If you don't want to read all of the lengthy notes below, it will be UCLA vs. Oklahoma in the championship series, beginning Monday night!
Oklahoma vs. Alabama Act II: Now underway, with OU as the home team... Whereas the Sooners have stuck with G. Juarez as their pitcher, the Crimson Tide is going with Krystal Goodman in place of Montana Fouts... That was fast: Walk to Romero and double by Clifton to right-center gap give Sooners a run in bottom of the first. 1-0 OU... Wild pitch advances Clifton to third... And another wild one brings her home. 2-0 OU... Inning ends... Reagan Dykes hits a one-out solo shot to get Bama on the board in the top of the second. 2-1 OU... After giving up another long fly ball -- this one caught for second out -- Juarez is removed in favor of Mariah Lopez... Bama's Claire Jenkins lays down a bunt. Lopez fields and throws to first, only one problem: No one covering the bag. Tide with runner on second... Fly out ends half-inning... Bottom 2: Bama second-baseperson bobbles grounder (so that runner probably would have been safe at first) and compounds problem by making bad throw. OU with runner on second and none out... Fly for first out... Grounder to SS holds runner and gets second out... Grounder to third ends inning... Top 3: Leadoff single for Bama... Bunted over to second (one out)... Infield pop for second out... K (swinging on 3-2 pitch) ends the half-inning... Bottom 4: Sooners with runners on first and second and one out... Nice catch by Bama LF on Fale Aviu drive down the line, two outs... Easy fly to right-center ends threat... Bottom 5: OU's Jocelyn Alo hits mammoth two-run homer to expand Sooners' lead to 4-1... Top 6: Bama's Skylar Wallace hits two-run opposite-field homer to close deficit to 4-3... K ends half-inning... Bottom 6: Teams now trading two-run homers -- Nicole Mendes the latest to deliver, increasing OU lead to 6-3... Pitching change for Bama: Sarah Cornell in for Goodman... I did not know until tonight that it was a WCWS tradition to retrieve home-run balls and give them to hitters' families... Another ball will be going to a family, that of Grace Lyons, who puts a roar into one to up the Sooners' lead to 7-3... Bama coming up for last chance in top of the seventh... OU brings in new pitcher, Shannon Saile, to start inning... First batter retired, followed by HBP and walk... Bailey Hemphill up for Bama... Grounds out to pitcher... Bama down to final out, in the person of Kaylee Tow... K ends the game, OU to championship round vs. UCLA...
Oklahoma vs. Alabama: Sooners need one win to advance to the championship series, whereas the Crimson Tide must defeat OU twice... No scoring by either team in the first inning... Sooners threatenng in the top of the fourth, with runners on first and second and one out... Force at third for second out... Fly-out to right ends the threat... Still scoreless going to the seventh. Further illustrating the low offensive output, Oklahoma has only two hits in the game, and Alabama, one... Top 7: OU's Nicole Mendes goes opposite-field with a one-out line-single to left... Montana Fouts, in the circle, can't handle grounder to her, putting runners on first and second... K for second out, bringing up Sydney Romero... Weak flare to SS, caught in the air, to end threat... Bottom 7: Kaylee Tow with a one-out double to the wall in left-center (ball appeared to be in CF Mendes's glove, but fell out upon impacting the wall)... Weak pop back to pitcher G. Juarez for second out... Mendes with great catch running in to snare sinking liner... On to the eighth -- plenty of "free" extra softball today! Top 8: Two-out double on "scorched" (in the words of ESPN announcer) grounder down the third-base/left-field line by Jocelyn Alo... K ends the threat... Bottom 8: Single, bunt, and foul-out give Bama runner on second with two outs... Caroline Hardy to pinch hit... Full-count... Line-single to center, driving in game's only -- and winning -- run... Crimson Tide wins 1-0, setting up a decisive rematch... Hardy can rest on her "laurels" for now...
UCLA vs. Washington: Bruins need one win to advance to the championship series, whereas the Huskies must beat UCLA twice... Game 1 scoreless, as the Bruins bat in the bottom of the fourth... Top 5: Leadoff double for Huskies' Emma Helm... Nothing comes of it... Top 6: Back-to-back singles with one out give UW runners on first and second... K for second out... And another K to end the threat... Bruins go quietly in bottom of sixth... Top 7: One-out single for U-Dub... Followed by a walk... K (Rachel Garcia's 11th) for the second out... Pop to SS ends the threat... Bottom 7: Leadoff walk for UCLA... UW pitcher Gabbie Plain (3 hits allowed, 7 K) lifted in favor of Taran Alvelo... Malia Quarles at the plate... K for first out... Another K for second out... Foul out to right ends the inning... Top 8: UW leadoff hitter Morganne Flores's long drive to left goes just foul... She then pops up for first out... Sami Reynolds's grounder to SS bobbled, putting runner on first... Followed by walk... Force at third for second out... Another walk to load the bases... K ends the threat (one of the pitches during the at-bat almost hits UW batter, but UCLA catcher grabs the pitch before that happens)... Bottom 8: Grounder to third for first UCLA out... Bubba Nickles with hard line-single to center... Briana Perez goes opposite field, blooping a single to left... Runners on first and second with one out for the Bruins... Deep fly to left-center for second out, but runners stay put... Rachel Garcia coming up... Full-count to Garcia... Nice catch by Reynolds on high liner to left ends the threat... Top 9: Leadoff K... Another K (14 for Garcia)... Sis Bates with a two-out bloop single to right-center... Flores walks on a 3-2 pitch... Reynolds coming up... Another full-count... And a K to end the threat... Bottom 9: Liner to first for first UCLA out... K for second out... Brianna Tautalafua (0-for-19 in the NCAA tourney) draws a walk... Kinsley Washington at the plate... Strikes out to end inning... Top 10: Grounder to second for first out... Bruins' third-baseperson Tautalafua leans (and almost falls) over rail to grab foul pop for second out... K to end the half-inning... Bottom 10: Kelli Godin, a name we haven't heard called, beats out a grounder to third to lead off for Bruins... Plain coming back to relieve Alvelo in the circle for U-Dub... [ESPN puts up teams' batting statistics with runners in socring position (RISP): Washington 0-10, UCLA 1-7, although runner obviously didn't score on that hit.],.. Bubba Nickles at the plate... Soft flare caught by SS for first out... Force at second for second out... Aaliyah Jordan singles up the middle, bringing up Garcia with runners at first and second... Almost grounds into force at third, but foul ball... Garcia follows up with three-run no-doubt blast to left...UCLA wins 3-0 to advance to championship series. Tough loss to elimnate Huskies...
Oklahoma vs. Alabama Act II: Now underway, with OU as the home team... Whereas the Sooners have stuck with G. Juarez as their pitcher, the Crimson Tide is going with Krystal Goodman in place of Montana Fouts... That was fast: Walk to Romero and double by Clifton to right-center gap give Sooners a run in bottom of the first. 1-0 OU... Wild pitch advances Clifton to third... And another wild one brings her home. 2-0 OU... Inning ends... Reagan Dykes hits a one-out solo shot to get Bama on the board in the top of the second. 2-1 OU... After giving up another long fly ball -- this one caught for second out -- Juarez is removed in favor of Mariah Lopez... Bama's Claire Jenkins lays down a bunt. Lopez fields and throws to first, only one problem: No one covering the bag. Tide with runner on second... Fly out ends half-inning... Bottom 2: Bama second-baseperson bobbles grounder (so that runner probably would have been safe at first) and compounds problem by making bad throw. OU with runner on second and none out... Fly for first out... Grounder to SS holds runner and gets second out... Grounder to third ends inning... Top 3: Leadoff single for Bama... Bunted over to second (one out)... Infield pop for second out... K (swinging on 3-2 pitch) ends the half-inning... Bottom 4: Sooners with runners on first and second and one out... Nice catch by Bama LF on Fale Aviu drive down the line, two outs... Easy fly to right-center ends threat... Bottom 5: OU's Jocelyn Alo hits mammoth two-run homer to expand Sooners' lead to 4-1... Top 6: Bama's Skylar Wallace hits two-run opposite-field homer to close deficit to 4-3... K ends half-inning... Bottom 6: Teams now trading two-run homers -- Nicole Mendes the latest to deliver, increasing OU lead to 6-3... Pitching change for Bama: Sarah Cornell in for Goodman... I did not know until tonight that it was a WCWS tradition to retrieve home-run balls and give them to hitters' families... Another ball will be going to a family, that of Grace Lyons, who puts a roar into one to up the Sooners' lead to 7-3... Bama coming up for last chance in top of the seventh... OU brings in new pitcher, Shannon Saile, to start inning... First batter retired, followed by HBP and walk... Bailey Hemphill up for Bama... Grounds out to pitcher... Bama down to final out, in the person of Kaylee Tow... K ends the game, OU to championship round vs. UCLA...
Oklahoma vs. Alabama: Sooners need one win to advance to the championship series, whereas the Crimson Tide must defeat OU twice... No scoring by either team in the first inning... Sooners threatenng in the top of the fourth, with runners on first and second and one out... Force at third for second out... Fly-out to right ends the threat... Still scoreless going to the seventh. Further illustrating the low offensive output, Oklahoma has only two hits in the game, and Alabama, one... Top 7: OU's Nicole Mendes goes opposite-field with a one-out line-single to left... Montana Fouts, in the circle, can't handle grounder to her, putting runners on first and second... K for second out, bringing up Sydney Romero... Weak flare to SS, caught in the air, to end threat... Bottom 7: Kaylee Tow with a one-out double to the wall in left-center (ball appeared to be in CF Mendes's glove, but fell out upon impacting the wall)... Weak pop back to pitcher G. Juarez for second out... Mendes with great catch running in to snare sinking liner... On to the eighth -- plenty of "free" extra softball today! Top 8: Two-out double on "scorched" (in the words of ESPN announcer) grounder down the third-base/left-field line by Jocelyn Alo... K ends the threat... Bottom 8: Single, bunt, and foul-out give Bama runner on second with two outs... Caroline Hardy to pinch hit... Full-count... Line-single to center, driving in game's only -- and winning -- run... Crimson Tide wins 1-0, setting up a decisive rematch... Hardy can rest on her "laurels" for now...
UCLA vs. Washington: Bruins need one win to advance to the championship series, whereas the Huskies must beat UCLA twice... Game 1 scoreless, as the Bruins bat in the bottom of the fourth... Top 5: Leadoff double for Huskies' Emma Helm... Nothing comes of it... Top 6: Back-to-back singles with one out give UW runners on first and second... K for second out... And another K to end the threat... Bruins go quietly in bottom of sixth... Top 7: One-out single for U-Dub... Followed by a walk... K (Rachel Garcia's 11th) for the second out... Pop to SS ends the threat... Bottom 7: Leadoff walk for UCLA... UW pitcher Gabbie Plain (3 hits allowed, 7 K) lifted in favor of Taran Alvelo... Malia Quarles at the plate... K for first out... Another K for second out... Foul out to right ends the inning... Top 8: UW leadoff hitter Morganne Flores's long drive to left goes just foul... She then pops up for first out... Sami Reynolds's grounder to SS bobbled, putting runner on first... Followed by walk... Force at third for second out... Another walk to load the bases... K ends the threat (one of the pitches during the at-bat almost hits UW batter, but UCLA catcher grabs the pitch before that happens)... Bottom 8: Grounder to third for first UCLA out... Bubba Nickles with hard line-single to center... Briana Perez goes opposite field, blooping a single to left... Runners on first and second with one out for the Bruins... Deep fly to left-center for second out, but runners stay put... Rachel Garcia coming up... Full-count to Garcia... Nice catch by Reynolds on high liner to left ends the threat... Top 9: Leadoff K... Another K (14 for Garcia)... Sis Bates with a two-out bloop single to right-center... Flores walks on a 3-2 pitch... Reynolds coming up... Another full-count... And a K to end the threat... Bottom 9: Liner to first for first UCLA out... K for second out... Brianna Tautalafua (0-for-19 in the NCAA tourney) draws a walk... Kinsley Washington at the plate... Strikes out to end inning... Top 10: Grounder to second for first out... Bruins' third-baseperson Tautalafua leans (and almost falls) over rail to grab foul pop for second out... K to end the half-inning... Bottom 10: Kelli Godin, a name we haven't heard called, beats out a grounder to third to lead off for Bruins... Plain coming back to relieve Alvelo in the circle for U-Dub... [ESPN puts up teams' batting statistics with runners in socring position (RISP): Washington 0-10, UCLA 1-7, although runner obviously didn't score on that hit.],.. Bubba Nickles at the plate... Soft flare caught by SS for first out... Force at second for second out... Aaliyah Jordan singles up the middle, bringing up Garcia with runners at first and second... Almost grounds into force at third, but foul ball... Garcia follows up with three-run no-doubt blast to left...UCLA wins 3-0 to advance to championship series. Tough loss to elimnate Huskies...