In the nightcap, Oklahoma is threatening against Alabama in the bottom of the first, with none out. With runners on the corners, a potential squeeze play (or delayed double-steal) lets the OU runner on first get to second, whereas the runner on third gets back to the bag when it looked like she might be picked off... Caleigh Clifton's sac-fly to center brings Sydney Romero home from third. 1-0 Sooners... Ground-out to second advances runner to third, with two outs... Walk puts runners on corners again... Foul-out near right-field line ends the inning... Top 3: After leadoff single, runner advanced to second on bunt (batter out), then next batter beats out bunt (replay shows runner probably out at first, but no replay review system has yet been adopted). As a result, Bama has runners on the corners with one out. K for second out... Bailey Hemphill with bloop single to right, tying game 1-1, again leaving runners on the corners... K to end the threat... Bottom 3: Romero leads off with triple to right-center that lands just in front of the wall... Pop-up fails to score Romero... K for second out... Jocelyn Alo with sharp single up the middle to drive home go-ahead run for Sooners. 2-1 OU... Side retired... Top 5: Claire Jenkins homers for Bama to tie the game 2-2... Tide later gets runner to second to throwing error on infield grounder... With two outs, Hemphill walked intentionally to create a force at first, second, or third... Kaylee Tow (pronounced Tau) at the plate... K to end the threat... Sooners go quickly in bottom of fifth... Bottom 6: Nicole Mendes with two-out triple to drive in go-ahead run, 3-2 Sooners... Ground-out prevents further damage, from Alabama's perspective... Top 7: Crimson Tide's last chance to stay alive in this game... Easy pop-up for first out... Nice snare of hard one-hopper by Clifton near 2B and throw to first for second out... K for final out... Sooners win 3-2, will take on intrastate and Big 12 rival Oklahoma State tomorrow night (OU swept three from OSU in conference play).
Oklahoma State pitcher Samantha Show (rhymes with "Pow!") gets the evening session off to a rollicking start with a one-out blast in the top of the first. Cowgirls lead 1-0... Florida's Amanda Lorenz doubles to the wall, leading off the bottom of the first... Next three Gators fail to drive her in, however... Florida ties it in the bottom of the second on Jordan Roberts's long ball... Show blasts her second homer of the game in the top of the sixth, 2-1 Cowgirls... Bottom 6: Lorenz with a solid single to right-center to lead off... Nothing further for Florida, so we go to the top of the seventh... OSU goes uneventfully in the top of the seventh, so UF will come up for its final chance to tie (or possibly win)... Sophia Reynoso with lead-off single to left... Slow grounder by Roberts gets through left side of infield, putting runners at first and second, with none out... Lead-runner out at third on grounder to short (fielder's choice)... Grounder to second just misses giving Cowgirls game-ending double-play. Runners now on the corners with two outs... Third straight grounder -- to second-baseperson who tosses to first -- ends the game. Oklahoma State wins 2-1.
Game 2 is underway, with UCLA leading Minnesota 1-0 on a solo homer by Bubba Nickles in the bottom half of the first... Bruins load the bases with none out in the bottom of the second. The Gophers can't afford to dig too deep a hole for themselves.😉 Walk makes it 2-0... Minnesota forces runner at home on chopper to third, for first out... K for second out... Hard grounder back to pitcher, toss to first, end second inning... UCLA with one run (so far) in bottom of third on sac-fly. Bruins have scored in every inning and still have a runner on second with two outs... Fly out to right ends the third, 3-0 UCLA... Bruins held scoreless in fourth, still 3-0... Still nothing on the board for Gophers after the top of the fifth; they're getting some good metal on the ball and hitting deep flies, but few that can't be caught... Top 6: Minnesota finally hitting them were they ain't. Single and double bring home the team's first run. UCLA leads 3-1... Gopher on second with two down... Another sharp hit drives in Gophers' second run, but batter out trying to stretch single into double. Now 3-2 UCLA, with Bruins coming up in bottom of the sixth... UCLA trying to open up some daylight again, with runners at first and second and one out... Bobbled grounder near 2B scores lead runner (who got a great jump) from second; leaves runners at first and second. 4-2 Bruins... Now two out... Aaliyah Jordan absolutely rockets one halfway up the bleachers in right-center to make it suddenly 7-2 UCLA... Double to right chases Minnesota pitcher Amber Fiser, who as ESPN announcers point out, has thrown every single Minnesota pitch in this year's NCAA tourney... Gophers get final out, head to top of seventh trailing by five... Gophers go quietly in top of seventh. Final score is UCLA 7-2. Win sets up Friday match-up between Bruins and Pac-12 rival Arizona (the Wildcats took two of three in conference play).
The 2019 Women's College World Series is underway, with Arizona getting a lead-off walk against Washington (which leads nowhere with Huskies pitcher Taran Alvelo fanning the next three batters)... I blogged earlier this season about the Wildcats' offensive prowess. Shortly after I posted that, Arizona was swept by Washington in Tucson. U-of-A has since gotten its groove back, taking two of three at UCLA to close the regular season and romping thus far through the NCAA tournament... Washington gets one runner on via HBP, but goes down scoreless in bottom of first... Wildcats waste a one-out double in the top of the fourth... After a long scoreless battle, the teams exchange solo homers in the sixth: Jessie Harper for Arizona in the top half, and Sami Reynolds for Washington in the bottom half... 1-1 score... Still in the bottom of the sixth, U-Dub with a runner on third (double and advancement on a ground-out) with two outs... Fly-out ends threat... Top 7: U-of-A gets leadoff runner on board via HBP... Runners on first and second with no out, as Huskies can't field Wildcat bunt... K for first out... Another K... Grounder to pitcher ends threat... Bottom 7: Huskies with first and second and one out, on two infield singles (the latter, beating out a sacrifice-bunt attempt)... Great catch in right-center by Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza likely prevents winning run from scoring... Ground ball to first sends game to extras... Top 8: Foul pop near 3B dropped. Will this come back to haunt Huskies? No, as strike-out ends long at-bat (lots of foul balls)... Third-baseperson redeems herself with nice catch on soft infield blooper... Two-out single to right for Wildcats... Two-run homer for Dejah Mulipola to straightaway center, 3-1 Cats... Ground-out ends top half... Bottom 8: Hard one-hopper to first for first out... Walk, bringing potential tying run to the plate in the person of Kaija Gibson... Soft pop to third for second out... Another pop to shallow center for final out... Arizona wins 3-1.
Oklahoma State pitcher Samantha Show (rhymes with "Pow!") gets the evening session off to a rollicking start with a one-out blast in the top of the first. Cowgirls lead 1-0... Florida's Amanda Lorenz doubles to the wall, leading off the bottom of the first... Next three Gators fail to drive her in, however... Florida ties it in the bottom of the second on Jordan Roberts's long ball... Show blasts her second homer of the game in the top of the sixth, 2-1 Cowgirls... Bottom 6: Lorenz with a solid single to right-center to lead off... Nothing further for Florida, so we go to the top of the seventh... OSU goes uneventfully in the top of the seventh, so UF will come up for its final chance to tie (or possibly win)... Sophia Reynoso with lead-off single to left... Slow grounder by Roberts gets through left side of infield, putting runners at first and second, with none out... Lead-runner out at third on grounder to short (fielder's choice)... Grounder to second just misses giving Cowgirls game-ending double-play. Runners now on the corners with two outs... Third straight grounder -- to second-baseperson who tosses to first -- ends the game. Oklahoma State wins 2-1.
Game 2 is underway, with UCLA leading Minnesota 1-0 on a solo homer by Bubba Nickles in the bottom half of the first... Bruins load the bases with none out in the bottom of the second. The Gophers can't afford to dig too deep a hole for themselves.😉 Walk makes it 2-0... Minnesota forces runner at home on chopper to third, for first out... K for second out... Hard grounder back to pitcher, toss to first, end second inning... UCLA with one run (so far) in bottom of third on sac-fly. Bruins have scored in every inning and still have a runner on second with two outs... Fly out to right ends the third, 3-0 UCLA... Bruins held scoreless in fourth, still 3-0... Still nothing on the board for Gophers after the top of the fifth; they're getting some good metal on the ball and hitting deep flies, but few that can't be caught... Top 6: Minnesota finally hitting them were they ain't. Single and double bring home the team's first run. UCLA leads 3-1... Gopher on second with two down... Another sharp hit drives in Gophers' second run, but batter out trying to stretch single into double. Now 3-2 UCLA, with Bruins coming up in bottom of the sixth... UCLA trying to open up some daylight again, with runners at first and second and one out... Bobbled grounder near 2B scores lead runner (who got a great jump) from second; leaves runners at first and second. 4-2 Bruins... Now two out... Aaliyah Jordan absolutely rockets one halfway up the bleachers in right-center to make it suddenly 7-2 UCLA... Double to right chases Minnesota pitcher Amber Fiser, who as ESPN announcers point out, has thrown every single Minnesota pitch in this year's NCAA tourney... Gophers get final out, head to top of seventh trailing by five... Gophers go quietly in top of seventh. Final score is UCLA 7-2. Win sets up Friday match-up between Bruins and Pac-12 rival Arizona (the Wildcats took two of three in conference play).
The 2019 Women's College World Series is underway, with Arizona getting a lead-off walk against Washington (which leads nowhere with Huskies pitcher Taran Alvelo fanning the next three batters)... I blogged earlier this season about the Wildcats' offensive prowess. Shortly after I posted that, Arizona was swept by Washington in Tucson. U-of-A has since gotten its groove back, taking two of three at UCLA to close the regular season and romping thus far through the NCAA tournament... Washington gets one runner on via HBP, but goes down scoreless in bottom of first... Wildcats waste a one-out double in the top of the fourth... After a long scoreless battle, the teams exchange solo homers in the sixth: Jessie Harper for Arizona in the top half, and Sami Reynolds for Washington in the bottom half... 1-1 score... Still in the bottom of the sixth, U-Dub with a runner on third (double and advancement on a ground-out) with two outs... Fly-out ends threat... Top 7: U-of-A gets leadoff runner on board via HBP... Runners on first and second with no out, as Huskies can't field Wildcat bunt... K for first out... Another K... Grounder to pitcher ends threat... Bottom 7: Huskies with first and second and one out, on two infield singles (the latter, beating out a sacrifice-bunt attempt)... Great catch in right-center by Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza likely prevents winning run from scoring... Ground ball to first sends game to extras... Top 8: Foul pop near 3B dropped. Will this come back to haunt Huskies? No, as strike-out ends long at-bat (lots of foul balls)... Third-baseperson redeems herself with nice catch on soft infield blooper... Two-out single to right for Wildcats... Two-run homer for Dejah Mulipola to straightaway center, 3-1 Cats... Ground-out ends top half... Bottom 8: Hard one-hopper to first for first out... Walk, bringing potential tying run to the plate in the person of Kaija Gibson... Soft pop to third for second out... Another pop to shallow center for final out... Arizona wins 3-1.