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NCAA softball conference tournaments are delivering jaw-dropping plays and extra-inning thrillers

May 10, 2024
With automatic bids to the national tournament on the line, the girlies are stuffing your feed with web gems, walk-offs, and extra-inning barnburners.
CollegeSoftball
NCAA softball conference tournaments are delivering jaw-dropping plays and extra-inning thrillersNCAA softball conference tournaments are delivering jaw-dropping plays and extra-inning thrillers
Source: NCAASoftball/X

The GIST: When two different college softball games make SportsCenter’s Top 10, you know that this week’s conference tournaments are popping off. With automatic bids to the national tournament on the line, the girlies are stuffing your feed with web gems, walk-offs, and extra-inning barnburners.

Top seeds suffer upsets: Fans are shook after No. 1–seed Tennessee took a 2–1 loss to No. 8 LSU in last night’s SEC quarter-finals, then Big Ten No. 1 Northwestern piled onto the chaos with a 4–3 loss to No. 8 Indiana. The semifinal fields in both conferences are now wide open, setting the stage for tense showdowns today and tomorrow.

  • The ACC avoided a similar fate, though, after No. 1 Duke second baseman Aminah Vega hit a walk-off two-run homer to break a scoreless tie in the 10th inning against No. 9 Boston College yesterday. Phew.

Georgia wins 14-inning thriller: The SEC’s No. 7–seed Bulldogs and No. 10 Auburn were deadlocked 2–2 until the 14th inning Wednesday night, when Auburn left fielder KK McCrary hit a three-run blast to secure a 5–2 lead. Double the innings, double the drama.

  • But it didn’t last long: In the bottom of the inning, Bulldog right fielder Jayda Kearney equalized with her own three-run bomb before catcher Sarah Gordon’s solo homer sealed the walk-off dub for Georgia 6–5.

BYU stuns No. 2–ranked Oklahoma State: Just five days after bringing down powerhouse Oklahoma, Big 12 No. 3–seed Oklahoma State suffered a shocking 7–2 beatdown by underdog No. 6 BYU yesterday — ousting the Cowgirls from the quarter-finals and robbing fans of an Oklahoma State–Oklahoma semifinal rematch. Can the Cougars capture another Sooner State upset today at 6 p.m. ET?

What’s next: Most conference tourneys will hand out hardware on Saturday, giving champs plenty of time to gloat before Sunday’s 7 p.m. ET natty selection show. Tune into ESPN2 to see which Regional your squad lands in…if they make the bracket, that is.

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