NCAA softball wrap-up: Oklahoma, Baylor, Arizona, LSU, Texas A&M, Utah and more

Defending champion Oklahoma sweeps at Auburn, Baylor survives at 2^nd seeded Arizona, LSU surprises at 4^th seeded LSU, Texas A & M successful at Tennessee, Utah loses at Washington

Elite Eight complete in the NCAA Division I softball World Series that starts play Thursday in Oklahoma City

By Arnie Leshin

ESPN had it all figured out. With seven of the eight berths in the NCAA Division I softball World Series clinched from morning to early evening, the last two standing were Utah and Washington in Seattle.

They went on the air at 8 p.m. Mountain Time, which would be 10 o’clock on the East Coast, but with two schools from out west, it wasn’t all that bad time-wise, but not appreciated by those with early deadlines.

No such problems for the four schools that came out of the Super Regionals on Sunday and moved on to the Elite Eight that begins Thursday in Oklahoma City.

First, Oklahoma’s defending national champions completed a sweep at 7^th seeded Auburn, 5-2, in a morning start. In game one on Friday, the Sooners (56-9) triumphed 3-0 on a 3-run home run in the top of the third off the bat of junior Nicole Pendley, and the 2-hit pitching of sophomore left-hander Paige Parker, who struck out an even dozen.

In the Sunday wake-up game, Oklahoma took a 2-0 lead, Auburn tied it in the fourth, but the Sooners added three more runs in the top of the sixth and junior southpaw Paige Lowry hurled a splendid four innings after she came on for right-handed freshman starter Mariah Lopez.

Next, 9^th seeded Texas A & M (47-11) lost once and than won twice to turn back 8^th seed Tennessee at the Volunteers’ field in the early afternoon. In Sunday’s deciding contest, the Aggies went in front with four runs in the third inning and held on for the 6-4 victory.

Then 13^th seeded LSU (50-7) did what it did in last week’s region that it hosted. There, it lost game one to state-rival Louisiana-Lafayette, and then responded by winning three in a row to make it out of the region. This time, it happened again as the Bayou Tigers dropped game one at 4^th seeded FSU and then took the next two of the best-of-three to advance.

In the early evening, it was 15^th seeded Baylor’s turn to surprise at 2^nd seeded Auburn. After losing the 2-1 game one Friday, the Bears (45-12) showed their spunk by wrapping up the next two, with the Sunday deciding game a 6-5 success. Now they will meet up again with their Big 12 rivals Oklahoma, who they lost 2-of-3 from in the regular season.

That left the late night clash of PAC 12 rivals, 11^th seeded Utah and 6^th seeded Washington. On the East Coast, the clock struck 12:05 Monday morning when the Huskies (48-12) won the 2-1 squeaker to grab the final spot in the WCWS. It was a surprising low-scoring, well-pitched contest after these teams erupted for 34 runs in the first two games.

As it stands, the No.2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 14 seeds are gone. The biggest surprises were No. 15 Baylor over No. 2 Arizona, and No. 13 LSU over No. 4 FSU, and the mild surprise was No. 9 Texas A & M getting past No. 8 Tennessee.

The schools that had to sweat it out to make it to Oklahoma City were Florida having to go three before disposing of No. 16 Alabama, 5^th seeded UCLA having to sneak off with one-run wins in twice defeating No. 12 Mississippi, and 3^rd seeded Orgeon winning both times over 14^th seeded Kentucky, but they didn’t come easy.

Stunned and eliminated before the disappointed home crowds were Arizona, Auburn, Tennessee and Florida State. Almost each game was anybody’s game to win. There were many 1-run games, some shutouts, but few romps.

Still remaining in quest of an NCAA title, there’s Florida facing SEC foe Texas A & M, UCLA going against LSU, Baylor-Oklahoma, and Oregon taking on Washington in a PAC 12 clash.

It’s been a disappointment for the SEC, which sent a record 13 schools into the field of 64, but has only three left. The PAC 12 also gets three in. The Big 12 has the other two that complete the finals’ field.

One thing is clear, home field advantage has to go to the Oklahoma Sooners, for their Norman campus is about one hour from Oklahoma City. They have won three championships there. UCLA’s 12 are the most, and Arizona is second with eight.