Last Four in: Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, USC Upstate
First Four Out: Cal State Fullerton, Mercer, Memphis, Florida Gulf Coast
Oregon kept the pressure on UCLA in the Pac-12 race as the Ducks went into Seattle and swept Washington in three hard-fought games. It was a combination of timely hitting by Oregon and the ability to make the Huskies pay for their mistakes that allowed Oregon to take all three contests. UCLA had a solid off week as they beat a quality Oklahoma State team twice and now they have a tricky road trip up to Berkeley to play a California team that has some confidence after sweeping Stanford. This race in the Pac-12 should go right down to the wire.
Texas A&M raised the bar when it comes to college softball stadiums as they opened the spectacular Davis Diamond by sweeping Auburn this past weekend. The Aggies outscored the Tigers 11-2 over the course of the weekend. Tori Vidales hit two homeruns on Sunday, which propelled Texas A&M to finish the sweep as the Aggies knocked out Kaylee Carlson after two innings. Florida finished their home schedule in style as they beat Florida State and took two of three from LSU to finish 28-2 at home during the regular season. That is impressive considering the depth of the SEC this season and how competitive the league is from top to bottom.
James Madison took back control of the Colonial Athletic Association race this weekend as they slowed down the high-flying Hofstra Pride in Harrisonburg. The Dukes have quietly put together a strong season despite the loss of Megan Good to a season-ending injury. Offensively, the trio of Kate Gordon, Odicci Alexander, and Morgan Tolle have combined for 39 homeruns and 133 runs batted in. In the Big West, keep an eye on Cal State Fullerton as they will bust someone’s bubble from a Power Five conference if they can hang on to their two-game lead over Long Beach State with two weekends left to play.
ACC: Florida State, Notre Dame, Louisville
American: South Florida, Wichita State
Big East: Creighton
Big 12: Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas
Big Ten: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Nebraska, Northwestern
Pac-12: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M
A-10: Massachusetts
America East: Umass-Lowell
A-Sun: Kennesaw State, USC Upstate
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Liberty
Big West: Long Beach State
CAA: James Madison, Hofstra
C-USA: Louisiana Tech
Horizon: Illinois-Chicago
Ivy: Harvard
MAAC: Monmouth
MAC: Ohio
MEAC: Florida A&M
MVC: Drake
MWC: Fresno State
NEC: St. Francis
OVC: Eastern Kentucky
Patriot: Boston U
Southern: UNC Greensboro
Southland: McNeese State
Summit: Western Illinois
Sun Belt: Louisiana, Texas State
SWAC: Texas Southern
WAC: New Mexico State
WCC: BYU
