ARIZONA-OREGON STATE: Tied 1-1, as Beavers bat in the top of the third... Two-out grounder with runner on first looked like it would end Oregon State's half-inning, but Wildcats drop throw at second base... Nothing comes of it, however... Bottom 6: Arizona's Carlie Scupin doubles to the wall, the ball just beyond the center-fielder's reach (video), driving home go-ahead run. 2-1 Wildcats... Single makes it 3-1... Beavers will need at least two runs in the top of the seventh to keep their season alive... One-out walk brings tying run to the plate... U of A conference in the circle, as count on next batter goes to 2-0... Hard liner to third snared for second out... Oregon State down to last strike on 2-2 count... Pitch just outside, count goes full... High, ball four... Runners on first and second with two out... Sliding catch on fly to left ends it... Wildcats stick around, Beavers go home...
UCLA-NORTHWESTERN: The Bruins and Wildcats are underway in the first of two Friday night games (Arizona-Oregon State coming later)... UCLA strikes quickly in the top of the first, stringing together a walk, sacrifice bunt, and single for a 1-0 lead... Leadoff single for Northwestern in bottom of first... K for first out, but on the same play, NU steals second (pending review on whether tag was in time)... Initial call overturned, so UCLA gets "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" double-play... Ground-out to end inning... Leadoff single for Bruins in top of third... Runner steals second... Walk gives UCLA two on base with none out... K for first out... Grounder to right side of infield for second out, but Bruin runners advance to second and third... Strikeout (after count had been 3-0) ends the UCLA threat... Northwestern not doing much offensively so far... UCLA leads off top of fourth with single up the middle... Bunted to second, one out... Walk puts second runner on... Single to very shallow in outfield loads the bases for Bruins with one out... Apparent confusion between Wildcat SS and left-fielder on pop-up leads to ball being dropped and a UCLA run, now 2-0... Foul pop for second out... Delanie Wisz, batting .524 in tournament, coming up... K for third out... One-out walk for Northwestern in bottom of fourth... Grounder to short leads to force at second, but throw to first not in time for double-play... K ends inning... UCLA strands runner in top of fifth...Wildcats with runners on first and second with one out in bottom of fifth... K for second out... Bloop behind third lands, drives in first Wildcat run. NU now with runners on second and third with two out... Walk on full count to load bases for Northwestern... 3-0 count and no place to put batter... Two straight strikes for another full count... Right down Broadway for called third strike... UCLA leads 2-1 as we go to top of sixth... UCLA pitcher Megan Faraimo, fired up from striking out the last NU batter, launches solo homer halfway up the left-field bleachers (video). Now 3-1 Bruins... One-out walk for UCLA... Runner out trying to steal second... K for third out... NU goes quietly in bottom of sixth... Leadoff single for UCLA in top of seventh... Maya Brady doubles off the wall in left-center, putting runners on second and third with none out... A single, suicide-squeeze bunt, and fielder's choice, among other things, give Bruins a 6-1 lead... That's your final...
You may have heard ESPN's announcers allude to a new scheduling format for this year's WCWS... In the past, only the four winners from Thursday's opening day would play on Friday night, so that at the end of the evening, two teams would have 2-0 records and two would be 1-1. Friday's two losing teams would join the four losing teams from Thursday (0-1) on Saturday, so that every contest was an elimination game. Not for nothing did the term "Survival Saturday" emerge. This year, however, only the four losing teams from Thursday are playing on Friday (UCLA vs. Northwestern and Arizona vs. Oregon State). [UPDATE: Hearing the frequent references on tonight's ESPN broadcast to Saturday's Oklahoma-Texas game airing on ABC at 2:00 pm Central makes me think the format change stems from the desire to increase television viewership.] I'll reserve opinion on the wisdom of the new scheme until I see how it plays out...