Northwestern brought a 9-16 nonconference record into today's B1G opener at No. 2 Michigan (who entered 22-2). Things seemed to be going according to form, as the Wolverines held leads of 6-0 after three innings and 7-2 after four (box score, game article). The Wildcats exploded for 7 in the fifth and 4 in the sixth, to take a 13-7 lead. UM then rallied for 5 in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough, as Northwestern prevailed 13-12. The same teams play again Saturday and Sunday.
Few minutes after 6:00 pm Central: We now have our eighth team for the Women's College World Series, Oregon State (in the postings below, all WCWS qualifiers are depicted in bold). The Beavers defeated Cal 3-0 and then 1-0 today, to take the teams' super-regional series 2-1. 4:40 pm Central: We have the identities of two more teams going to the WCWS (bringing the total to seven), but Oregon State has stayed alive against Cal, forcing a third and deciding game to determine the one remaining team for the World Series. Leave it to the Beavers! Here are the two teams (in bold) that have earned bids to Oklahoma City thus far today: Tennessee , which edged Michigan 1-0 in what must have been a very dramatic finish to those who saw it live. The reason I say must have been is that ESPN cut away to show a live Barry Bonds at-bat in his quest for 715 home runs, a number that would surpass Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list. Sure enough, Bonds blasted one deep into the c...