The 2025 Women's College World Series is underway!
OREGON-UCLA
I couldn't stay up for this late-night contest, as the evening schedule was delayed by rain and also there were also outages in the field light system. UCLA beat Oregon 4-2 with a walk-off two-run homer, as summarized in this article. Video clips are embedded within the article.
MISSISSIPPI-TEXAS TECH
Finally underway after a weather delay! Ole Miss up first as the visitors... The Lubbock radio station that broadcasts the major Texas Tech sports has sent the person who calls men's basketball and baseball to broadcast the game, to show you the local interest! NiJaree Canady one strike away from striking out the side, facing her opposite number in the circle, Aliyah Binford. Binford swings and misses to end T1... Still scoreless (and hitless) heading into T3. Binford (having allowed HBP and walk) not as dominant as Canady, but no worse for wear... Rebels again go down quietly... B4, Lauren Allred gets first hit of game, an opposite-field flare to left, with one out... Alana Johnson follows with sharp hit down 3B/LF line, misplayed by left-fielder, scoring run and sending Johnson to third (video)... Ole Miss challenging if TTU runner left first early... Challenge denied, 1-0 Red Raiders... Canady grounds to pitcher, Johnson, trying to score, is chased back to third in a rundown and tagged out. Tech challenging on grounds of obstruction... Call overturned, giving TTU runners on the corners with one out... Per the ESPN announcers, basis of the changed call is that "leading edge" of third base was blocked without 3B-person having ball, even though runner apparently could have touched side of bag... Grounder just in front of home, catcher holds runner at third, but throw to first is late, loading bases for the Raiders... 2-0 count on next batter, with no place to put her... Ole Miss escapes, with grounder to pitcher leading to double play (force at home, then throw to first)... Canady still perfect through five, Raiders coming up in bottom half... B5, two-out single for TTU... Easy pop to end inning... Ole Miss down to its last six outs, not yet having gotten a runner on base... T6, liner to shallow center, nice catch by Mihyia Davis for first out (video)... Sharp single up the middle for Angelina DeLeon, the Rebels' first baserunner... Taylor Malvin with hard liner off 3B-person's glove (ruled a hit), runners at first and second... K looking for second out... Quick 0-2 count on next batter... Next pitch fouled off... Just outside for 1-2 count... Well outside for 2-2... Easy foul pop to Tech 3B-person ends Ole Miss threat... Nothing for Tech in B6... T7, Rebels need a run to stay alive in this game... Binford leading off, strikes out (at least two of the pitches were off-speed, 52-54 mph)... Canady throws 72 mph ball past Persy Llamas for strike 2, swing and miss for strike 3... Lexie Brady final hope for Ole Miss... 1-1 count... 2-1 on 72 mph ball high... Swing and miss for 2-2 count... K to end game, 1-0 Texas Tech win...
TENNESSEE-OKLAHOMA
Vols jump out to 2-0 lead in T1 based on single, double, passed ball, and sac fly... Sooners get one back in B1 on Ella Parker homer (video)... Tennessee adds an unearned run in T3 on a walk and dropped outfield fly, making it 3-1 Vols... Same score, as Vols bat in T6... Walk and single give Tennessee runners at first and second with one out... Nothing comes of it... B6, Sooners with one-out infield single on grounder off of Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens... Fly to shallow left for second OU out... Ground-out back to Pickens to retire the Sooners... T7, Vols with runners on first and second with one out... 3-0 count on next batter... Now full count... After two foul balls, next pitch high to load the bases... 6-4-3 double-play to end Tennessee threat... B7, leadoff walk for OU... K swinging on off-speed pitch after Pickens throws smoke on previous pitches... 3-1 on next batter... Called strike for full count... Pop to SS for second Sooner out... Hard single up the middle, putting runners on the corners... Parker coming up... Golden Pitch situation (OU can win on homer, Tennessee on an out)... 0-1 count... Parker with second homer of the game, a no-doubter to center (video), OU wins 4-3...
TEXAS-FLORIDA
In the opener, Texas has taken a 1-0 lead over Florida on a Joley Mitchell blast to left in T2 (video)... Per WCWS tradition, stadium staff track down the HR ball and present it to the hitter's parents... T5, Longhorns with two-out hit to give them runners on first and second. Slugger Reese Atwood coming up... Full count on Atwood... Strikeout looking to end Texas threat... T6, Texas adds two more solo homers, by Mitchell (her second of the game) followed immediately after by Katie Stewart... 3-0 is the final... The Longhorns' Teagan (Kavan; 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R) outduels the Gators' Keagan (Rothrock; 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 R)
AN OBSERVATION
An interesting development at this year's WCWS is that, whereas one side of the bracket consists entirely of teams who should be here according to the seeding, the other side doesn't have any teams that should be here by this criterion. If the regionals and super-regionals followed the seeding, every team in the WCWS should have a seed from 1 to 8. However, as shown in the following screenshot (from NCAA softball), the top bracket in the WCWS features seeds 2, 3, 6, and 7, whereas the bottom bracket features seeds 9 (instead of No. 8 South Carolina), 12 (instead of No. 5 Florida State), 16 (instead of No. 1 Texas A&M), and an unseeded team (instead of No. 4 Arkansas).
