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Conference Championship Games 2023

Several conference championship games are taking place today. I don't know that any of the ones in the major conferences will affect whether a team gets into the NCAA tournament field but winning a conference tourney may give a team a little momentum.

NIGHTCAP

A two-run blast by Aaliyah Jordan in the bottom of the first (video) puts No. 2-ranked UCLA up 2-0 on No. 17 Utah in the Pac 12 championship game. Jordan's launch-angle was as close to 90 degrees (almost straight upward) as I've seen on a home run... Utes respond with a Karlie Davison solo-shot in the top of the second (video), cutting Bruin lead to 2-1... With the teams deadlocked 4-4, Utah pulls away for a 7-4 victory. This great catch in center (video) in the bottom of the fifth, followed by a run-scoring double (video) and two-run homer (video) in the top of the sixth, are the difference, as the Utes take the inaugural Pac 12 tournament.

AFTERNOON GAMES

In a game being televised live only on ESPN+, two national Top 10 teams, No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 7 Texas, are battling for the Big 12 tournament title. The teams are tied 1-1 with the Sooners batting in the bottom of the fourth inning... Haley Lee homered in the bottom of the second to give the Sooners a 1-0 lead (video), with the Longhorns' Viviana Martinez doing likewise in the top of the fourth (video)... OU takes the lead 2-1 in the fourth on a Lee single and Alyssa Brito double... Brito later scores on a wild pitch to make it 3-1 Sooners in the fourth... OU adds a third run in the bottom of the fourth to increase its lead to 4-1. Horns now batting, top 5... Oklahoma continues to roll on, winning 6-1...

Over on ESPN2, No. 3 Florida State leads No. 9 Duke 1-0 in the ACC tourney final. The Seminoles are looking to expand their lead, with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the fourth... Duke with the tying run on third with two outs, top 5... Blue Devils tie game on apparent passed ball (pitch bounced off catcher's mitt)... Walk and infield hit keep  Duke threat going (call at first being reviewed)... "Safe" call at first upheld... Ground-out ends threat... FSU walks it off in bottom of seventh, 2-1, as runner scores from first on bobbled shallow fly to left (video). In studying the replay, a few things jump out to me. First, with two out, runner Devyn Flaherty would be taking off as soon as the pitch was released; as a result she had reached second base while the fly-ball was still in the air. As Flaherty got to third, the base-coach was unhesitatingly waving her home, as though daring the Duke outfielder to make a perfect throw home. That didn't happen and the winning run scored...

National No. 4 Tennessee just underway vs. South Carolina in the SEC title game... The Gamecocks, who have put together a string of upsets to get this far, lead 1-0 in top of first on triple and sac-fly... The Vols are looking to tie or take the lead in the bottom half, with runners on second and third with one out... K for second out... Single ties it 1-1 but fly-out ends inning... Still 1-1 as Tennessee bats in bottom of third... Two-out bases-loaded single makes it 3-1 Vols (video)... No further scoring, as Tennessee wins...

The Big Ten (B1G) Network is now televising the conference championship game between No. 19 Northwestern and unranked Indiana... Scoreless after one... Northwestern takes it, 2-1...

(My error: I previously referred to Northwestern playing Nebraska in the "conference title game." What I was actually watching was a replay of yesterday's semifinal matchup of the Wildcats and Cornhuskers.)

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