Hello TideSports.com fans,

Tommy Deas and Co. will be filling you in from the UA softball complex during the 2008 NCAA Super Regionals. Check back to get details and chime in on the conversation.

I'm here at the Alabama Softball Complex and we're about an hour away from first pitch.

Free live video streaming can be found on rolltide.com. Requires registration but it is free

Florida beat Cal 4-2 in today's only Super Regional so far. Others starting tonight.

Mizzou doing early warm-ups in great baseball pants and black T-shirts. Alabama in full white uniforms with 'Bama' in crimson script across the chest.

Winner of this best-of-three goes to Oklahoma City, Okla., to play in the Women's College World Series, if you didn't already know.

Saturday's schedule is Game Two at 2 p.m. and Game Three, if necessary, at 4:30.

Winner of this Super Regional will play the winner of the Northwestern and Arizona State SR, so there's no free lunch at the WCWS.

Lineups:

Missouri (47-15)
Cf Rhea Taylor
lf Julie Silver
1b Amanda Renth
3b Lindsey Ubrun
2b Andee Allen
dp Jen Bruck
ss Abby Vock
rf Shana White
c Katie Milles

RHP Stacy Delaney (20-3, 1.85 ERA)

FYI: Taylor, Silver and White all hit from the left-handed side. The others bat right. No one on the Mizzou starting roster throws left.

Alabama (54-6)
cf Brittany Rogers
lf Jordan Praytor
1b Charlotte Morgan
rf Dani Woods
3b Kelley Monalvo
ss Kellie Eubanks
DP Lauren Parker
C Ashley Holcombe
2b Whitney Larsen

RHP Kelsi Dunne (24-4, 1.39 ERA)

Rogers, Praytor, Woods and Parker bat left. Morgan bats right and throws (as well as pitches) left. Woods throws left, while Rogers, Praytor and Parker throw right.

Trivia: Alabama is 7-0 against teams nicknamed Tigers this season.

That's 4-0 against LSU and 3-0 against Auburn.

Both teams doing infield warmups now. Kinda interesting -- Mizzou is on the first-base side hitting grounders toward second. Alabama is on the third-base side doing the same thing. Outfielders same way from each side, kind of back to back in CF.

Alabama is the home team tonight. Mizzou will be home on the scoreboard in Game Two. Coin flip for Game Three. So much for seeding.

FYI: I will be posting once per inning as allowed by NCAA blog rules once the first pitch has been thrown. Coaches meeting with umps now. National anthem and introductions about to start. I'll post again at the end of the first inning.

Very quickly, Mizzou in gray tops with black numerals and sleeves, including a stripe under the sleeve.

UA needs to keep leadoff Rhea Taylor off base, same as MU needs to keep Alabama's Brittany Rogers off.

Huge crowd, may reach 2,000. Every seat filled and lots on the hills.

Top of the first:

Mizzou up:
Rhea Taylor, national base-steal leader with 57, hits a liner down the third-base line and Kelley Montalvo makes a diving 'SportsCenter' play-of-the-day type stab for the out.
Silver popls up to short, Renth pops up to third.
Dunne gets three outs on 11 pitches.

Alabama up:
This is how you do it -- Rogers chops one up the middle over the pitcher and beats out an infield single. She's out 2-6 caught stealing. Replay shows ball fell out of shortstop's glove, but she picked it up before the ump could see. Oh well.
Rogers is 10-for-12 in her last dozen at-bats. Hitting streak up to 14 straight games.
Praytor lays down a bunt that rolls about 18 inches and stops on the chalk line for a single.
Morgan safe at first on a fielder's choice. Third base fields the dribbler and throws to second but Praytor slides in safety ahead of the throw.
Runners on first and second, one out, for Dani Woods.
Mizzou coach Ehren Earleywine vists the pitching circle to talk to his infield and settle everybody down.
Woods pops up to second base.
Montalvo up. She draws a walk in five pitches to load the bases for Eubanks.
Long foul down the left-field line bounces off top of the fence, down 0-2. She's in an 0-for-10 slump, I'm informed. She gets rung up on a called third strike on a changeup on the outside corner.
Bart Hadley calls the third strike but no punch-out. Weak. Looked like he was calling a first-pitch strike. I honestly think he forgot there were two strikes.

Bases juiced and you don't take the bat of your shoulder>

Second inning:

Mizzou:
Hadley suddenly finds his ring-tone. Big punchout on a called third strike on Ubrun. Allen grounds out to pitcher on first pitch. Bruck, the third member of the Mizzou Wrecking Crew (Bruck, Ubrun and Renth have combined 50 home runs) up, draws a full-count walk.
Vock up with Mizzou's first runner on base. Another backwards K strikeout for out three.

Alabama:
Parker flies out to right on first pitch, pretty decent contact but not solid enough to carry. Holcombe strikes out swinging at one a little high and outside -- which is where this ump likes it -- and Larsen pops/flies out to center.

Third inning:

Mizzou:
Strikeout, strikeout looking (that's 250 for Dunne, only third pitcher in UA history to reach that mark) and 6-3 to keep the dangerous Taylor off the bases.
That's just 46 pitches for Dunne in three inngs.

Alabama (top of the order):
Rogers singles a hard slap to short. This time she steals safely.
Praytor with a solid single to right, Rogers actually stops and turns back to make sure the ball isn't going to be caught, but still motors home standing up for a 1-0 Alabama lead. RBI for Praytor, now 2-for-2, as is Rogers.
Morgan up with Praytor on first. She makes it back to back to back singles with a solid hit to right on a 3-2 offering. Praytor all the way to third slides in safe.
Still no outs.
Woods grounder to second. Fielder's choice as Alex Blewitt (pinch running for Morgan) thrown out at second base. Praytor scores, RBI. Alabama 2-0.
Montalvo with a long fly out to CF for out 2.
Eubanks up with Woods on first. She comes out of an 0-for-11 slump with a floater to left for a single as Woods scores from second, 3-0.
Moneyball Murphy likes the big inning. Bruck warming up in the bullpen for Mizzou.
Parker goes yard to right on a 2-2 pitch. I called it and I have witnesses. Just like I called her homer against Jax State at last weekend's regional.
So much for Chinese money (MU coach Ehren Earleywine used that expression at the press conference, saying his team was the underdog -- I guess he meant like playing with house money).
Holcombe pops up to third for out three.

Mizzou 0 0 0
Alabama 5 7 0

Fourth inning:

Missouri gets a one-out walk. No matter. 6-4-3 double play, inning over.

Alabama:
Larsen flies out to center.
Rogers beats out a drag bunt, safe by a step, single.
Praytor flies out to right field. Rogers tags up and turns on the speed, scores from second, sac fly, Alabama 6-0.
Morgan hard-hit single to center, off Taylor's glove on a full run, ruled a hit. Woods singles to left, Morgan goes to third, Woods to second on the throw.
Second and third two outs for Montalvo. She goes down swinging with a big cut on a 3-2 pitch.

Missouri 0 0 0
Alabama 6 10 0


Official attendance 1,953.

Fifth inning:

Mizzou:
Middle of the lineup, No. 5 hitter Andee Allen leads off. She misses a double or even triple by about a half a foot foul down left-field line. Then grounds out to Dunne for out one.
Bruck, a big swinger who is 0-for-1 (with a walk) up now. She takes a third strike on the outside corner. That's five for Dunne.
Up to Abby Vock to get something going. She breaks up the no-hitter with a hard-hit single up the middle.
White slaps out to left field, easy one for Praytor trotting in to make the catch.

Alabama (with the run rule in sight):
Jana Hainey (lefty 10-3, 2.31 ERA) in relief for Mizzou. She's the No. 3 pitcher on the Tigers' staff, so this is a sign that Ehren Earleywine may be shifting to a win-to-tomorrow strategy.
Eubanks pops up to short, Parker pops up to third and Larsen pops up to shallow center.

Missouri 0 1 0
Alabama 6 10 0

Lakers/Spurs just started. 5-0 Lakers.

Sixth inning:

Missouri:
Getting into now-or-never time for Mizzou with 9-1-2 up to bat in the sixth. Tigers need an extended inning here.
No such luck at the start with Milles popping up to third and Montalvo making a catch in foul territory on a dead run, out one.
Taylor, now tied with Rogers at 57 steals each and 0-fer today, up. She bunts a 1-1 roller and Montalvo charges full speed and guns her down at first by about a third of a step.
Silver up with two outs. She ground out to second to end the Mizzou half of the inning.

Alabama:
Tide huddles up. I'm thinking Patrick Murphy is talking about killer instinct and ending this thing now, but that's just a guess. He may be asking them where they want to eat after the game for all I know.

Alabama does no damage in the bottom of the inning. Jordan Praytor added a single and a stolen base.

Missouri 0 1 0
Alabama 6 11 0

Three outs away from victory for UA.

I'll have to write a quick game story for Tide Live as soon as it's over, then hit the press conference, so I'm done for now unless Mizzou does something dramatic.

And home run queens Renth and Ubrun up to start the bottom of the seventh, with Jen Bruck will hit if someone reaches safely.

Which Renth did with a leadoff walk.

Bye for now.