Skip to main content

Roundup of 2022 Mary Nutter Classic and on to the Judi Garman

 Teams compiling the best records against the toughest competition in last weekend's Mary Nutter Classic were as follows:

  • Oklahoma (5-0 and 15-0 on the season) with wins over Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, Arizona, Tennessee, and Utah. The win over the Vols was very tight, however, 9-8 in 10 innings.
  • UCLA (5-0) with wins over Iowa State, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Baylor, and Missouri. Tough-luck Tennessee also took UCLA to extra innings, losing to the Bruins 2-1 in eight.
  • Oregon State (5-0) with wins over Tennessee, Baylor, Cal State Northridge, Southern Utah, and UC San Diego.
  • Missouri (4-1) with wins over Oregon, Texas Tech, San Diego State, and Washington, and a loss to UCLA.
Washington was a bit of a disappointment, posting a 2-3 record with wins over Loyola Marymount and Iowa State and losses to San Diego Stage, Mizzou, and Northwestern.

One last team I wanted to mention is Texas Tech, where I'm on the faculty. In the preceding weekend's St.Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, the Red Raiders went 0-6, but were competitive against nationally ranked Washington (losing 1-0) and LSU (losing 2-0). Texas Tech moved on to the Mary Nutter Classic, beating Cal Baptist, but losing one-run decisions to Mizzou, UCLA, and Long Beach State. Finally, in their last game of the Nutter Classic, the Red Raiders got a breakthrough win against a nationally ranked opponent, knocking off No. 18 Northwestern 4-2.

* * *
This weekend, we have the third of what might be called the Big Three tournaments, the Judi Garman Classic. Host Cal State Fullerton acquitted itself well in the Mary Nutter Classic, going 3-2 including wins over Arizona and Northwestern. The 12-team tournament is mostly a West Coast affair, led by UCLA, Arizona State, and Utah of the Pac 12. Teams coming in from other parts of the country are Texas A&M, Kansas, and Penn.

Popular posts from this blog

This Friday (and all remaining Fridays of the regular season), I will preview the upcoming weekend's games. Before doing so, I wanted to do an entry, primarily for sports fans who have not watched much softball, on differences they could expect to see between softball and baseball. The Sandy Plains Softball Association of Marietta, Georgia has produced a document entitled Fastpitch 101 , which details the similarities and differences in the rules of the two sports. Here are some of my own observations from over the years: 1. Because the bases are considerably closer together in softball (60 feet) than in baseball (90 feet), softball infielders consistently must pick up ground balls and make their throws to first base quickly, in order to get the runner. In other words, many (if not most) softball grounders result in "bang-bang" plays at first base, necessitating a lot of close calls by first-base umpires, who must detect whether the thrown ball (to the first-baseperso...
Read more

Florida Shines at Kajikawa Classic

The University of Florida, ranked No. 14 and 15 in the two major national preseason polls, pulled two major upsets en route to an undefeated 5-0 performance at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic at Arizona State. Among the Gator victims were three Pac 12 schools: No. 3 Cal (by a score of 7-4), No. 5/6 Oregon (1-0), and No. 13/14 Arizona (14-3). Full results of the tournament are available here .
Read more
Washington used a first-inning grand-slam homer from pitcher Danielle Lawrie and some late insurance runs to defeat Georgia by a score of 9-3 in tonight's late game. The win gives U-Dub a spot in the best-of-three championship series against Florida starting Monday (Georgia had defeated Washington earlier today, 9-8 in nine innings, to force tonight's rematch). The Huskies thus claimed "top dog" status over Georgia on their side of the bracket. Florida got a two-out grand-slam homer from Ali Gardiner in the bottom of the seventh to edge Alabama 6-5. The Crimson Tide made a strong recovery in the tournament after looking "not ready for prime time" in an opening-round loss to Michigan. But, as a result of tonight's heartbreaking loss to the Gators, Bama is now eliminated. Lowrie's and Gardiner's grand-slams are among four that have been hit so far in this World Series.
Read more