The Walk-Off: Kentucky clinches series over Bama, Canady two-way dominance

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Brady Vernon
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Top 25 Matchups

No. 1 Oklahoma 7, No. 18 Kansas 3

Oklahoma had one of the most dominant weekends with a sweep of Kansas. Tiare Jennings, who should be the frontrunner for national Player of the Year, and Alyssa Brito homered in the first inning. The Sooners never looked back. Jayda Coleman homered as well as she too has had a hot bat.

No. 4 Duke 5, No. 10 Virginia Tech 2

The Blue Devils secured one of the most impressive sweeps of the season. Virginia Tech wiped away an early Duke lead but Claire Davidson and Aminah Vega ensured that didn’t stick. Davidson hit a three-run home run to take the lead and Vega went back-to-back to extend it. Cassidy Curd threw five innings of relief with nine strikeouts.

READ: Duke answers the call, takes series from Virginia Tech

No. 9 Florida 7, No. 15 Mississippi State 6

The Gator had their comeback magic to take the series. After being down four runs, Florida cut the lead in half in the fifth inning. Skylar Wallace tripled down the line to put within one run. Jocelyn Erickson hit her third homer of the weekend to make it 7-6.

No. 13 LSU 9, No. 11 Texas A&M 3

Texas A&M would’ve swept the series if softball games were five innings. But games are seven and for the third straight day, LSU surmounted a comeback in the sixth inning. The Tigers tied the game up and three and loaded the bases for Ali Newland. She put the exclamation point on the frame with a grand slam. The Aggies had their chances the whole weekend, but going a combined 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position won’t get it done.

No. 7 Oklahoma State 3, No. 2 Texas 0

Caroline Wang hit a three-run homer in the first inning and that’s all Lexi Kilfoyl needed. The downballer tossed her second shutout of the weekend to secure the series win.

READ MORE: Oklahoma State powers & pitches past Texas in Top-10 series

No. 20 Arkansas 3, No. 3 Georgia 2

Arkansas really needed a great start from Morgan Leinstock and she delivered. She kept Georgia from driving the ball. Aside from a weird sequence that involved a wild pitch and Kennedy Miller airmailing a throw back to the circle that led to both runs, the Bulldogs didn’t score. Leinstock did leave the bases loaded stranded in the seventh. Bri Ellis crushed a ball off of Lilli Backes in the first for a three-run home run.

Softball Around America

No. 5 Stanford 7, Arizona 0

The legend of NiJaree Canady continues to grow. Not only did she pick up 13 strikeouts in a complete game shutout in the rubber match, she also hit her first career home run. Caelan Koch and Emily Jones also homered for the Cardinal.

Kentucky 4, No. 14 Alabama 3 (F/8)

Alabama has still yet to win an SEC series following Saturday’s result. The Tide were able to push the game into extra innings but couldn’t keep the relentless Wildcats off the board. Rylea Smith hit a walk-off double to win the series for Kentucky.

No. 21 Clemson 10, Boston College 0 (F/6)

Clemson bounced back after being shut out on Friday. Valerie Calge homered to seal the contest. While she didn’t play Saturday, Julia Knowler saw action for the first time since late February.

No. 25 FAU 6, ECU 5 (F/8)

The Owls erased an early five-run deficit to take the series over the Pirates. Kiley Channell had a sacrifice fly to tie the game and send it to extras. Then Becca Jones had a pinch-hit walk-off single.

Utah 3, No. 19 Cal 2

The Utes claimed the series on Saturday after splitting Friday’s doubleheader. The first two batters of the sixth inning reached for Utah. Cal couldn’t cut down the tying run and then Julia Jimenez provided the go-ahead RBI after that.

Baylor 7, Iowa State 4

The Bears had their own rubber match. They took an early lead but saw it disappear after Tiana Poole hit a three-run blast for the Cyclones. Baylor responded in the fourth as Shannon Vivoda and Aliyah Binford hit RBI doubles to earn the lead back. After a tough start, Baylor has a Big 12 series win.

UNI 2, SIU 1

The Panthers took the second game and the series with the same score as Friday. Kylee Sanders’ two-run homer in the second was enough run support for Samantha Heyer. UNI ace allowed three hits and struck out 11 in the win.

North Texas 2, USF 0 (F/8)

A tough pill to swallow for USF starter Payton Dixon. She allowed two hits in eight innings, the second happened to be the deciding factor. Kailey Gamble hit a two-run double to give North Texas the lead in the rubber match. Mackenzie Childers also only allowed two hits and tossed an eight-inning shutout.

Plays of the Day

Milestone Moments

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Brady Vernon

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