If you flipped to ESPNU expecting a pitching duel, you got punched in the face instead. Texas Tech and Florida traded haymakers from the first pitch, and the subplot running through it is straight out of a movie script. Jay Williams's daughter transferred out of Gainesville for Lubbock, and now she's standing across the diamond from the program she left, one game from punching a ticket to Oklahoma City.
Portnoy locked in on the Jay Williams angle and the stakes — World Series bid, one game, on ESPNU.
I’m watching Jay Will’s daughter who transferred from Florida to Texas Tech to play softball now playing Florida in game 3 with winner going to World Series in one of the craziest games ever. Jay said he may need bail money if they lose. Game on ESPN U
Then the scoreboard started doing things scoreboards aren't supposed to do in college softball. 3-0. 4-3. 7-4. 7-7. 11-7. That's not a final, that's the score through three innings of a winner-take-all super regional. Per the call from the booth, it's the first time ever both teams have hung 7 in the opening two frames of an NCAA tournament game. Pitching staffs are getting torched on both ends.
The inning-by-inning carnage, with a photo of the scoreboard to prove it.
And buried under the runs is the Jay Williams of it all. The Duke legend turned ESPN talker reportedly told Portnoy he might need bail money if Florida pulls this out, which tells you everything you need to know about how a dad watches his daughter face the school she left. Transfer portal revenge games are usually a football thing. This one's better — it's louder, it's faster, and there's no clock to bail anyone out.
Whichever side closes this thing out is going to the Women's College World Series with one of the wildest super regional wins in recent memory on the résumé. Whichever side doesn't is going to spend the offseason replaying every pitch of a game where nobody could get an out. Either way, ESPNU just delivered the best 3 innings of softball you'll watch all year.