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Pac-12 Softball

24 NCAA Champions
112 WCWS Appearances
218 First-Team All-Americans

These Pac-12 softball stars shined in NCAA Regionals

by Ryan Kelapire
May 22, 2023
Photo of Karlie Davison courtesy Utah Athletics

Pac-12 softball put on a show in the first week of the NCAA Tournament, placing four teams in Super Regionals, the most of any conference.

No. 7 Washington and No. 15 Utah will host this weekend while No. 9 Stanford and Oregon will hit the road. Two wins are all that stand in the way of the Women's College World Series.

Before we get to what should be another exciting weekend of softball, let's take a look back at some of the student-athletes who shined in Regionals.

Tehya Bird — Oregon

Bird homered twice and drove in seven runs to help Oregon win the Fayetteville Regional. Her three-run homer in the opener vs. Notre Dame put the Ducks ahead 3-1 in the second inning, a lead that they would not relinquish in the 5-4 win.

The next day, Bird bashed a grand slam against No. 11 Arkansas to give the Ducks an insurmountable 9-3 lead in the fifth. Bird clearly loves the batter's box at Bogle Park, where she launched a pinch-hit homer in Regionals last year too.

Ariel Carlson — Oregon

Carlson was another key cog in Oregon's run through the Fayetteville Regional, knocking in 10 runs in consecutive wins over Arkansas. She homered twice in the fifth inning of the Regional final, belting a two-run shot and a walk-off grand slam to cap the 14-4 win in style.

Karlie Davison — Utah

No one is swinging a hotter bat right now than the Utes' freshman shortstop. Davison homered twice and drove in seven runs in the Salt Lake City Regional, giving her seven homers in her last nine games. She launched the go-ahead homer in the Regional Final against Ole Miss to give the Utes an early 2-0 lead that keyed their 4-1 win.

That victory secured the Utes' right to host their first Super Regional in program history next weekend when they welcome San Diego State.

Mariah Lopez — Utah

Lopez has elevated her game at the perfect time, pitching a complete game in six of her last seven outings. The junior left-hander tossed 2.1 scoreless innings in the opener vs. Southern Illinois, then went the distance in Utah's wins over Ole Miss.

Altogether, Lopez allowed just two earned runs and struck out 18 batters in 16.1 innings of work in the Salt Lake City Regional.

Aly Kaneshiro — Stanford

The Cardinal scored 20 runs in the Stanford Regional, including 19 in a pair of wins over Florida, and it was Kaneshiro who did the most damage. The junior catcher had four hits, homered and drove in five runs on the weekend. Her two-run homer broke open the first win over Florida and her two-run single did the same in the rematch.

NiJaree Canady — Stanford

The nation's leader in ERA dazzled in her NCAA Tournament debut, tossing a two-hit shutout in No. 9 Stanford's run-rule victory over Florida. Her unhittable riseball reaching 72 MPH, Canady fanned nine Gators and only needed 87 pitches to go the distance. The next day, she recorded the final four outs against Florida — three of them via strikeout — to punch the Cardinal's ticket to Supers for the second straight season.

The scoreless outings lowered Canady's ERA to 0.46 on the season. She has struck out 180 batters in just 160.1 innings. Did we mention she's only a freshman?

Sami Reynolds — Washington

Reynolds' career was on the verge of ending when she stepped to plate in the 7th inning of Sunday's elimination game vs. McNeese. 

Down to her final strike, the fifth-year senior laced a game-tying three-run double into the left field gap. A batter later, Madison Huskey walked off McNeese to complete the seven-run comeback and put Washington into Super Regionals. 

Call it the Miracle on Montlake.

Jadelyn Allchin — Washington

The first run of Washington's seven-run seventh came via an RBI double from Allchin, who crushed the ball all weekend. She had six hits, drove in five runs and homered twice. Her solo shot and RBI double against McNeese on Saturday were all the runs the Huskies needed to reach the Regional final.

Makena Smith — California

A steady player at Cal for years, the senior third baseman made the most of her NCAA Tournament debut, homering twice and driving in three runs as the Bears beat Hofstra and Missouri to reach the Norman Regional final, where they fell to No. 1 Oklahoma.

It was a career year for Smith, who finished with career-highs in homers (16), RBI (47) and doubles (13), helping Cal set a new single-season program record in two-baggers (81).

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