With Alabama and Tennessee remaining undefeated after yesterday's winners' bracket play, today's action features two match-ups of one-loss teams. After today, two will remain alive and two will be sent packing.
TEXAS TECH-UCLA
Texas Tech (the visitor) leads 3-2 as Bruins bat in B3... Raiders scored a single run on four hits in T1, which UCLA answered with a two-run shot by Jordan Woolery off of NiJaree Canady to lead 2-1... T2, Jasmyn Burns hits solo-shot for Tech and another run is walked it, making it 3-2 Tech... UCLA pitcher Taylor Tinsley's stat-line isn't pretty after three (allowing seven hits and two walks) but her team is right in the game... B3, Rylee Slimp with a leadoff double for UCLA... Megan Grant K for first out, bringing up Woolery again... Walk and two straight HBP tie the game 3-3, Bruins with bases loaded and only one out... Former Bruin Kaitlyn Terry coming in to face her old teammates, replacing Canady... Nothing further for UCLA... T4... Tech goes back in front 4-3 on a single, HBP, fielder's choice, and foul-ball sacrifice fly... B4, Bruins retired 1-2-3... Still 4-3 Tech through five complete... T6, Mia Williams homer makes it 5-3 Raiders... Single, walk, walk lead to another run, 6-3 Raiders... B6, UCLA with one-out single... Double-play ends inning, going to the seventh...
T7, Tech strands two... B7, Bruins need at least three runs to keep their season alive... UCLA sending up its 8-9-1 batters against Terry... Pinch-hitter Ramsey Suarez slams one halfway up the left-field stands (per ESPN 270 feet)... Now 6-4 Tech... Canady coming in... Another PH, Jazmine Leyva, coming up... Flares a single to right... Slimp up... 1-2 count... Flares one to left, but foul... K swinging for first out... Next batter is Megan Grant, the NCAA single-season home-run record-holder at 42 and also the UCLA career leader in homers... Flies to left... All up to Woolery, who homered in the first... Woolery, smiling despite all the pressure, knocks one over the center-field bleachers (267 feet) to tie the game 6-6... Woolery immediately knew it was gone... Terry back in to pitch... Aleena Garcia up... Pop to end the inning. Going to the eighth...
T8, Tinsley's been pitching on fumes, but I don't think UCLA has anyone comparably good to replace her... If you think of Tech's NCAA tournament ride -- first game with Ole Miss, first game with Florida, yesterday's game with Tennessee, and the current game with UCLA -- Tech sure provides a lot of drama! Mihyia Davis hard grounder to Woolery at first for first out... 0-2 to Lauren Allred when ball hits her arm. Original call, being appealed, is that Allred moved into ball... I love how Tech coach Gerry Glasco, ever sociable, is chatting with one of the (univolved) umps during the review... Call confirmed, but the outcome is that the pitch is a ball, hence a 1-2 count... Takes a ball for 2-2 count... Fouls one off... Also grounds to first for second out... Per ESPN, Tinsley's thrown 156 pitches... Jackie Lis, one of Tech's best sluggers, up... 0-2 count... Fly to center, not quite warning-track, for third out... B8, who will Glasco send out to pitch? Terry and Canady each game up homer in the seventh as part of UCLA's three-run comeback... It's Terry, now pitching to Bri Alejandre, 1-0 count... Sprinklers come in by right-field line delaying game for several minutes... Alejandre tries to win game on one swing, misses, 1-1 count... 2-1 count... Swing and miss for 2-2 count... Strikes out swinging for first out... Kaniya Bragg up... 1-1 count... 1-2 on swing and miss... K looking for second out... Alexis Ramirez up, 1-0 count... 1-1 on big swing... Called strike for 1-2... Flares a single to left-center (Jaella Ann Mercado pinch-running)... Canady back in... Suarez back up, 1-0 count... 2-0... 3-0, pitches way high and away... Called strike, 3-1... Another called strike, full count... K swinging, going to the ninth...
T9, Taylor Pannell with leadoff single for Tech... Terry doubles her in, 7-6 Red Raiders... Tech loads bases with none out... K's for first out and second... Weird infield play, including error, scores one but ends half-inning, 8-6 Tech... B9, Terry to pitch... One-out single for Slimp, bringing up Grant and (barring a double-play) Woolery... Grant walks, Woolery, already with two homers on the night, the potential winning run... Woolery singles in Slimp (8-7 Tech), Grant to second... Garcia bats... Canady back in... Garcia flies out... All up to Alejandre... K to end the game... Texas Tech survives, UCLA eliminated...
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Pregame notes. UCLA is the third Texas Tech opponent in the NCAA tournament to have had a player transfer to the Red Raiders -- in this case, Kaitlyn Terry. Texas Tech also features former Tennessee Volunteer Taylor Pannell and former Florida Gator Mia Williams. The Raiders have other transfers, as well, just not from schools they've played in the tourney... Tech has been dividing its pitching load pretty evenly between Terry and NiJaree Canady, including in yesterday's eight-inning loss to Tennessee (Terry 4 1/3 innings, 63 pitches; Canady, 3 2/3 innings, 67 pitches). For the season as a whole, Canady has pitched 168 2/3 innings with an ERA of 1.74 and a WHIP of .85, whereas Terry has pitched 138 2/3 inning with an ERA of 1.67 and WHIP of .88.
NEBRASKA-TEXAS
T1, Jordy Frahm, whose 47-game on-base streak ended yesterday, leads off the game with a home run, giving the Huskers a 1-0 lead. A "Frahm-bomb" if you will (video)... Frahm also pitching today. Her Nebraska teammate Ashley Jensen pitched well in relief yesterday against Alabama, so I thought Jensen might get the nod... Teagan Kavan going for Texas... Other than T1, all half-innings have gone 1-2-3 so far... 1-0 Huskers after two complete... Same after three complete... T4, Huskers leave Hannah Coor stranded after a leadoff double... B4... Texas down quietly, still 1-0 Nebraska... T5, Huskers strand two (single and a runner who got on via fielding error)... B5, Texas still looking for first baserunner... Reese Atwood walk breaks up Frahm's perfecto... Nothing else doing for Texas, still 1-0 Nebraska... T6, Huskers down 1-2-3... B6, Longhorns get first hit via one-out Jaycie Nichols infield single... Kayden Henry singles, Katie Stewart homers (video), putting Texas ahead 3-1... Nothing further... T7, Nebraska, after leading most of the game, now needs at least two runs to keep its season alive... First batter retired... Kacie Hoffmann singles, bringing tying run to the plate... K and fielder's choice end the game... Texas stays alive in its attempt to repeat last year's WCWS title and Nebraska's season is over...