#2 Florida vs. #15 Texas A&M Gainesville, FL Broadcast information: Tiffany Greene and Amanda Scarborough Thursday @ 7 pm ET, ESPN Friday @ 7 pm ET, ESPN2 Saturday @ 5 pm ET, ESPN (if necessary) How they got here: Florida finished the regular season 47-8 and as regular-season SEC champions. The Gators were 20-4 in conference play and lost just one conference series, to Georgia. As the #1 seed in the SEC tournament, the bested Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, respectively, en route to the SEC tournament championship. Then selected as the #2 overall seed…
Author: jmcleod
#3 UCLA vs. #14 Arizona Los Angeles, CA Broadcast information: Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, and Jessica Mendoza Thursday @ 9 pm ET, ESPN Friday @ 9 pm ET, ESPN2 Saturday @ 7 pm ET, ESPN (if necessary) How they got here: UCLA finished the regular season 50-4 and in second place in the PAC-12 standings. The Bruins were 20-4 in conference play, a single game behind Oregon for the conference championship. Earning the NCAA tournament’s #3 overall seed, the Bruins were 4-1 in their hosted regional, fighting their way out of the loser’s bracket after losing to Cal State Fullerton on the…
Texas head coach Connie Clark has stepped down as the Longhorns’ head coach. Clark had spent twenty-three years as the Longhorns’ head coach, after starting the program as a club sport and guiding it into the varsity stage at the Division I level. Clark owns a career record of 873-401-3 at Texas and led her team to the Women’s College World Series five times, most recently in 2013. Three times named the Big 12’s Coach of the Year, Clark owns four Big 12 conference titles and nineteen NCAA tournament appearances. With their appearance in last week’s Regionals round, the Longhorns…
The 2018 JWOS All-Freshman team has been announced. Consisting of sixteen of the finest first-year players in the nation, this team of rookie all-stars is the only one of its kind. The sixteen-member roster includes two pitchers, one catcher, four infielders, and three outfielders, all named to the team at their respective positions, as well as one utility player and five at-large selections, from any on-field position. The SEC led all conferences with three selections to the team, while the Big 10, Pac 12, and Big 12 each placed two players on the roster. The Big South, Colonial Athletic Association,…
JWOS has learned that Todd Bradley has resigned as the head coach at Campbell. Bradley completed his fourth year with the Fighting Camels with the completion of the 2018 season. He collected a .500 record during his tenure, posting a 114-114 mark. In the 2018 season, Bradley’s squad went 29-27 overall with a 12-9 record in Big South conference play. The 29 wins matched Bradley’s career high at CU. The Fighting Camels appeared in the inaugural NISC tournament in 2017 after finishing second in the Big South standings. Bradley was a Camels assistant for two years prior to being named…
Iowa head coach Marla Looper has resigned her position, according to a university release on Wednesday morning. Looper had been the Hawkeyes’ head coach for eight years, amassing a 172-247-1 record during her tenure, with a Big Ten conference record of 68-113. During the 2018 season, the Hawkeyes went 21-32 and collected a 6-16 conference mark. Despite their lackadaisical conference record, Looper’s squad advanced to the Big Ten tournament this year for the second consecutive season and advanced to the second round of the 12-team bracket after an upset win over Ohio State. The Hawkeyes had posted three consecutive winning…
North Texas head coach Tracey Kee resigned on Wednesday, per a school release. Kee had been the Mean Green head coach for five seasons, as she was hired in the fall of 2013. Kee posted a 122-144 record during her tenure at UNT, including a 52-65 mark in Conference USA play. The Mean Green were 25-27 this season, finishing a game below the .500 mark (11-12) in conference. In 2014, the first season of Kee’s tenure at North Texas, the Mean Green posted the most single-season wins in program history as they went 31-22. The squad never earned more than…
Morehead State will not retain head coach David Williams beyond the 2018 season. Williams had been the Eagles’ head coach for seven seasons, from 2012-18. He led his squad to a 28-23 record, including an 8-14 conference mark this season. During his tenure at Morehead State, Williams amassed an overall record of 157-191-1, with a 64-101 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Eagles’ overall record has improved in each of the last two seasons, as the program posted the first winning seasons of Williams’ tenure. The OVC results, however, faltered after a .500 showing during the 2016 season and…
Following the Division I Selection Show Sunday evening, when the NCAA tournament field was announced, we sat down with Natalie Shock, chairperson of the tournament’s Selection Committee, to delve into the selection process, including how teams were seeded and placed; when geography and other off-field elements become factors; who barely made the field and who just missed it; and much more. In case you missed it, our breakdown of the entire bracket is here. Justin’s World of Softball: How difficult were the deliberations on the individual seedings of the first four teams? Natalie Shock: It was… I wouldn’t say difficult, but there…
UCLA freshman standout Aaliyah Jordan earned a pair of honors in the conference round of the Justin’s World of Softball awards, as she was named both the PAC-12’s Player and Freshman of the Year. Oregon junior Megan Kleist was named Pitcher of the Year, while Trisha Ford of Arizona State earned Coach of the Year honors. Jordan led her team and the conference with a .444 batting average, while her eleven home runs also paced her team. She posted a .759 slugging percentage, second only to Arizona’s Alyssa Palomino. The standout first-year Bruin collected sixty-three RBI; twenty-seven extra base hits;…