SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
First day of NCAA national Division I softball tournament on Friday brought some surprises as the double-elimination spotlights Saturday with the winner’s and loser’s bracket games. The winners advance, the losers drop into the consolation bracket, and the yellow ball continues in the circle Sunday.
At Norman, Okla., No.1-seeded, defending champion Oklahoma handily disposed or Prairie View, 14-0, in the shortened run-rule five innings, and in the other contest, Texas A & M handed Minnestoa a 5-1 defeat.
At No. 2 Florida State in Tallahassee, the Seminoles shut down Howard, 8-0, and South Florida downed Mississippi State, 4-0. At No. 3 Virginia Tech in ,the Hookies blanked St. Francis (Pa.), 4-0. and Kentucky rolled past Miami (O), 15-1 in five frames. At No. 5 Arkansas in Little Rock, the Hogs romped over Princeton, 11-0, in five innings, and Oregon had no problem disposing of Wichita State, 10-2.
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At No. 5 UCLA in Los Angeles, it was the Bruins routing Grand Canyon, 12-1, in a run-rule five innings, and Loyola Marymount won over Ole Mississippi, 4-2. At No. 6 Alabama in Tallahassee, it was the Crimson Tide shutting down Chatanooga, 3-0. At No. 7 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, the Cowgirls rode past Fordham, 12-0, in five frames, and Nebraska handed North Texas a 3-0 setback.
At No. 8 Arizona State in Flagstaff, the Wildcats handily turned away Cal State-Fullerton, 8-1, and San Diego State was victorious 10-5, over LSU. At No. 9 Northwestern in Chicago, the Wildcats triumphed over Oakland, 9-2, and McNeese stunned Notre Dame, 11-3, and needed only five innings to do so. At No. 10 Clemson, it was a 9-0 shutdown over UNC-Wilmington, while Auburn had a tight 4-3 win over Louisianna-Lafayette.
At No. 11 Tennessee in Knoxville, the Volunteers batted Campbell, 9-1 in six frames, and Oregon State left Ohio State with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and claimed a 5-4 triumph. At No. 12 Duke in Durham, it was a 4-0 zip over UMBC, and Liberty surprised Georgia, 2-0. at No. 13 Washington, it was a 9-2 victory over Lehigh, and Texas turned in a 6-0 shutout over Weber State.
At No. 14 Florida in Gainesville, the Gators romped past Canisius, 8-1, and Georgia Tech edged Wisconsin in a 2-1 close contest. At No. 15 Missouri against state rival Missouri State, it was the Tigers victorious 3-1, and Arizona finished strong in getting past Illinois, 8-3, and at No. 16 University of Central Florida it was a 6-0 zip over Villanova, while Michigan nipped South Dakota State, 2-1.
Surprises were no doubt Mcneese over Notre Dame to lead the way, Liberty shutting down Georgia, and the tight tussles were one-run wins by Georgia Tech, Michigan, Auburn, Oregon State. The shutouts were turned in by Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Clemson, Duke, Liberty, Texas, and UCF. Also impressive were Kentucky and Oregon.
The Southeastern Conference had a dozen entries in the field and only LSU lost. The field of 64 remains. but the loser’s bracket will eliminate half of it.
