OKLAHOMA CITY – Alabama and Oklahoma are just one win away from a spot in the Women’s College World Series’ championship series after wins on Friday night.
The Crimson Tide beat Arizona State 2-1 behind a dominating performance from pitcher Jackie Traina, who fanned 11 and allowed just three hits.
In the first game Friday, the Sooners knocked off top-seeded California 3-0 behind a 16-strikeout shutout from national player of the year Keilani Ricketts. Now Oklahoma and Alabama can sit back and watch as four teams are sent home in elimination games on Saturday. By virtue of their 2-0 starts in Oklahoma City both squads have a day to rest before they’ll need one win in two chances to reach the championship series.
Saturday’s action begins with South Florida against LSU at noon Eastern, followed by Tennessee versus Oregon. The losers of those games will be eliminated, while the winners will move on to play Friday’s losing teams later in the day in another pair of elimination games. Arizona State will play the LSU/South Florida winner at 7 PM Eastern, followed by Cal versus the Tennessee/Oregon survivor.
Click here for the latest bracket from NCAA.com.
All of the preliminary round action is leading up to the best-of-three championship series, which will be broadcast live on the Westwood One / NCAA Radio Network on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (if necessary).
Kevin Kugler and Leah Amico will have all of the action of the championship series. You’ll be able to hear every pitch on a local affiliate near you, streaming right here on WestwoodOneSports.com and on NCAA.com, and on the Slacker Mobile app for iOS and Android. For more information on Slacker, click here.