Game 3

With a spot in the final championship series against Arizona State on the line (see the Game 2 summary below), Texas A&M and Florida are scoreless after eight innings (the regulation seven, plus one extra inning).

UPDATE: Texas A&M has defeated Florida, 1-0 in nine innings. The Aggies got a key triple in the top of the ninth when Kelsey Spittler pulled a hard grounder pulled down the right-field line, to drive in the game's first -- and ultimately only -- run. A&M second-baseperson Natalie Villarreal, who dropped a crucial pop-up in the first game of the day with Florida, engineered a nice double play in the bottom of the ninth to help short-circuit a Florida rally.

The final two-out-of-three championship series, beginning Monday night, will thus pit Texas A&M against Arizona State. Not to toot my own horn too heavily, but I did write the following exactly one week ago, before the World Series even started.


Actually, over many years of being a sports fan, my predictive ability has probably not been any better than chance. Given how rare it is for me to forecast so well, I just wanted to bask in this success.

Game 2

Arizona State rode the three-run homer of Jackie Vasquez to a 3-1 win over Alabama. With the victory, ASU becomes the first team to qualify for the final championship series, a two-out-of-three affair that will take place on Monday, Tuesday, and (if necessary) Wednesday nights.

Game 1

Florida has just beaten Texas A&M by a score of 6-1, leaving each team with one loss for the World Series and setting up a rematch at 6:00 Central on ESPN2 for the right to go to the final championship series. Each team scored a run in the second inning. The Gators really broke the game open in the fourth. With one out and a runner on third, the Aggies dropped an infield pop up, allowing the runner to score. Florida then started teeing off on A&M pitching ace Megan Gibson with some long drives and the next thing you knew, it was 4-1 Gators.

A&M removed Gibson in the fourth, presumably because Coach Jo Evans thought a three-run deficit would be difficult to overcome and thought it better to save Gibson for the rematch. Interestingly, Gator Coach Tim Walton answered by removing his ace, Stacey Nelson, at the earliest available opportunity.

Next up: Undefeated Arizona State vs. once-beaten Alabama.