THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE: The NCAA super-regionals (two-out-of-three series to determine the eight participants in the Women's College World Series) began tonight, with two match-ups. Below is what our annual College Softball Blog "Big Board" looks like at the end of the day (you can click on the board to enlarge it).


Tonight's two games had remarkably similar story lines, with two of the highest seeded teams -- No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Washington -- losing, to Tennessee and Oklahoma, respectively.

Both Michigan and Washington lost by five runs, the Wolverines by 5-0 and the Huskies by 6-1.

Michigan and Washington each got two hits. The pitching gems were turned in by Ivy Renfroe for Tennessee and Keilani Ricketts for Oklahoma (the younger sister of former Sooner Samantha Ricketts).

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From Thursday morning:

Articles on the Michigan-Tennessee series are available from the Detroit Free Press and The Tennessean. The Seattle Times has an article on the Washington-Oklahoma match-up.