Not summer yet

The GIST: Memorial Day Weekend means grilled food, summer whites, and softball Super Regionals. By Sunday night, the eight-team Women’s College World Series will be set. So spicy, not even the new season of Bridgerton can tear you away.

• No. 2–seed Oklahoma kicked things off last night with a brutal 11–3 run-rule beatdown of No. 15 Florida State, then No. 6 UCLA followed suit by smacking around No. 11 Georgia 8–0. Fingers crossed those series are more competitive in Game 2 so we can have a Game 3.

No. 10 Duke Blue Devils vs. No. 7 Missouri Tigers, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2): Both squads were projected to have the toughest paths to Super Regionals. That turned out to be true for Mizzou, who just survived thanks to a ninth-inning walk-off run, but Duke sailed through without a hitch. This one has upset written all over it.

No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN2): If you love pitchers duels, this all–SEC matchup is must-see TV. Their late-April regular-season series was nothing but shutouts, but both squads are coming in hot — especially the Vols, who outscored their Regional opponents 21–0. Sheesh.

No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies vs. No. 1 Texas Longhorns, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2): Sure, Texas may be the heavy favorite here, but who doesn’t love a Lone Star State showdown between two teams who will soon be conference rivals again? Not even Glinda and Elphaba can match this rivalry.

No. 9 LSU Tigers vs. No. 8–seed Stanford Cardinal, 10 p.m. ET (ESPNU): This is likely the weekend’s most evenly-matched series as both have been Top-10 mainstays all season long. But the Card has two not-so-secret weapons: home-field advantage and NiJaree Canady, the nation’s best pitcher by a stunningly wide margin. LFG.

The GIST: It’s title time! Both the women’s and men’s national tournaments wrap up this weekend, with guaranteed finals matchups between East Coast dynasties and powerhouses from non-traditional regions — a testament to the sport’s growing popularity.

The women: Unseeded Florida has their work cut out for them in the program’s second-ever Final Four: They take on reigning champ No. 1–seed Northwestern, led by the Caitlin Clark of lacrosse, Izzy Scane, today at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

• Scane surpassed the Division I scoring record on May 12th and is still going strong, netting four goals in her squad’s 20–7 quarter-final dub over No. 8 Penn last week. She’s favored to win a second straight Tewaaraton Award and carry the ‘Cats to Sunday’s 12 p.m. ET natty.

• In the second semi, No. 2 Boston College faces off against ACC rival No. 3 Syracuse at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. BC hasn’t missed a national final in six tournaments (!!!) — but if it’s as close as their regular-season matchup, ’Cuse might just spoil that streak.

The men: Last weekend’s quarter-finals were upset heavy, as three of the four semifinalists beat a higher-seeded team to advance. The upset trend stopped with reigning champ No. 1 Notre Dame — and it’s not likely to start again against No. 5 Denver tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

• Brothers Chris and Pat Kavanagh are the dynamic duo powering ND’s near-unstoppable offense. They led the team in points (goals plus assists) with 72 and 69, respectively, and older bro Pat is a finalist for the men’s Tewaaraton for the second straight year. Good genes.

• The fun continues with No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 7 Maryland, the last two programs to win the natty other than ND, also tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET. They both captured massive upsets in the quarters, and neither team is backing down without a fight.