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Game 1: Kentucky 6, Butler 1
The Wildcats and Bulldogs met Saturday morning after play was suspended Friday due to inclement weather. Despite that, an entertaining game was played between the two teams and in the end, it was
The Wildcats started off with a 2-0 lead after doing damage in the early goings Friday. The score was pushed to 3-0 after an attempt to catch Christian Stokes stealing went awry. Maisie Steed, who was aboard second, went to third on the double steal attempt and then made it home safely after a deft slide.
Rain made its way back to Lexington to halt things briefly but the showers passed and play was quick to resume. Freshman catcher Jenny Schaper knocked in two with a single in the bottom of the fifth inning to push the 'Cats' lead up to 5-0. An inning later, Sylver Samuel drove in a run of her own with a single to push the lead to 6-0.
The Bulldogs' only run came in the top of the seventh inning after Alyssa Lach had an RBI double. For the most part, Butler was kept at bay by Meagan Prince who threw six strikeouts in her six innings of work. She allowed five hits to be sprinkled over her outing and didn't issue a single walk.
UK will now play Utah shortly in their second game of the day for the right to get to an elimination game on Sunday afternoon.
Game 2: Tennessee 10, Marist 2
The Marist Red Foxes put Tennessee in an early 2-0 hole after a home run by Rebecca Freeman in the first inning. Unfortunately for Marist, those two runs would be the only ones they would score in this game as the Tennessee Vols pounced all over them winning 10-2 to advance to a winner's bracket matchup later in the day.
The Vols offense was aided by runs scored by six different players on the day. The Vols would win via the run-rule in the sixth inning after three runs were scored in the inning, the last coming after a walk drawn by Shaliyah Geathers.
Megan Geer and Gretch Aucoin had two apiece. Geer's would come via the long ball in the third inning and a walk she drew in the ensuing at-bat she had in the fourth inning.
Erin Gabriel was solid in the winning effort, throwing 4.1 innings pitched. She struck out five of the 20 batters she faced and allowed just three hits and two earned runs while issuing three walks.
Tennessee will take on Arizona later today in a winner's bracket round game.
Game 3: Florida State 4, South Carolina 0
After beating South Florida on Friday, South Carolina moved on to face the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday. Going for a take down of Sunshine State opponents, the Gamecocks played well but ultimately would fall to the No. 6 ranked Seminoles 4-0 and now have their backs put to the wall as they'll play a game to avoid elimination later in the day.
The Gamecocks couldn't figure out FSU's pitchers as Meghan King and Jessica Burroughs combined to toss seven scoreless frames. King and Burroughs threw four combined strikeouts and allowed just six hits from the Gamecock batters and only two for extra bases.
Three Seminole batters had doubles on Saturday afternoon with Jessica Warren leading the charge with two of her own. Ellie Cooper and Alex Powers also picked up two-baggers on the afternoon in FSU's shutout performance.
South Carolina will play an elimination game later on today.
Game 4: Florida 5, UCF 0
After picking up an 11-0 victory Friday, the Florida Gators continued their shutout streak in the regionals with a 5-0 victory against the UCF Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon. The Gators looked and played every bit of the part in the victory over their in-state foes and leading the way was Delanie Gourley. Gourley threw a complete game, one-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts as she made Golden Knights batters look foolish at times.
The scoring got started for UF with an Amanda Lorenz solo home run in the top of the third inning. The big inning would come in the seventh and final frame as the Gators would score three to push their lead up to 5-0, where it would of course stay until the end. A pair of singles by Aubree Munro and Taylore Fuller as well as a sacrifice fly by Kelsey Stewart did the damage to provide Gourley with enough cushion to get through.
The Gators now have the chance to get to the Super Regionals tomorrow afternoon if they were to win that encounter.
Game 5: LSU 4, McNeese State 1
Thanks to Sahvanna Jaquish and the bat of Kellsi Kloss, the LSU Tigers advanced through their winner's bracket game and will play for a bid in the Super Regionals following their 4-1 victory over McNeese State on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers' effort was aided by Jaquish in particular as the junior from Highland, California had a double and drove in three runs over the course of the game. Jaquish helped put the Tigers on the board early and gave them insurance later in the sixth inning. Kloss then stepped up in the ensuing bat to pad the lead for LSU as she finished the day 1-for-2 with two walks.
Carley Hoover worked herself into some trouble in the seventh inning but maintained her composure to help give the Tigers the victory. Hoover pitched a complete game, striking out eight while allowing only one earned run and five hits. She provided perhaps the biggest play of the game in the final frame when she singlehandedly stopped a run from scoring after a passed ball got past the catcher.
Game 6: Georgia 5, Northwestern 2
The Georgia Bulldogs picked up their second win of this year's NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon. After winning 6-0 over Maine on Friday, the Bulldogs took down the Northwestern Wildcats 5-2 to advance to the Athens Regional final on Sunday.
Tina Iosefa hit her second home run in as many days on Saturday afternoon as she cranked a solo blast to lead off the top of the second inning. Lacey Sumerlin saw Iosefa's homer and added one of her own in the same inning that was of the two-run variety as she brought Katie Browne in with one powerful swing.
Iosefa would later bring in Sydni Emanuel with a sacrifice fly to left field in the top of the third inning. Sydni would net an RBI of her own in the following inning, the final run for the Bulldogs on the day that would prove to be vital against the Wildcats.
Chelsea Wilkinson spun a complete game with nine strikeouts, two hits allowed with one run charged to her, the other coming unearned. She issued zero walks to the 24 batters she faced Saturday afternoon in Athens and continued her successes on the mound as a result.
Game 7: Utah 3, Kentucky 0
Despite winning their previous contest, Kentucky will now head to the losers' bracket and an elimination game after falling 3-0 to Utah in Lexington.
The Wildcat offense was stymied by the Utes in the Saturday afternoon encounter, an upset by any measure no doubt. As a result, the Wildcats will now play their third game of the day at 6 p.m. ET against the winner of Illinois-Butler, giving Kentucky the possibility of facing the Bulldogs for the second time in the same day.
Anissa Urtez hit a two-run home run in the top of the first driving herself and Hannah Flippen in to do early damage to the Wildcats. The 'Cats would have a chance to do some damage over the course of the game but baserunning mistakes plagued them and they could not get a run across home all game. Sophomore pitcher Katie Donovan was steady throughout the game, going 6.2 innings in with four hits allowed and four strikeouts. Miranda Viramontes picked her teammate up to get the final out, inducing a strikeout out of Jenny Schaper.
Game 8: Missouri 9, Nebraska 0
Mizzou softball appears to be all out of damns to give as they run-ruled Nebraska for the second straight day and run-ruled an opponent for the third consecutive game as they advanced to their eighth Super Regional since 2008.
The TIgers jumped all over the Huskers from the start, leading 6-0 after the first inning. Sami Fagan and Kirsten Mack did the damage as Fagan would drive in two with a double and then steal home successfully. Later, Mack would hit a home run of the three-run variety as the Tigers' powerful offense continued to be on full display.
Fagan would add an RBI single later on that scored Emily Crane and Taylor Gadbois, and then Amanda Sanchez would net herself a sacrifice fly on the ensuing at-bat.
Paige Lowary kept up her domination in the Columbia Regional as she once again didn't allow a run to cross. She struck out two over the five innings she worked and allowed just three hits from Husker batters, none of which were for extra bases.
Game 9: Oklahoma 9, Ole Miss 1
While Missouri won via a run rule, the Ole Miss Rebels fell to the run rule as they lost to the Oklahoma Sooners 9-1 in five innings. The Rebels were trounced by the Sooners, especially so in the second inning when the Sooners scored seven against pitchers Madison Osias and Elisha Jahnke in that inning alone.
Ole Miss could muster all of two hits on the day with one going for extra bases as Miranda Strother hit a double to lead off the top of the fifth inning.
Sooners pitcher Paige Parker was excellent in her outing, tossing five innings and allowing just one run to cross. She struck out six of the 19 batters she faced and shaved her ERA down to 1.43 on the season after the outstanding effort for her and the No. 4 ranked Sooners. The top performer at the plate for OU was Shay Knighten, who went 3-for-3 with a double and four runs batted in.
The Rebels will now play an elimination game later on in the day.
Game 10: Alabama 3, California 1
Despite facing an early deficit, the Crimson Tide continued their winning ways and will head to their regional final after a 3-1 victory over the California Golden Bears on Saturday.
Kobie Pettis drove in an early run in the first inning after Cal threatened to score a bevy of runs after jumping on Sydney Littlejohn. Littlejohn, however, maintained composure and skated out of trouble and her offense would back her up in the innings that followed. The Tide were boosted by back-to-back triples by Haylie McCleney and Chandler Dare in the bottom of the third inning to give the Tide a lead they would not relinquish. Insurance would later be provided by Dare who doubled to drive in McCleney who scored all the way from first.
Littlejohn scattered seven hits over four innings of work and threw two strikeouts. After coming off her impressive performance Friday, Alexis Osorio got the save after pitching three innings of shutout ball with seven strikeouts to one walk.
Game 11: Arizona 4, Tennessee 0
After picking up a monster win over Marist early in the day, the Volunteers now face elimination after the Arizona Wildcats took them to task and shut them out 4-0 in a midday collision on the diamond.
UofA was aided by a spectacular performance by Danielle O'Toole. O'Toole pitched a complete game shutout and retired 21 in a row after allowing a leadoff single in the top of the first inning. She was virtually unhittable, striking out seven of the 22 batters she faced as UT's offense couldn't quite get it going as they did earlier in the day against Marist.
The Volunteers now stare elimination in the face as they will play tomorrow afternoon against either Marist or Ohio State.
Game 12: Auburn 6, USC Upstate 1
The Auburn Tigers will play for the Super Regionals on Sunday after their 6-1 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon. The reigning SEC Tournament champions looked sharp in the win as they never trailed their opponents, scattering two runs out in the second, fourth and seventh innings.
Five different Auburn batters drove in runs in the contest on Saturday including Emily Carosone who drove in two to get to 54 runs batted in on the season. SEC Player of the Year Kasey Cooper got in on the fun as well as she picked up her 74th RBI on the season, coming on a walk drawn in the fourth inning. Carosone meanwhile netted hers on a two-out, two-run double in the top of the second inning that scored Tiffany Howard and Whitney Jordan.
Carlee Wallace and Haley Fagan also picked up RBI in the contest.
Kaylee Carlson went the distance as she kept USC Upstate baserunners to a premium. She allowed just one extra base hit all afternoon - a home run by Abbie Millete - while her other two hits allowed came from mere singles. Carlson struck out two batters and walked three but managed to keep most of USC Upstate's batters at bay in a solid performance on the mound.
Game 13: Texas A&M 6, Boston U 0
The Aggies bounced back after falling to Texas on Friday with a 6-0 win against the BU Terriers.
A big second inning for the Aggies helped lead them to the win as they scored five runs to put themselves in the driver's seat the rest of the way. They sent 10 batters to the plate and netted all five runs on singles, peppering BU to proverbial death with them.
The win now sets up yet another TAMU-UT collision later today where the loser will head home and the winner plays Louisiana Lafayette on Sunday for the right to go to the Super Regionals.
Game 14: Texas A&M 9, Texas 3
After losing to the Longhorns Friday, the Aggies got their revenge when it mattered and hurt the most. With their 9-3 victory over Texas, Texas A&M now heads to the Regional Final to face Louisiana Lafayette and it's goodbye to UT, who will head back to Austin.
The Aggies scattered 10 hits over the course of seven innings, dropping in runs in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings of the game. Erica Russell was the top performer of the day, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a double with three runs scored and an RBI. Keeli Milligan meanwhile went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
Samantha Show pitched well in the victory to send A&M to the finals. She threw a complete game even after throwing in A&M's first game of the day as well. She tossed five strikeouts to two walks and allowed four hits in an impressive showing.
Game 15: South Carolina 6, South Florida 0
After meeting on Friday, South Carolina and South Florida met yet again on Saturday night and the results remained the same. The Gamecocks defeated the Bulls via a shutout again, this time by the margin of 6-0.
South Carolina now has their work cut out for them as they will have to beat Florida State not once but twice if they want to make it to the Super Regionals. They'll get their chance to do it on Sunday afternoon.
Game 16: Kentucky 3, Illinois 2
With do or die implications looming large, Kentucky needed a victory to stay alive and advance to the Regional Final against Utah on Sunday. The Wildcats got exactly that as they defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini in extra innings thanks to some clutch hitting by Katie Reed in the bottom of the top of the seventh inning to tie the game.
Abbey Cheek scored the go-ahead run in the eighth after a double by Christian Stokes brought her home.
Game 17: Ole Miss 4, Wichita State 0
The Rebels bounced back from a loss to Oklahoma earlier int he day with a 4-0 victory over the Wichita State Shockers to send them home and the Rebels on their way to the Regional Final where they'll again face the Sooners. This time on Sunday, where they, like the Gamecocks, will have to beat their opponents twice to make the Super Regionals.