Last Four in: Houston, Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri
First Five Out: Nebraska, Illinois, Mercer, Notre Dame, Louisville
Arkansas set the tone for an eventful Thursday at the SEC Tournament in Columbia, Missouri by dominating Georgia 8-3 to advance to the SEC Semifinals. The eight-run performance was the best by the Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament. In addition, Arkansas will play in the SEC Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2001 and should have enough of a resume to host a regional even if they lose to South Carolina on Friday. Florida took Alabama’s best shot, but the Gators rose to the occasion as Amanda Lorenz hit a three-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap off another comeback win. There seems to be that little extra bit of resilience with this Florida team that will make them a very difficult team to knock out as the postseason unfolds.
Pittsburgh has played their way into the NCAA Tournament conversation as McKayla Taylor’s walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning sent the Panthers on to the ACC Tournament semifinals. Iowa shook things up in the Big Ten Conference Tournament with a 5-1 win over Ohio State. Allison Doocy was dominant in the circle as she struck out 15 Buckeye batters and allowed the Hawkeyes to stay in the game until they busted it open late with four seventh inning runs.
Arizona State locked down third place in the Pac-12 on Thursday night as Giselle Juarez threw her 12th shutout of the season as the Sun Devils knocked off UCLA 3-0. The win for Arizona State should lock down a top eight national seed and, if they can get one more win in the next two games against the Bruins, it will get them up to around a number six national seed. Oregon is in the driver’s seat to win the Pac-12 if they can finish the Cal series strong after absolutely annihilating the Golden Bears on Thursday 13-0 in Berkeley. If the Ducks end up winning the regular season title in the Pac-12 they should end up with the number one overall national seed followed by Oklahoma, UCLA, and Florida to round out the top four national seeds.
ACC: Florida State, Pittsburgh
American: South Florida, Houston, Wichita State
Big East: DePaul
Big 12: Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas
Big Ten: Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State
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: Albany
A-Sun: Kennesaw State, Florida Gulf Coast
Big Sky: Sacramento State
Big South: Liberty
Big West: Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton
CAA: James Madison, Hofstra
C-USA: Florida Atlantic
Horizon: Illinois Chicago
Ivy: Dartmouth
MAAC: Monmouth
MAC: Ohio
MEAC: Morgan State
MVC: Drake
MWC: Boise State, San Jose State
NEC: St. Francis
OVC: Eastern Kentucky
Patriot: Boston U
Southern: UNC Greensboro
Southland: McNeese State
Summit: North Dakota State
Sun Belt: Louisiana, Texas State
SWAC: Texas Southern
WAC: New Mexico State
WCC: BYU
