ALABAMA-TEXAS TECH
Game 2 (Winner-take-all rematch)
T1, Tech (the visitors in this one) wastes no time getting runners on first and second against Jocelyn Briski, but nothing comes of it... B1, Ni Jaree Canady starting for the Red Raiders... Per ESPN, it's her record 19th appearance in the WCWS, having made it all four years of her career (the first two with Stanford, the last two with Texas Tech)... Bama goes 1-2-3...
1-0 Tech after five, on a Jasmyn Burns homer T4... It's been Canady all the way so far for the Raiders, allowing only one hit... Briski has also gone all the way for the Tide, allowing six hits... Tech wins it 2-0, advancing to a rematch of last year's championship series against the University of Texas, beginning Wednesday night...
This will be the Red Raiders' fourth elimination game of the tournament (Game 3 vs. Florida, last night's game vs. UCLA, and tonight's first game vs. Alabama) and they're still alive... Can they make it four for four? Meanwhile, can Alabama get back to the kind of lights-out pitching that was limiting most tournament opponents to zero or one run per game? Coming up in a few minutes...
Game 1
Texas Tech needs to beat Bama twice tonight to advance to the championship round vs. Texas, the Crimson Tide needs only one win... T1, both sides go quickly (Bama vs. Kaitlyn Terry, Tech vs. Jocelyn Briski)... T2, two singles give Tide runners on second and third (trail runner advancing on throw to third)... Tech switches to NiJaree Canady... Audrey Vandagriff's sac-fly drives in game's first run, 1-0 Tide, but nothing further. T2, Tech ties it 1-1 on two singles and a double. Run came on first hit of the tournament allowed by Briski with Runners in Scoring Position (RISP)... T3, leadoff single for Bama's Kristen White... Two strikeouts follow... Ground-out ends half-inning... B3, two-out Lauren Allred homer, oppo to left, makes it 2-1 Red Raiders... Jackie Lis singles hard up the middle... Bama pitching coach (I assume) out to the mound for meeting... Taylor Pannell up... K to end inning... Before tonight, Bama had only allowed more than one run in this year's NCAA tournament once, the Tide's 6-3 win over UCLA in the opening round... T4, Canady still going... Full count on Carlie Giles to lead off... Homers to left, tying it 2-2. To my non-expert eye, pitch looked dead center in the strike zone... Terry coming back in... Ana Roman flies to left for first out... Next batter tries to bunt for a hit, thrown out at first for second out... Ambrey Taylor with single to the gap in left-center... Salen Hawkins up... Bama baserunning mishap on infield grounder, in which runner who started at first appears to turn toward third and is easily thrown out in rundown... B4, one-out walk to Jasmyn Burns... Hailey Toney with hard line single up the middle, runners on first and second... Canady batting... On 1-0 count, Bama brings in Vic Moten to pitch... Probably smart of Bama to not tax Briski further, in case she's needed later in Game 1 or in a possible Game 2... Full count to Canady... K swinging for second out... Mia Williams up... 0-2 count... 2-2 count.. K looking... Moten puts out the fire...
T5, two quick outs for Bama... ESPN announcer points out that Jena Young, who got on base in all of her seven plate appearances to begin the WCWS, is 0-3 tonight... HBP to Brooke Wells on helmet, seems OK, but pinch-run for... Alexis Pupillo up... 0-2 count... 1-2... 2-2... K swinging to end the half-inning... B5, Mihyia Davis flies to CF for first out... Allred grounds out to Moten... Lis up... 3-1 count... Walks... Pannell up, 1-0 count...Low, 2-0... Bama pitching coach out to mound for meeting... Pannell homers to left putting Tech up 4-2... Ball may have glanced off back of Vandagriff's glove... Terry up... K to end inning... T6, one-out Roman single... K looking for second out, bringing up Taylor... 2-0 count... Liner caught by Toney at short, ending the half-inning, Raiders still leading 4-2... T7, Young homers to tie it 4-4, but in B7, Williams homers to win it for Tech... We'll have a rematch coming up...
TEXAS-TENNESSEE
Game 2 (Winner-take-all rematch)
Game 2 underway, with the aces, Karlyn Pickens of Tennessee and Teagan Kavan of Texas, going. Texas is the home team for this one... Scoreless first inning... B2, Longhorns get back-to-back walks with two outs... Grounder to first ends inning, still scoreless... B3, Texas scores three on, among other things, three singles, a steal of home, and a double. 3-0 Horns... B5, Katie Stewart blasts one to left-center, increasing Texas lead to 4-0... T6, Vols go scoreless... One scary moment, hard grounder along first-base line hits orange safety-base (in foul territory), bounces up sharply, and hits Stewart in the face... She leaves game on her own power and now is seen standing in the dugout... B6, Texas gets first two batters to first and second... Nice catch by Vol 3B-person Ella Dodge on low liner, for first out... Another line-out, this time to second, with runner on first doubled off to end the inning... T7, Tennessee's last chance to stay alive, trailing 4-0... Vols go quietly, Longhorns heading back to the championship series they won last year...
Game should start around 2:15 Central... Just an editorial comment on my part: I don't know why the system has the same teams play two games in a row when players are tired, rather than alternating between the two sets of teams. In other words, why not have Texas Tech and Alabama play now and then have Texas and Tennessee come back after that? I assume the coaches have a say in the format, so maybe they prefer the current way.
Game 1
Texas needing to beat Tennessee twice to advance to the championship series, whereas Tennessee only needs one win... If Texas wins the first game early this afternoon, the rematch would follow shortly thereafter... Citlaly Gutierrez pitching for Longhorns. Erin Nuwer started for Tennessee, replaced after two by Sage Mardjetko... Longhorns take a 1-0 lead T4 on Reese Atwood homer. Texas put two runners on later in the inning, but nothing comes of it... B4, two-out rally for Vols. Gabby Leach triples to RF corner, driving in Ella Dodge, who had walked. Game tied 1-1... Leach stranded at third... T5, with one out, Katie Stewart gives Texas back the lead, 2-1, with homer to left... Viviana Martinez doubles to the gap in left-center, Atwood coming up... Atwood walks, with fourth ball due to pitcher clock violation... Leighann flares a single to shallow right, loading bases for Hannah Wells... Wells with long single off the wall in center, driving in two... 4-1 Texas... Runners on first and second with one out... Nuwer coming back in to pitch... Karlyn Pickens had been throwing in bullpen -- with ESPN announcers wondering why she hadn't been inserted with the score closer -- but now the score may be sufficiently out of reach (for now) to use Pickens... T6, still 4-1 Texas, but Longhorns put runners on first and second with two outs for Atwood... Groundout to end threat... B6, one-out double by Vols' Elsa Morrison... Nothing comes of it... T7, Texas with runners on second and third and one out after Kaiah Altmeyer double, trying to pad its lead... Run scores on grounder to first, two out, now 5-1 Texas... Grounder to second ends half-inning... B7, Tennessee needs at least four to avoid a winner-take-all rematch... Leadoff single... Foul pop to 1B-person Stewart for first out... Wild pitch advances runner to second... Walk puts runners on first and second... Stewart can't field grounder to first (error), loading bases and bringing tying run to the plate in Alannah Leach... Bloop pop to SS for second out... Emma Clarke, who hit game-winning homer Saturday against Texas Tech, is last chance for Vols... 2-1 count... Chopper that 2B-person Goode can't make play on. One run in (5-2 Texas) and bases still loaded... Teagan Kavan coming in to try to get final out for Horns... Elsa Morrison coming up as potential winning run (if she homers)... 1-0 count... 1-1... Big swing and miss, 1-2... Low, 2-2... K looking... Texas wins 5-2 to force winner-take-all rematch in 45 minutes...