Bernardini ... 0-1 count... 1-1... Sharp liner foul near LF, 1-2... 2-2... 3-2... Another sharp foul drive to left! Walk to tie the game 9-9... That brings up Tatum Silva... Infield chopper toward second, errant throw to first (although I don't think throw would have been on time), allowing two Bulldogs to score, now 11-9 MSU, with runners on the corners... Grounder to circle ends Bulldog rally... MSU has scored nine runs in the sixth and seventh combined... Sooners will need at least two runs in B7 to avoid falling behind 1-0 in the series... Barker leads off... Easy fly to right, one out... Minor up... Line single to left... Ella Parker batting... 3-0 count... High strike called, 3-1... Another medium-high strike, full count... Ball four on a pitch that possibly could have been a strike, putting runners on first and second... Wells up, seeking her third homer of the game and NCAA season-single record-tying 40th... Low, 1-0 count... Foul pop near 1B for second out... Now up to Gabbie Garcia... 1-2 count... Pitch in dirt, 2-2... Everett strikes out Garcia swinging, MSU wins 11-9... The kind of Sooner Magic evident during the program's recent Women's College World Series titles was absent today.
Georgia-Tennessee
Game 2 of this series is underway. Georgia is officially the home team for this game... Vols with bases loaded and one out in T1 for Makenzie Butt... K for second out, bringing up Elsa Morrison... UGA pitcher Randi Roelling gets out of jam with easy fly to right... B1, Erin Nuwer pitching for Tennessee. Has impressive ERA (1.00) and K/BB ratio (88/25)... T2, Vols take 2-0 lead on Sophia Knight two-run homer... UGA threatening B2, with runners on first and second, one out... New Vol pitcher Sage Mardjetko gets K for second out... And another K to end threat... B7, three outs from elimination UGA gets one run on an Emily Digby triple and, after an out is recorded, a wild pitch, now 2-1 Tennessee... Mardjetko gets K for second out... 0-2 count on next batter... 1-2... Ground-out to second ends the game and series, Tennessee to WCWS...
Duke-Arkansas
Duke leading 3-2 in T2 of series opener... This game is now in a delay... Arkansas pulls away for a 14-5 run-rule victory (five innings)...
Texas Tech-Florida
Texas Tech has had some wild games lately, huh? This morning it was the Red Raiders squandering a large lead -- 7-1 over Florida -- as the Gators tied things up 8-8 after six. Texas Tech's Mia Williams, a transfer from Florida of all places, then hit a two-run homer in T7 and NiJaree Canady closed out UF in B7 for a 10-8 Tech win and 1-0 series lead...
I hadn't known what to expect from Florida, as the Gators' regular-season SEC schedule did not include Oklahoma, Texas, or Alabama (each team plays eight three-game series, with the SEC having 15 softball-fielding schools).