Overview
- Texas defeated Florida 3-0 in the opening round on Thursday as Joley Mitchell hit two solo home runs and Teagan Kavan threw a two-hit shutout to advance into the winners’ bracket.
- Oklahoma edged Tennessee 4-3 on Ella Parker’s walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, preserving the Sooners’ bid for a fifth straight national championship.
- Texas Tech and UCLA also claimed victories Thursday, with NiJaree Canady carrying a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning in a 1-0 win over Ole Miss and Jessica Clements delivering a 3-2 walk-off win against Oregon.
- Florida and Tennessee will square off at 7 p.m. ET and Oregon meets Ole Miss at 9:30 p.m. ET Friday in the first elimination games of the double-elimination tournament.
- Five SEC teams remain among the final eight, and stars such as Canady (0.89 ERA) and Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens (fastest recorded NCAA pitch) will be pivotal in Friday’s survival contests.