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2011 Women's College World Series: ASU Captures Second National Championship

The California Golden Bears are meeting up with the Kentucky Wildcats in the super regional round of the 2011 NCAA women's softball tournament. The winner of this best-of-three series will advance to the 2011 Women's College World Series. We provide news updates, televisions schedule information, and recaps. For more on Cal, head over to California Golden Blogs.

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WCWS 2011 Results: Arizona State Sun Devils, National Champions

The Arizona State Sun Devils are your 2011 Women’s Softball National Champions. It was a relatively drama-less title run for ASU, who culminated their championship with two incredibly easy victories over Florida in the Finals—a 14-4 victory on Monday night, and tonight a 7-2 victory to wrap things up.

ASU relied on freshman pitcher Dallas Escobedo all season long to the tune of 36 wins and a 1.49 ERA, and she closed out her incredible rookie campaign with a complete game, 131 pitch performance. Escobedo shut down the power of the Florida bats, who only managed four hits (although they were walked five times). This cautious approach to knocking out the Gators seemed to work out quite well, as ASU did their best to put runs on the board. Shortstop Katelyn Boyd and outfield Alix Johnson knocked in 3 RBIs each, and Annie Lockwood nailed a solo home run to provide the scoring that the Devils needed to pull through.

For reaction from ASU fans, head to House of Sparky. For reaction from Florida fans, Alligator Army is the place to go.

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NCAA Women's Softball College World Series 2011 Results: Kelsi Dunne Pitches One-Hitter To Lead Alabama Over Cal

The Alabama Crimson Tide ended their long streak of futility in the first round of NCAA Tournament, beating the California Golden Bears 1-0 thanks to their dominant pitching. Kelsi Dunne was dominant, displaying a nasty changeup that had Cal's hitters flustered all game long. It took her only 83 pitches to get through six innings of work, striking out 11 Golden Bears. After giving up a hit to Britt Vonk in the first inning, Dunne would only allow one walk and no hits the remainder of the game, Jackie Traina came in to close out the seventh, and it was as comfortable a 1-0 victory as you can possibly imagine for Alabama.

Jolene Henderson was impressive in defeat, striking out nine in six innings on 99 pitches while only allowing the one earned run. But Amanda Locke managed a huge single in the second inning, Keima Davis came in and stole second and third base, and Kaila Hunt put her home on a two-strike, two-out RBI single. 

Alabama will move onto Friday night's game against the winner of Baylor-Oklahoma State. Cal faces the loser on Saturday morning to try and stay alive. 

For more on the Tide, head to Roll Bama Roll. For more on the Bears, check out California Golden Blogs.

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NCAA Women's Softball Super Regional 2011, Results: Cal Defeats Kentucky In Game One

The California Golden Bears got off to a solid start with a 1-0 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three super regional series. The winner of the series advances to the 2011 Women’s College World Series, joining Alabama, Arizona State, Florida, and Oklahoma State.

The Bears received a dominant pitching performance from Jolene Henderson, who held the Wildcats to one hit and one walk over seven innings. The difference-maker for Cal was a fourth inning one-out home run by Franci Echavarria. The Bears had a chance for insurance runs in the fifth but couldn’t score a runner from third with one out.

The teams will square off in game two at 10:00am pacific on Sunday on ESPN. You can also watch the game via live online stream at ESPN3.com. If Cal wins they advance to the WCWS. If Kentucky wins, the two teams will square off in a winner-take-all elimination match at approximately 12:30pm pacific on Sunday. Saturday’s win improved Cal to 3-0 all-time against Kentucky.

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