Gator softball combine to no-hit Boise State in regional play
Kelly Barnhill and Natalie Lugo combined to throw a no-hitter as the No. 5-ranked Florida Gator softball team blew past Boise State, 8-0 in the NCAA regional tournament at Gainesville Saturday.
Barnhill came on to start for the Gators, but her services were limited to just two innings after Florida posted six runs in the first inning and a pair of runs in the second. Lugo came on in the third to close out the game in a run-rule.
The win moved the Gators into the regional championship, where they will face either Stanford or the Broncos Sunday. The winner of Stanford-Boise State will need to defeat the Gators twice if they hope to advance.
The Gators knocked off Boston University, 3-0 in the tournament opener Friday.
Coming off a 9-1 win over Stanford in the opening round Friday, Boise State succumbed to pitching mistakes from starter Gianna Mancha, who threw six first-inning walks to help Florida to its six-run first.
Boise State’s win Friday was the first program win in the NCAA tournament.
In addition to the six walks, Gator batters had eight hits off Mancha in the five innings of play. Hannah Adams collected a pair of hits and scored two runs while right-fielder Jaimie Hoover added a hit, two runs and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma State was the first team to punch a ticket to the College World Series after knocking off Tulsa 2-1 in the Stillwater regional championship Saturday.
Scores from around the NCAA Regional tournaments:
At Norman, Oklahoma
No. 1 Oklahoma 4, Wisconsin 0
Notre Dame 2, UMBC 1, 5th inning
At Evanston, Indiana
Louisville 2, No. 16 Northwestern 1
Southern Illinois 0, Detroit Mercy 0, 3rd inning
At Austin, Texas
Houston 5, Sam Houston State 0
No. 9 Texas 3, Texas A&M 2 (Texas A&M eliminated)
Sam Houston State vs. Texas, 8:35 p.m.
At Tuscaloosa, Alabama
No. 8 Alabama 7, Arizona State 4
Lipscomb 14, Alabama State 0 (Alabama State eliminated)
Arizona State 1, Lipscomb 1, 5th inning
At Gainesville, Florida
No. 5 Florida 8, Boise State 0
Stanford 13, Boston University 2 (Boston University eliminated)
Boise State 0, Stanford 0, 5th inning
At Knoxville, Tennessee
No. 12 Tennessee 12, Ohio State 4
North Carolina 3, Longwood 1 (Longwood eliminated)
Ohio State 0, North Carolina 0, 1st inning
At Stillwater, Oklahoma
No. 13 Oklahoma State 13, Tulsa 10
Tulsa 6, BYU 4 (BYU eliminated)
Oklahoma State 2, Tulsa 1 (Tulsa eliminated)
At Tallahassee, Florida
No. 4 Florida State 12, South Florida 1
South Carolina 2, South Florida 1 (South Florida eliminated)
At Seattle, Washington
No. 3 Washington 6, Mississippi State 1
Fordham 0, Seattle University 0, 1st inning
At Lexington, Kentucky
No. 14 Kentucky 8, Virginia Tech 1
Illinois 2, Toledo 0 (Toledo eliminated)
Virginia Tech 5, Illinois 1 (Illinois eliminated)
At Oxford, Mississippi
Louisiana 2, No. 11 Mississippi 0
Southeast Missouri State 2, Tennessee-Chattanooga 1 (Chattanooga eliminated)
Mississippi 10, Southeast Missouri State 0 (SEMO eliminated)
At Tuscon, Arizona
No. 6 Arizona 2, Auburn 1
Colorado State 0, Harvard 0, 1st inning
At Minneapolis, Minnesota
No. 7 Minnesota 2, Georgia 1
Drake 7, North Dakota State 0, 5th inning
At Baton Rouge, Louisiana
No. 10 LSU 5, Texas Tech 4
Louisiana Tech 0, Monmouth 0, 6th inning
At Ann Arbor, Michigan
No. 15 Michigan 1, James Madison 0
DePaul 3, St. Francis (Pa.) 1 (St. Francis eliminated)
James Madison 3, DePaul 0, 6th inning
At Los Angeles, California
No. 2 UCLA 9, Missouri 1
CSU-Fullerton 0, Weber State 0, 1st inning