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The consensus opinion among softball experts and insiders across the nation is that the NCAA Div. I Regionals opening weekend of this year’s NCAA tournament is one of the best in recent memory.
With competitive games across the board, unexpected upsets, extra-innings galore, and walk-off instant classics, it’s easy to see why that description is applicable.
Here’s a closer at look at the Super Sunday that put an exclamation mark on a great day of college softball in the NCAA Div. I Regionals…
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A total of seven Regionals went to “if necessary” games—a number that reportedly set a record since the game moved to the Super Regional format.
Three ranked teams – #9 Texas, #11 Ole Miss, and #16 Northwestern – came out of the loser’s bracket to force the ‘if’ game, while #1 Oklahoma, #2 UCLA, #10 LSU, and #12 Tennessee were upset in the first game on Sunday to force the winner-take-all game 7.
In Norman, top-ranked Oklahoma saw a pair of suicide squeeze bunts from Wisconsin that scored two runs, which was all the support that Badgers pitcher Kait Menz needed, as she held the Sooners scoreless for the remainder of the game after allowing an early run.
KEEP ON DANCING, WISCONSIN!@BadgerSoftball upsets No. 1 Oklahoma and forces a winner-take-all game this afternoon for a spot in the NCAA Tournament Super Regional!#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/CVwHUyyOuv
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) May 19, 2019
In game seven, Oklahoma won by a 2-0 score, shutting out the Badgers for the second time on the weekend, but adding yet another close game to a regional that was full of them; five of the seven regional games in Norman were decided by two runs or fewer.
RECAP (via @RohdeOK) | Playing with their backs against the wall, the #Sooners responded with a hard-fought victory to advance to next weekend's Super Regional: https://t.co/AvrvOvdKWS#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/p70I2WflPS
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 20, 2019
