The Cal Bears and Stanford Cardinal softball teams took different paths to first-round NCAA Tournament victories, but both Bay Area teams moved closer to a College World Series berth on Friday.

Santa Clara’s Hope Alley homered three batters into the Broncos‘ first-ever NCAA tournament game and the Broncos didn’t fold after yielding a four-run second inning, but couldn’t complete the comeback against 13th-ranked Arizona and are one loss from elimination in the 64-team tournament.

No. 16 ranked Stanford rolled past Binghamton of New York 9-2 in Eugene, Oregon, scoring in each of the first four innings of the rout. In Norman, Oklahoma, Annabel Teperson allowed two hits in Cal’s 1-0 win over Omaha, and in Tucson, Arizona, SCU fought back to cut a five-run deficit to one in the fourth inning, but was doomed by two more big innings in a 13-5, five-inning loss to the 13th-ranked Wildcats.

Stanford (41-11) entered the tournament with the second-highest team batting average in the nation (.357) and averaged 8.1 runs during the regular season and came out swinging against the Bearcats (36-13) quickly building a seven-run lead. Caelen Koch had four of the Cardinal’s ten hits and drove in two runs. Emily Jones also drove in two runs, and eight different Stanford players scored at least once against the Bearcats, who are in the tournament for the second time in school history.

The Cardinal, which is looking to reach the CWS for the third straight year, faces an old Pac-12 rival, No. 16 Oregon, on Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Late game heroics from sophomore Kiley Shelton gave the No. 2-seeded Florida Atlantic softball team its first NCAA Regional win since 2016, a 5-4 victory over No. 3-seed Georgia Tech, in an eight-inning thriller on Friday afternoon.
 
The Owls (45-10) and the Yellow Jackets (27-23) went back-and-forth in the opening game of the Gainesville Regional with four lead changes in the final three innings. Facing two outs on the board and two runners on base in the bottom of the eighth, Shelton hit the game winning RBI single to right field for the walk-off win.
 
Junior pitcher Autumn Courtney made the start and received the win to improve to 24-3 on the season, pitching 5.1 innings before re-entering in the top of the eighth. 
 
THE BEGINNING 
Courtney picked up right where she left off from her previous stellar postseason outing, with three swing-and-miss strikeouts in the top of the first inning to retire the side.
 
A fourth strikeout from the First Team All-Region selection Courtney stranded Yellow Jacket runners on second and third base in the top of the second. Leading off the bottom frame, sophomore first baseman Bella Cimino launched a shot to left field, her sixth home run of the year, for the first score of the game.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Ciara Gibson blasted the ball to right center field for the Owls’ second leadoff home run of the game. The Yellow Jackets responded in the top of the sixth with three runs to take a 3-2 lead.
 
THE TURNING POINT
A two-out walk from freshman second baseman Destiny Johns put an Owl runner on base in the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles then ensued, first from Gibson then from Shelton in her first clutch hit of the game, to put FAU up 4-3.
 
Down to their last strike in the top of the seventh, a solo home run from the Yellow Jackets tied the score. Florida Atlantic was retired in the bottom half to send the game into extra innings, its first such game since the season opener.
 
THE FINISH 
Courtney returned to the circle to finish the job, stranding two runners on base to get out of the top of the eighth.
 
Johns reaching on a fielder’s choice set up the winning run. Gibson and Shelton remained the heroes of the game, with the former drawing the walk to advance Johns to second before the latter brought her home from second for a walk-off victory.
 
NOTES/NOTABLE

• The Owls now have 17 comeback wins on the season, tied for fourth most in the nation.
• Shelton is batting .444 in her last five games with six RBI.
• Cimino’s home run is the first by an Owl batter in an NCAA Regional game since May 21, 2016. It is the first multi-home run game by the team during an NCAA Regional in program history.
• With a base hit on the day, redshirt sophomore outfielder Kylie Hammonds has reached base in 24 consecutive games and 51 out of 55 appearances in 2025.
• Courtney has struck out 14 batters in two postseason appearances. 

 
UP NEXT
The Owls continue NCAA Regional play with a matchup against No. 1-seed Florida (44-14) on Saturday. First pitch is at 12 p.m. With a win on Saturday and Sunday, Florida Atlantic can advance to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history.
 
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For the Owls’ complete schedule, click HERE. To follow the team socially, visit @fausoftball, or for the most up-to-date information, go to www.fausports.com.
 
The Owls’ 2025 postseason is powered by Demand the Limits Injury Attorneys.
 

Fayetteville, Ark. — Seven runs in the sixth inning lifted the No. 24 Oklahoma State softball team to an 11-6 victory over Indiana at Bogle Park Friday. 
 
This is OSU’s 16th consecutive win in NCAA Regional play going back to 2019.
 
The Cowgirls never led until the sixth and trailed by as many as four runs in the fourth inning.
 
Karli Godwin homered twice for OSU on nearly identical two-run blasts to center field. She finished 3-for-3 with a career-high five runs batted in.
 
Perhaps the most critical at-bat of the game came in the sixth, when pinch hitter Audrey Schneidmiller singled through the right side to score Macy Graf from second and tie the game at six. A hard grounder from Rachael Hathoot two batters later drove in Schneidmiller and Tia Warsop to give the Cowgirls an 8-6 advantage before the game was blown open thanks to a run-scoring sacrifice bunt by Megan Delgadillo followed by an RBI single from Amanda Hasler. The Cowgirl scoring was capped when Schneidmiller walked with the bases loaded.
 
The seven-run sixth inning marked OSU’s most runs in an inning this season.
 
This marks the most runs scored by OSU in an NCAA Tournament game since 2022. With the win, the Cowgirls improved to 34-18, while the Hoosiers dropped to 33-19.
 
Rylee Crandall picked up the win and improved to 6-4. She entered the game in the fourth inning and kept the high-powered Indiana offense scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh. IU’s Brianna Copeland fell to 17-9 with the loss.
  
Offensive standouts for Oklahoma State included Godwin (3-for-3 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs), Davis (2-for-3 with three runs scored) and Schneidmiller (1-for-1 with 2 RBIs). 
 
The Cowgirls will face the winner of the Arkansas-Saint Louis matchup at noon tomorrow in the second round of the Fayetteville regional. 
 
For season-long coverage of Oklahoma State Softball, visit okstate.com and follow @CowgirlSB on X and @osusoftball on Instagram. For tickets, visit okstate.com/tickets or call 877-ALL-4-OSU. 
 
 

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7		R	H	E
Indiana	2	0	1	3	0	0	0		6	7	4
Oklahoma State	2	0	0	2	0	7	X		11	8	0

 
 
WP: R. Crandall (6-4) LP: B. Copeland (17-9); SV: None
HR: OSU – Godwin 2 (6,7)
HR: UT – Minnick 2 (18), Wilkison (7)
Duration: 2:28; Attendance: 2928
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Auburn vs. South Florida came to a head in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional. That’s with a call at the plate, which was upheld after review, keeping the game tied going into the final inning in the seventh.

With Annalea Adams at the plate, Josie Foreman threw it to third to get an out on Georgia Lessman, and actually hit her with that ball. Lessmann than took off to home where Foreman, with the ball thrown back to her, met her with an inning-ending out called in the bottom of the sixth instead of a run scored that would’ve given them a lead. The Tigers argued against it but, after review, the umpires maintained the out going into the seventh

#MAYhem already beginning in this Auburn / USF game

— Maria Trivelpiece (@M_Trivelpiece) May 16, 2025

Watching this USF-Auburn softball game…I have no idea what obstruction is. That looked to me like the definition of obstruction. If you’re blocking the plate before the ball arrives, that is obstruction and exactly what just happened. Glad I’m not Auburn

— Zach Huff (@GiMpChiLd) May 16, 2025

Clearly out at the plate but if by Defoe the rule that’s not obstruction then that’s a terrible call. Clearly was obstruction of the plate before the ball got there.

— Fan of the 5x National Champion Auburn Tigers (@_ethanlowrey_) May 16, 2025

Those were the reactions from those down on The Plains. The fans down in Tampa weren’t hearing it, though.

These Announcers are SEC homers and their getting on my nerves. I mean trying to give Auburn 7-6 lead when South Florida clearly got them out. that lady needs to just shut up.

— Leroy Larsen (@LALMCCGatorsfan) May 16, 2025

“The runner from first, Smith, wanted to draw a throw down to second base and instead they threw to the lead runner and hit Lessmann in the back,” explained the broadcast on ESPNU.

“The throw back from Foreman, it hits the runner and Auburn, being aggressive…Does she allow the lead edge of the base to be open without the ball? And it looks to me like she is indeed in obstruction category there. She does not have the ball. Once she has the ball, she can own the plate…Without the ball, she is in the baseline,” they continued on ESPNU. “She’s not in front of the leading edge but she’s very close to that leading edge, in my opinion…To me, as a catcher, you just don’t want to leave any doubt. You want to be in front of the plate and it’s very, very close.”

2025 NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket: Updated Regional matchups, scores, schedule

Tallahassee Regional

(5) Florida State
Robert Morris
Friday 2:30 p.m. ET – ACC Network

USF 12, Auburn 7 (F/9)

Auburn looked good against USF after the opening inning with a 5-0 start after a three-run home run this afternoon. The Bulls, though, battled back with two runs apiece in the second, third, and fifth to take a lead before this one went to extra innings. It was then at the top of the ninth that South Florida pulled away for good with five runs of their own, with a grand slam hit, to advance. The Tigers will instead then move into the loser’s bracket now with an elimination game coming tomorrow in Tallahassee.