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Pac-12 Softball Recap: Five Left Fighting for Championship Title

Fitting that No. 1 California was the final team to earn a spot in the Super Regionals after a weekend of Regional competition. The Pac-12 is down to five after 2010 champions No. 12 UCLA (0-2), Oregon State (2-2) and Stanford (2-2) all lost in double elimination.

MOVING ON TO SUPER REGIONALS: BEST-OF-3 SERIES

No. 1 Cal 7, Arkansas 0: Sunday, May 20

After losing to Arkansas 3-2 on Saturday, May 19 and beating Boston University 8-0 in six in the elimination game later in the day, Cal needed to beat Arkansas twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals. Cal did just that. The Golden Bears beat Arkansas 10-2 in five during the first game to force the "if necessary" match where Cal shutout the Razorbacks 7-0 to win the Berkeley Regional and finish 4-1.

Cal will host Pac-12 foe No. 16 Washington beginning on Saturday, May 26 in the Berkeley Super Regional.

Jolene Henderson pitched back-to-back wins for Cal, improving to 34-2 on the mound.

Cal took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Jamia Reid scored on a Jace Williams groundout and a wild pitch brought home Valerie Arioto and Ashley Decker's single scored Frani Echavarria.

The Golden Bears upped to 6-0 in the bottom of the second and added its final run in the sixth.

No. 16 Washington 4, Harvard 0: Sunday, May 20

The Washington Huskies won the Seattle Regional on Sunday, taking down Harvard 4-0 in game six to finish 3-0 and advance to the Super Regionals. UW will face No. 1 California on Saturday, May 26 in the Berkeley Super Regional.

This was UW's third shutout of the Regional after blanking Harvard 2-0 in game two and Texas Tech 2-0 in game three. Sophomore pitcher Bryana Walker (10-5) was the third Husky to pitch a shutout and get the win, along with Kasey Stanchek on Saturday and Kaitlin Inglesby on Friday. Walker earned her 10th win of the season and struck out seven while allowing four hits.

Victoria Hayward scored UW's first run in the top of the first on an Inglesby single. Then senior Nikia Williams hit a three-run homer to center in the fourth frame.

Harvard's Rachel Brown (21-7) threw a complete game and allowed three earned runs on six hits and three walks. She struck out two.

No. 13 Arizona 8, Notre Dame 3: Sunday, May 20

The Arizona Wildcats won the Tucson Regional on Sunday after beating Notre Dame for the second time in the regional, this time 8-3 in game six. Arizona won all three of its games and will advance to play No. 4 Oklahoma in the Norman Super Regional starting on Friday, May 25.

The Wildcats had four homers and scored eight runs on 14 hits.

UA opened the scoring in the top of the second taking a 4-0 lead. Jessica Spigner scored on an RBI single, Hallie Wilson followed with a single over second to plate Kristen Arriola and Chelsea Suitos and then Brigette Del Ponte plated Karissa Buchanan.

Notre Dame scored one in the third and two in the fourth for a 4-3 game before Arizona freshman Shelby Pendley and Chelsea Goodacre hit back-to-back homers in the fifth and Goodacre and Spigner then bolted solo home runs in the top of the seventh.

No. 3 Arizona State 4, Syracuse 0: Sunday, May 20

Arizona State shutout Syracuse 4-0 in the "if necessary" game seven to win the Tempe Regional going 3-1 and moving ahead to play No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette in the Tempe Super Regional starting on Thursday, May 24.

ASU won its first two games in the regional and stood 2-0 while Syracuse was 2-1 and faced elimination in game six. But, the Orange beat Arizona State 1-0 to force game seven.

Annie Lockwood helped the Sun Devils to their first runs, hitting a double in the bottom of the first to plate Katelyn Boyd and Alix Johnson. Then Haley Steele scored on a couple of Syracuse fielding errors and followed with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, her 10th home run of the season.

Dallas Escobedo struck out eight, totaling 16 between the two games and earning her a 22-5 record on the year. In the fourth inning Escobedo shut out a bases-loaded one-out inning to strike out the final two Orange batters.

No. 11 Oregon 4, BYU 1: Saturday, May 19

The Oregon Ducks won all three of its Eugene Regional matches to win the championship after taking down BYU 4-1 in game six on Saturday. The Ducks advance to play No. 6 Texas in the Austin Super Regional beginning on Friday, May 25.

Junior pitcher Jessica Moore struck out seven, walked two and allowed six hits and one earned run. The NCAA Regional MVP earned her 30th win of the season - just the second Duck in history -- and has just 12 losses on the year.

Oregon plated all four runs in the fifth after Samantha Pappas and Kaylan Howard each plated two with their double and home run, respectively.

Pappas tied for second all-time in doubles in a season (16) and is sixth all-time in a season for extra-base hits (26) and seventh in total bases (109). Howard's homer was a team-high 12th of the season - seventh-most season-wise for Oregon - her 50 RBI's on the season is fourth-most ever for Oregon and in doubles she moved to fifth-best in a season with 14.

BYU scored its lone run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single to right.

ELIMINATED

Florida State 2, No. 12 UCLA 1: Saturday, May 19

The UCLA Bruins closed out their season on Saturday in the Los Angeles Regional after losing its second game to Florida State 2-1. Senior Katie Schroeder scored the lone run for UCLA (36-20) in the top of the fifth but it wasn't enough. Florida State scored in the bottom of the first and second.

Jessica Hall (19-14) threw 6.0 innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five. Florida State's Monica Perry (22-6) earned the win and tossed 7.0 innings for one earned run on six hits. Perry threw six strikeouts.

No. 4 Oklahoma 6, Oregon State 0: Sunday, May 20

Oregon State's most successful season in the last five years came to an end on Sunday after losing to host school No. 4 Oklahoma 6-0 in the championship game. Oklahoma moves on to face No. 13 Arizona in Super Regional action next weekend.

The Beavers closed out the year 36-23 overall for the team's best record since 2007. They also set school records for runs (301) and RBI (269) while their .273 batting average is tied for fifth, their 202 walks are second and their 70 steals are tied for third.

OSU's 18 runs tallied in Norman are the most for the Beavers in a Regional since they plated 26 in Madison, Wisc. in 2005.

Oregon State was only allowed two hits against Oklahoma powerhouse pitcher Keilani Ricketts, who threw a complete game and struck out 10.

Oklahoma scored four in the top of the first off one hit and followed with two in the fifth. Jessica Shults led the Sooners with five RBI and two runs on two hits with a grand slam.

No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette 6, Stanford, 2: Sunday, May 20

Stanford lost 6-2 to Louisiana-Lafeyette in its 15th consecutive postseason appearance in the Lafayette Regional championship on Sunday, ending its season 40-19 overall. Senior Ashley Hansen ended her Cardinal career as the Cardinal's career leader in doubles (81) and triples (18), hitting her 81st double in the third inning.

ULL held a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth after an RBI single, a sac fly, a solo homer and a two-run home run.

Stanford scored its two runs in the top of the sixth as Jenna Rich and Cassandra Roulund hit back-to-back singles, Maya Burns then scored Rich on a single and Danielle Miller hit an RBI single to plate Roulund.

ULL added its sixth run in the bottom of the sixth.