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Tonight, #2 UCLA softball faces their toughest test of the season so far when they play the #4 Oklahoma Sooners. While the game was originally scheduled for 6 pm PT, it has been pushed back to a scheduled 7 pm PT start time. Following that game, the Bruins will face the Missouri Tigers with an approximate start time of 9:30 pm PT.
Last Time Out
In the 1983 movie WarGames starring Matthew Broadrick and Ally Sheedy, the W.O.P.R. computer eventually concludes that “the only winning move is not to play.” Something tells me that’s how Texas A&M may have felt knowing they were supposed to play the #2 UCLA Bruins last night. Well, it turned out to be right because last night’s game was rained out and the Aggies avoided what was a probable loss to the Bruins and the Bruins lost their third game of the season to the weather. It kind of makes me wonder if Mother Nature shouldn’t be ranked #1 in next week’s polls.
All joking aside, let’s look at tonight’s opponents.
Oklahoma Sooners
The Sooners enter play today with a 9-1 record. The only blemish came against #1 Florida State last Friday at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. They’ve won all nine of their other games including games against Kentucky and Notre Dame.
In the game against Florida State, the Sooners lost 7-4.
So, this game should be a really good measuring stick for this year’s softball team. Ultimately, I think UCLA wins it, but this won’t be a mercy rule win tonight.
Missouri Tigers
The Missouri Tigers have started the season well. They’ve won eight of the eleven games they’ve played so far. They beat then-#12 Arizona State in Tempe a few weeks ago along with two games against Kansas, but they’ve lost to Oregon, Oregon State and BYU.
They were scheduled to play Arizona yesterday at the Mary Nutter Classic, but the game was canceled due to rain.
This should be the easier of tonight’s games. It could become a mercy rule win, but I’m expecting this one to go the distance, especially after having to play Oklahoma in the first game of tonight’s doubleheader.
This is your UCLA softball Mary Nutter Classic, Day Two open thread.
Go Bruins!!