2:00 Eastern/1:00 Central/11:00 Pacific: I'm following a bunch of game-trackers today, which you can access via the links on the right-hand side of this page (either through the CSTV page or particular teams' pages). I can report the following, for now... Northwestern has taken the first game from Michigan, 2-1, in Ann Arbor. Bottom of the 4th, Georgia leads Tennessee 2-0. I will add in links to game articles as they become available. 6:00 Eastern/5:00 Central/3:00 Pacific: Some updates... Michigan shut out Northwestern in the second game of their double-header, 2-0, thus producing a split. The Wolverines' Jennie Ritter pitched complete games in both ends of the twin-bill, giving her 28 innings pitched for the weekend. As this Northwestern article points out, the Wildcats still have the upper hand in the Big 10 race, with a pair of games remaining for each team next weekend. Georgia defeated Tennessee 7-6, thus giving the Bulldogs two out of three in the series aga...

Before the start of this weekend's play, first-place Northwestern was one game ahead of Michigan in the loss column in Big 10 competition. With Northwestern defeating Michigan State Friday and earlier today, and Michigan doing the same against Illinois, first place will be very much at stake in Sunday's Wildcat-Wolvernine double-header in Ann Arbor (although each team has two additional conference games remaining after facing each other). As summarized in the Saturday game story from the Michigan softball site: The victory runs Michigan's record to 33-12 overall and 11-3 in the Big Ten, while Illinois falls to 23-27 and 7-8. With a Northwestern sweep at Michigan State this weekend, the Wolverines remain in second place in the Big Ten behind the Wildcats, who are 35-10 overall and 13-2 in the Big Ten. Michigan will vie for first place in the conference and a chance to win its third straight Big Ten regular-season title when the Wolverines host the Northwestern Wildcats in...

Lots of big games this weekend, as the regular season come down to the home stretch. Starting with the Big 10 , first-place Northwestern (11-2 in conference) visits second-place Michigan (9-3) for a Sunday double-header. These two games will likely play a substantial -- though not necessarily decisive -- role in determining who finishes first in the league. The reason the Wildcat-Wolverine head-to-head match-ups may not decide the conference championship is that each team has four additional Big 10 games remaining. Michigan plays Illinois before Northwestern, and then Michigan State later on. Northwestern faces these same two opponents, but in the opposite order. Michigan pitcher Jennie Ritter is well-known for her performance last year in leading the Wolverines to the national championship. Probably less well known, but not necessarily any less effective, is Northwestern pitcher Eileen Canney, who gained attention by striking out 28 University of Minnesota batters in an 18-...

5:30 Central/3:30 Pacific: I see from CSTV's scoreboard and gametracker (link on the right-hand side of this page) that the University of Washington has defeated UCLA 3-2 in 12 innings, in the completion of the teams' rain-suspended April 15 game from when the teams were in Seattle. Though the resumption of the game took place on the Bruins' field, the Huskies, of course, batted as the home team. I will link to articles on this game as they become available. UCLA and "U-Dub" still have their regularly scheduled game to play later today, with the Bruins now becoming the home team. And Texas at Texas A&M is also coming up tonight! 9:45 Central/7:45 Pacific: University of Texas pitcher Cat Osterman came within one out of yet another no-hitter, giving up a single with two out in the home half of the seventh to Texas A&M's Rocky Spencer. The Aggies actually had runners on first and second at the end, due to a previous walk, but the Longhorns held ...

There's some good midweek action this week. On Wednesday, UCLA (No. 1 nationally) and Texas (No. 2) each takes on a ranked intra-conference rival in Washington and Texas A&M, respectively. According to a news release on the UCLA athletics website: UCLA faces an unusually busy Pac-10 schedule this week, as Washington travels to Los Angeles on Wednesday for 12 scheduled innings before the Bruins play host to Arizona and Arizona State on the weekend. Wednesday's schedule will begin at noon with the resumption of a game that was washed out in Seattle on April 15. Play will begin in the top of the third inning with UCLA's Ashley Herrera leading off. The regularly scheduled game then take[s] place with the Bruins batting as the home team. The Huskies, who are ranked 14th and 15th in the current national polls (see links to the rankings on the right-hand side of the current page), lost to the Bruins 6-0 on April 14 in Seattle, in the one game of that series that was able to...

Here are some pictures I took at last Thursday's Game 1 of the Texas at Texas Tech double-header. Some of the longer-distance photos are a bit fuzzy, but I think the overall set is pretty good. The opener was completed in light showers, but heavier rain during Game 2 forced its cancellation. First, a shot of Texas pitcher Cat Osterman in the circle. But for a Red Raider infield hit when Whitney Riley beat out a grounder to short in the fifth inning, Osterman would've had a perfect game. I checked " Cat's Korner " (that's "K" as in strike-out), Osterman's blog, to see if she wrote anything about the Texas Tech game. I'm curious how frustrated she felt at missing a perfect game or no-hitter. She has 20 no-hitters and seven perfectos in her college career, so it presumably wouldn't be as devastating as if someone were going for her first. Still, though, great athletes tend to be very hungry and competitive. As of now, her most recen...

Wrapping up the series I've been reviewing this weekend... Arizona fell just short of sweeping all three games on its northern California trip, dropping a 5-1 decision to Cal on Sunday. Arizona St., however, avenged yesterday's loss to Stanford, besting the Cardinal 3-1. U of A and ASU each thus went 2-1 in northern Cal, whereas the two host schools, Stanford and Cal, each went 1-2. As of when I'm writing on Sunday night, the Pac 10 website (see links on the right-hand side of the page) has not updated the conference standings. When they are updated, we will see that Arizona State and Arizona (who had been in fourth and fifth places, respectively) will have gained a bit on Cal and Stanford (who had been in second and third, respectively). UCLA remains at the top of the standings. In the SEC, Alabama defeated Georgia 4-1 to take their three-game series. In Big 12 play, Kansas stunned Texas 1-0. Northwestern (11-2 in conference) continues to lead the Big 10, after a sw...