ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SOFTBALLAMERICA.COM (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Game One: Tennessee 10, Alabama 5
The first matchup of the day gave us a warm welcome to the Women’s College World Series, with incredible offense from No. 4 Tennessee, as the Vols took down No. 5 Alabama. For the first time in eight years, the Vols were victorious in Oklahoma City, and their 10-run game became their highest-scoring WCWS game in program history.
Tennessee struck first, scoring four runs in the second inning against Alabama’s Jaala Torrence.
The Crimson Tide answered back quickly in the third inning against Tennessee’s Ashley Rogers, as Ally Shipman put them on board with an RBI single, followed by Kenleigh Cahalan driving in Bailey Dowling.
Meanwhile, Tennessee kept slugging away as Jamison Brockenbrough followed up with a two-run home run to give her team a four-run lead in the third inning. Then the floodgates really opened for Tennessee, when a three-run blast by Rylie West gave the Vols an eight-run lead in the fourth inning.
Alabama attempted a late comeback to avoid being run-ruled, scoring three runs in the last three innings, but Tennessee’s Payton Gottshall shut the door.
Tennessee will head over to the winners’ bracket and take on Oklahoma Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. Alabama will fight to keep its season alive by taking on Stanford on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Game Two: Oklahoma 2, Stanford 0
It’s been 102 days since Oklahoma last lost a softball game, and the Sooners' success against Stanford extended their historic winning streak to 49 games. In a very tight pitchers' duel, sophomore Jordy Bahl of Oklahoma went head-to-head with freshman NiJaree Canady of Stanford.
The top-ranked Sooners struggled to get past Canady, who dominated for five strong innings. Stanford out-hit the Sooners 4-1 until they finally broke loose when Jayda Coleman ripped an RBI single to bring home two runs.
Stanford put two runners on in the fourth, but Bahl escaped the jam with back-to-back strikeouts, and the Cardinal were unable to produce any runs. Bahl finished the day throwing all seven innings, allowing five hits, no runs, and one walk with 11 strikeouts.
Oklahoma will now move on to face Tennessee, who is one of the two teams in the WCWS the Sooners have not played against this season.
Game Three: Florida State 8, Oklahoma State 0
After a rain delay before the first pitch and a lightning delay in the third inning, Florida State didn’t let any obstacles get in its way of shutting out Oklahoma State.
Michaela Edenfield fired up the bats early on for Florida State, with a two-run home run in the first inning. Devyn Flaherty later reached base on an error by OSU, bringing home Jahni Kerr.
More insurance runs were added after Kaley Mudge blasted a three-run home run to extend the lead to seven. After an infield single from Kerr, one more run scored, allowing the Seminoles to walk-off in the sixth inning.
Oklahoma State just couldn’t put the offensive pieces together, as the Cowgirls had just four hits in the game. They managed to make their way on base nearly every inning, but stranded six runners. With the loss, the Cowgirls snapped their five-game NCAA Tournament winning streak.
Florida State will now go on to play the winner of the Washington-Utah game and Oklahoma State will play the loser. Game four of the day was postponed due to weather and will now be played on Friday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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