The teams: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 16 Washington
What to watch for: The Sooners are one of the most explosive, dangerous offenses in the country. They rank No. 1 in the country in home runs, slugging, batting average and more. They showed it this past weekend with 24 runs scored against Wichita State and production from their entire lineup. They hit six home runs in the regional finals. Nicole Mendes had a seven-RBI performance on Friday, and freshman Tiare Jennings has been huge. You cannot stop this offense.
But they are going up against Washington, one of the best defenses in the country, Pac-12 defensive player of the year Sis Bates and Gabbie Plain, who ranks in the top three in the country in strikeouts. This is now a different story here than what OU faced in the regionals. The Huskies took down Michigan twice to win the regional final and had an explosive fourth inning offensively in game seven with seven runs scored in one inning.
Oregon softball splits doubleheader at Washington
Updated 10:04 PM;
Oregon softball couldn’t hold on to a one-run lead in the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Washington, but it made up for it with a run-rule win in the nightcap.
Terra McGowan and Shaye Bowden each went 2 for 3 with an RBI in a 4-2 loss for the No. 4 Ducks to the No. 6 Huskies to start the afternoon in Seattle and Rachel Cid hit a grand slam and Allee Bunker hit a three-run double in a 10-1 win in five inning for UO to earn a split on the day.