Skip to main content

2023 NCAA Tournament -- Day 2

No. 2 UCLA and Liberty playing an elimination game, tied 1-1 in top (Liberty) half of seventh... Flames with go-ahead run on second with one out... K for second out... Single to left drives in apparent go-ahead run for Liberty. Runner called safe at plate (see video), close call being reviewed... Call is upheld, so 2-1 Flames... Bruins making change in the circle, Megan Faraimo in for Brooke Yanez, who went 6  2/3... UCLA error on grounder to third keeps Liberty rally alive with runners on first and second... 3B-person redeems herself by snaring Liberty liner for third out... Bruins coming up for quite possibly their final at-bats of the season... UCLA scored in first on Megan Grant homer, but has been held scoreless for the next five innings... Full-count on Bruins' lead-off hitter in the seventh, Anna Vines... Strike-three called on pitch at outer edge of plate... Nice catch in left on short flare for second out... UCLA down to last out in the person of Arizona transfer Janelle Meono... 0-2 count... Grounds out to third... UCLA legend Dot Richardson brings her Liberty Flames to LA and knocks out the Bruins... Liberty will now take on Grand Canyon for opportunity to play San Diego State tomorrow... 

No. 11 Arkansas is the second seeded team to suffer a loss thus far (along with No. 2 UCLA yesterday), as the Razorbacks fall to Oregon, 10-4. An eight-run fifth-inning -- including this grand-slam by Tehya Bird -- carries the Ducks to victory...

Elimination games still in progress late Saturday night:

  • Wichita St. vs. Nebraska (Oklahoma St. regional) Won by Nebraska
  • Liberty vs. Grand Canyon (UCLA regional) Won by Liberty
  • Florida vs. Loyola-Marymount (Stanford regional) Won by Florida
  • Minnesota vs. McNeese St. (Washington regional) Won by McNeese St
  • Baylor vs. Ole Miss (Utah regional) Won by Ole Miss
  • Indiana vs. Louisville (Tennessee regional) will be played Sunday at 2:00 pm Eastern

Eliminated teams (thus far) are as follows:

  • Baylor (in the Utah regional)
  • Boston U. (in the Georgia regional)
  • Cal State Fullerton (in the Clemson regional)
  • Campbell (in the Duke regional)
  • Central Arkansas (in the Alabama regional)
  • Central Florida (in the Florida St. regional)
  • Eastern Illinois (in the Northwestern regional)
  • George Mason (in the Duke regional)
  • Grand Canyon (in the UCLA regional)
  • Harvard (in the Arkansas regional)
  • Hofstra (in the Oklahoma regional)
  • Kentucky (in the Northwestern regional)
  • Long Beach St. (in the Stanford regional)
  • Long Island U. (in the Alabama regional)
  • Loyola Marymount (in the Stanford regional)
  • Marist (in the Florida St. regional)
  • Maryland-Baltimore County (in the Oklahoma St. regional)
  • Minnesota (in the Washington regional)
  • Missouri (in the Oklahoma regional)
  • Nebraska-Omaha (in the LSU regional)
  • NC Central (in the Georgia regional)
  • NC Greensboro (in the Clemson regional)
  • Northern Colorado (in the Washington regional)
  • Northern Kentucky (in the Tennessee regional)
  • Notre Dame (in the Arkansas regional)
  • Prairie View A&M (in the LSU regional)
  • Seton Hall (in the Texas regional)
  • Southern Illinois (in the Utah regional)
  • Texas St. (in the Texas regional)
  • No. 2 UCLA (in the UCLA regional)
  • Wichita St. (in the Oklahoma St. regional)

As I noted yesterday, this NCAA webpage offers extensive scores, schedules, and links. A direct link to the brackets is here.

Popular posts from this blog

Pitching Star NiJaree Canady Reportedly in the Transfer Portal

Stanford pitching ace NiJaree Canady has reportedly entered the transfer portal ( link ), having completed two seasons in the circle for the Cardinal. Stanford has made the WCWS in both of Canady's seasons on the team. Another school hit hard by the transfer portal is the University of Washington, with an exodus of eight Huskies . This list of the top ten players in the portal includes four from UW. Today is the final day of the 30-day window for players to enter the portal.

NiJaree Canady Transferring to -- of All Places -- Texas Tech

NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times  even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.

Jordy Bahl Transferring from Oklahoma to Nebraska

The college softball world has thrown us a "Curve Bahl," if you will. Such is the unexpected news that Oklahoma ace Jordy Bahl has announced that she will transfer to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Bahl is from the Omaha suburb of Papillion, Nebraska. Three thoughts jump out at me: Bahl was absolutely indispensable to the Sooners' 61-1 national championship season, coming up with numerous clutch strikeouts in tight tournament games against Clemson (super-regionals, Game 2 ) and Stanford ( WCWS semifinals ).    OU benefited greatly this season via the transfer portal, bringing in Haley Lee  from Texas A&M,  Alex Storako from Michigan, and Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres from Arizona State. Bahl's transfer is the first major one in the modern portal era (to my knowledge) in the other direction. Nebraska becomes an instant national championship contender, in my mind. Other players around the country may find it attractive to join Bahl in Lincoln but even if