Despite a Saturday rainout that took some stellar games off the board, the annual Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California still delivered some high-quality match-ups that gave us some great softball.
Let’s take a look at some of the teams who impressed and maybe a few who still have some work to do along with some other news of top programs across the country…
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Michigan: The Wolverines only played three games in Fullerton, but made the most of their time, earning upset victories over a pair of Top 5-ranked Pac-12 opponents in UCLA and Washington. The win over UCLA handed the Bruins their first loss of the season, while Michigan plated four runs to overcome a seven-strikeout performance from Washington’s Pat Moore. Though they did not beat either team’s ace pitcher, the Wolverines performed extraordinarily well and said “Not so fast!” to being counted out of the national race.
Auburn: After a sluggish, if not unspectacular, start to the season, the Tigers hit the West coast and immediately earned a dominant victory over Loyola Marymount on Thursday, a quality win that could look even better as the season continues. A win over UTSA led into a run-rule, shutout victory over the Oregon Ducks that saw the Tigers lay five runs on Oregon ace Jordan Dail. A nine-inning loss to Washington that saw the Huskies score in each of the final three innings, and three times in extras, went down as a loss in the record book, but was not a bad performance for the Tigers, who lost the lead late but battled back to force it into the ninth before ultimately falling.
