Three Big 12 teams have now qualified for the Women's College World Series -- Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas... The SEC, which had 12 teams in the tournament, has only one hope left, namely Florida, which forced a Game 3 vs. Virginia Tech tomorrow...
UCLA with an early threat against Duke with runners on the corners and none out in the top of the second... Sac-fly makes it 1-0 Bruins... Nothing further for UCLA in the second... Maya Brady sends one off the scoreboard in left to make it 2-0 Bruins, top four... Caroline Jacobsen two-run shot (video) ties it for Duke, 2-2, in bottom of fourth... Single and steal gives UCLA runner on second with none out, top five... Ground-out and K keep Bruin runner on second, now two outs... Delanie Wisz doubles in go-ahead run, 3-2 UCLA... Brady up... Singles to shallow right, Wisz out at plate (pending replay, perhaps of whether tag was made or catcher obstruction)... Call of "out" confirmed... Bottom 6: Walk and misplayed bunt (called a single) give Blue Devils runners on first and second with none out... K for first out... Likewise for second out... Out stealing to end inning... Top 7: UCLA with three straight singles -- none of which has left the infield -- to load bases with none out... That "Wisz Kid" doubles in two, 5-2 Bruins... Grounder to 1B-person, who throws home, not in time. 6-2 UCLA, still no outs... Now 8-2... Duke facing a tall task in bottom of seventh to preserve its season... Duke gets a couple of runners on base, but nothing serious. UCLA prevails 8-2 to advance to WCWS...
Game 2 of Arizona State-Northwestern will be a night-owl special, with first pitch scheduled for 10 pm Central... ASU up 1-0, but Northwestern threatening with bases loaded in bottom of second... Pitcher has trouble with chopper back to circle, batter beats throw to first, tied 1-1... Ground-out ends inning... The last I had seen, the Sun Devils had taken a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth on a tape-measure home run by Jazmine Hill. Waking up the next morning, I see that Northwestern had tied the game, but ASU prevailed in extras, 7-4, forcing a deciding game...
Virginia Tech finished off its weather-delayed 6-0 win over Florida earlier today, but the Gators turned the tables in Game 2, winning 7-2. This guarantees we'll have at least one winner-take-all game on Sunday...
Stanford-Oregon State underway, with Beavers leading series 1-0... Oregon State with 2-0 lead after one... Beavers make the 2-0 lead stand up and advance to the WCWS...
Texas and Arkansas scoreless in their decisive game, as the Hogs bat in the second... Arkansas with runners on second and third after back-to-back singles and wild pitch... Followed by back-to-back strikeouts... Fly-out keeps game 0-0... Arkansas threatening again in scoreless game, runners on second and third with one out... Lead runner goes on grounder to short, easily cut down at plate... Now runners on corners with two out... K to end threat... Still scoreless with Arkansas batting in bottom of fifth, runners on first and second with two out (haven't we seen this movie before?)... Yes we have seen this movie before, as Arkansas retired on pop-up to catcher... Texas's Janae Jefferson, who earlier made a great catch running out from 2B to shallow right (video), leads off top of sixth with double to wall in left... Next batter bunts and beats throw to first, so runners at corners with none out... Runner on first steals second... Another double to the wall, this time by Alyssa Washington, makes it 2-0 Longhorns... Washington to third on passed-ball and scores on single... 3-0 Texas... Arkansas pitcher seems out of steam; I'm surprised there's no pitching change... Hogs get out of inning with no further damage... Bottom 6: Single and walk with no outs give Arkansas some hope... Force at second, runners on the corners with one out (pending replay on whether throw to first on double-play attempt got runner)... PA system playing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey... Call confirmed that batter was safe at first... Next batter grounds into double-play, ending yet another Arkansas threat... Texas goes quietly in top of seventh, Arkansas comes up trying to save its season trailing 3-0... Hogs' leadoff hitter with 3-2 count, fouling pitches off... Lines single to right... Full count, as well, on second batter... High, ball four, Arkansas with first and second and none out. Can Hogs break their curse with runners on base? Force at second for first out, throw to first for double-play not in time. Runners now on the corners... Easy pop to third for second out... Hogs down to final strike with 1-2 count... Last few pitches fouled off... Batter drives on to warning track in left, but not far enough and ball is caught... Texas advances to WCWS with 3-0 win... Arkansas leaves nine runners on base in seven innings...
Mississippi State and Arizona scoreless after one, as the Wildcats try to close out the series... Bulldogs get leadoff double in top of second... Long single (off the left-field wall) drives in game's first run, 1-0 MSU... Arizona's Carlie Scupin with two-run homer (video) in bottom of fourth to put Wildcats up 2-1... HBP and bloop/pop single a bit past third base gives U of A runners on first and second with one out... Mississippi State on verge of imploding, as SS has plenty of time to get lead runner on force at third, but throws ball away. Bases loaded. Pitching change for Bulldogs... Walk makes it 3-1 Zona... Things keep getting worse for MSU. Wildcat dribbler in front of home picked up by 3B-person, but her desperation toss home goes over catcher's head, bringing in two more for Arizona, now 5-1 (lead runner might have scored anyway as play at home would have been close, but second runner wouldn't have scored with good throw)... Single makes it 7-1... Still a ways to go -- MSU getting to bat in fifth, sixth, and seventh -- but not looking good for Bulldogs... 7-1 is the final score. Arizona -- which finished behind Arizona State, UCLA, Washington, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, and Utah, and tied with Cal for the eighth and ninth spots in the Pac 12 standings -- is going to the WCWS...
Oklahoma looks to be well on its way to another WCWS, leading Central Florida 7-0 as the Knights bat in the bottom of the sixth... 7-1 is your final...
| Match-Up (Seeds) | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| UCF (16) at OU (1) | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | --- |
| Arizona (---) at Mississippi St. (---) | Arizona | Arizona | --- |
| Florida (14) at Virginia Tech (3) | Virginia Tech | Florida | |
| Texas (---) at Arkansas (4) | Arkansas | Texas | Texas |
| Duke (12) at UCLA (5) | UCLA | UCLA | --- |
| Oregon St. (---) at Stanford (---) | Oregon St. | Oregon St. | --- |
| Clemson (10) at Oklahoma St. (7) | Oklahoma St. | Oklahoma St. | --- |
| Northwestern (9) at Arizona St. (8) | Northwestern | Arizona St. |