Here's my annual list of top teams' senior losses from this year's squad and top returnees for next year... WORLD SERIES TEAMS ARIZONA STATE Seniors: Katie Burkhart (P), Mindy Cowles (IF), Rhiannon Baca (SS), Jackie Vasquez (OF) Key returnees: Kaitlin Cochran (OF, Jr.), Krista Donnenwirth (SS-3B, Fr.) (year of school shown is from past season) TEXAS A&M Seniors: Megan Gibson (P), Amanda Scarborough (P), Jami Lobpries (IF-OF), Jamie Hinshaw (3B) Key returnees: Erin Glasco (C, Jr.), Kelsey Spittler (OF, Fr.), Natalie Villarreal (IF, Fr.), Alex Reynolds (DP-1B, So.), Holly Ridley (RF, Jr.) FLORIDA Seniors: Mary Ratliff (OF) Key returnees: Kim Waleszonia (UT, Jr.), Stacey Nelson (P, Jr.), Francesca Enea (C, So.), Ali Gardiner (1B, Jr.), Aja Paculba (2B, Fr.) ALABAMA Seniors: Jordan Praytor (UT), Chrissy Owens (P), Dani Woods (IF) Key returnees: Kelsi Dunne (P, Fr.), Brittany Rogers (OF, Jr.), Kelley Montalvo (UT, Jr.), Lauren Parker (IF, Jr.), Charlotte Morgan ...

... CONGRATS TO ARIZONA STATE ... ... 2008 NCAA WOMEN'S SOFTBALL CHAMPIONS ... Sun Devil pitcher Katie Burkhart tossed her second straight shutout of the championship series against Texas A&M, to clinch the national title for ASU. Even if the Aggies had managed to get on the board, however, Burkhart's teammates had things under control offensively, the result being an 11-0 victory for ASU in Game 2. The Devils' Kaitlin Cochran, who had repeatedly been walked intentionally in the World Series, finally put the metal to one, belting a three-run homer tonight. With all the great pitchers gathered in Oklahoma City -- Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher, Arizona's Taryne Mowatt, and Florida's Stacey Nelson, among others -- Burkhart was perhaps overshadowed. Back-to-back shutouts in the championship round speak for themselves, however. A&M's Megan Gibson also had a great year in the circle, but she evidently ran out of gas tonight. Article links: ...

Arizona State has pushed across a run in the bottom of the first against Texas A&M, to lead 1-0 in the opening game of the two-out-of-three final championship series... Krista Donnenwirth, whose hit drove in the Sun Devils' first run, adds a solo homer in the third, making it 2-0 ASU... Donnenwirth adds yet another RBI in the fifth inning -- 3-0 Sun Devils... ... GAME OVER ... ... 3-0 ASU ... ... SUN DEVILS LEAD SERIES 1-0 ...

Game 3 With a spot in the final championship series against Arizona State on the line (see the Game 2 summary below), Texas A&M and Florida are scoreless after eight innings (the regulation seven, plus one extra inning). UPDATE: Texas A&M has defeated Florida, 1-0 in nine innings. The Aggies got a key triple in the top of the ninth when Kelsey Spittler pulled a hard grounder pulled down the right-field line, to drive in the game's first -- and ultimately only -- run. A&M second-baseperson Natalie Villarreal, who dropped a crucial pop-up in the first game of the day with Florida, engineered a nice double play in the bottom of the ninth to help short-circuit a Florida rally. The final two-out-of-three championship series, beginning Monday night, will thus pit Texas A&M against Arizona State. Not to toot my own horn too heavily, but I did write the following exactly one week ago, before the World Series even started. Actually, over many years of being a s...

Game 4 [Posted on Sunday] Alabama defeated Louisiana Lafayette 3-1, to eliminate the Ragin' Cajuns. There was a long weather-related delay late Saturday night, during which I went to sleep. It's only from this article that I learned of the game's outcome. As it turned out, play didn't resume until after midnight local time. Bama now goes against Arizona State. The undefeated Sun Devils need only win once to make the final championship series, whereas the Crimson Tide must beat ASU twice. Game 3 Florida has eliminated UCLA , 2-0. This makes the SEC 2-for-2 in games today against the Pac 10 (see below for a summary of Alabama's win over Arizona). Florida next will play Texas A&M on Sunday. The Aggies, undefeated in World Series play, only need a single win over the Gators to qualify for the final championship series. Florida, with one loss already, must beat A&M twice to make the finals. Game 2 The Queen is dead! Long live the Queen! We don't y...

Texas A&M captured tonight's opener, 2-1 over the University of Louisiana Lafayette ( article ). After the Ragin' Cajuns scored a run to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth, the Aggies responded with a tally in the top of the seventh that turned out to be the winning run. Given the Cajuns' tight games yesterday and today, I've made up an advertising slogan for them: Never a (D) ULL Moment! In the nightcap, Arizona State recorded the most decisive victory of the World Series thus far, blanking UCLA 4-0. It could have been considerably worse as, for example, the Sun Devils failed to score in a bases-loaded, none-out situation in the first. Next up is "Survival Saturday," where the teams with one loss play each other. If you lose, you go home; but if you win, you get to keep playing. Action starts at noon Eastern, with Florida playing Virginia Tech; next is Alabama against Arizona. The losers of Friday night's games -- ULL and UCLA -- will the...

END-OF-THE-DAY UPDATE Day 1 of the NCAA Women's College World Series ended a short time ago, with UCLA edging Pac-10 rival Arizona, 1-0. Both teams started off a little shaky in the field, resulting in numerous baserunners for whomever was batting at the time. The Bruins got a key first-inning hit by Amanda Kamekona to drive in the game's only run. After a few innings, both starting pitchers -- UCLA's Anjelica "Jelly" Selden and U of A's Taryne Mowatt -- settled down, and there were few offensive threats by either team the rest of the way. In the first game of the evening session, it looked like Alabama's strategy of pitching around Arizona State slugger Kaitlin Cochran was going to work, as the Tide took a 1-0 lead into the Sun Devils' at-bats in the top of the seventh. Other ASU players started getting key hits, however, and the result was a 3-1 Sun Devil win . The two afternoon games took place while I was at the office, so I only obtained peri...