Four teams survived the weekend to play in today’s NCAA softball national semifinals
![Four teams survived the weekend to play in today’s NCAA softball national semifinals](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/rdxk7lfa/production/45a9b68b4b35412875e2af60e738a5e8b0e73832-2047x1365.jpg?w=1200&h=800&auto=format)
The GIST: After a wild weekend of broken attendance records and broken hearts at the Women’s College World Series (WCWS), No. 5–seed Oklahoma State, No. 6 UCLA, No. 10 Duke, and No. 14 Alabama all saw their title dreams dashed. That leaves four survivors fighting for a spot in this week’s championship series.
- Today’s semis are No. 1 Texas’ and No. 2 Oklahoma’s to lose. Neither has yet to fall in Oklahoma City, so their one-loss opponents must beat them twice to advance, while the Longhorns and Sooners would be through with a single dub. All eyes on OKC.
No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 4 Florida Gators, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN): Serious offensive struggles sent Florida to the elimination bracket — they squeaked by No. 5 Oklahoma State 1–0 Thursday only to be walloped 10–0 by Texas on Saturday. But the Gators came out swinging last night, topping Alabama 6–4 to stay alive.
- There’s absolutely no room for slow bats today as Florida takes on the three-time reigning champs, who have allowed only one run through their first two WCWS games and whose star shortstop, Tiare Jennings, is looking damn near unstoppable at the plate.
No. 1–seed Texas Longhorns vs. No. 8 Stanford Cardinal, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2): Who doesn’t love a rematch with the World Series on the line? Texas sent the Cardinal to the elimination bracket with a 4–0 shutout Thursday and has only picked up steam since, thanks to their outstanding pitchers.
- But the Card has a formidable pitching staff of their own, led by newly-crowned MVP NiJaree Canady. Never say never for these California gurls when she’s in the circle — as long as she’s not exhausted from putting Stanford on her back up to this point.
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