The first two teams in the Women’s College World Series are set, with Texas Tech and Oklahoma riding to victory in the NCAA softball super regionals.

Texas Tech, a 12-seed, became the first team to punch its ticket to the Women’s College World Series with a super-regional sweep of No. 5-seeded Florida State on Friday. Oklahoma, the seven-time NCAA champs, joined them on Saturday with a mercy-rule sweep over Alabama.

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NiJaree Canady, who transferred to Texas Tech from Stanford for the largest-ever softball NIL deal, led the way for the Red Raiders, pitching seven innings each in Games 1 and 2, allowing just one total run. Canady added a hit, RBI and a walk in Game 1. Texas Tech finished the regular season No. 11 in the USA Softball rankings.

After a 3-0 win over the Crimson Tide on Friday, the Sooners punched their ticket with a 13-2 win on Saturday, with the matchup ending after five innings due to the college softball mercy rule. Freshman shortstop Gabbie Garcia hit two two-run homers, including one that began a nine-run third inning for Oklahoma.

It will be Texas Tech’s first appearance in the WCWS. For Oklahoma, however, it’s familiar territory: The Sooners have appeared in the event 18 times since 2000, winning the past four championships.

South Carolina, which won Game 1 of its series against UCLA 9-2 thanks to catcher Lexi Winters’ 3-RBI performance, had a chance to clinch its spot on Saturday. But the Bruins had another idea, with junior Jordan Woolery slugging a two-run walk-off homer to keep UCLA’s world series hopes alive. The Gamecocks and Bruins will now face off for Game 3 on Sunday.

A slew of games are still set to take place on Saturday, with Oregon, Ole Miss and Nebraska all holding opportunities to complete sweeps and advance to the WCWS.

CNN
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A popular Mexican singer, Julión Álvarez, says he and his band have had to cancel a show in Texas on Saturday night after the singer’s visa to enter the United States had been allegedly revoked.

The band, called Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda, was due to play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, around 30 miles west of Dallas, for a sold-out concert with nearly 50,000 tickets sold, the artist’s team said in a statement Friday.

The artist, show promoter CMN and management company Copar Music said that the show had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances,” and that Álvarez was “unable to enter the United States in time for the event.”

Álvarez also announced the news on his Instagram account, saying in a video that he and his team were notified that his work visa had been revoked by US authorities earlier Friday.

“It is not possible for us to go to the United States and fulfill our show promise with all of you. It’s a situation that is out of our hands. That’s the information I have and what I can share,” he said in the video.

Álvarez said the stage had already been built and that his production team was already in Texas preparing for the show.

“I apologize to all of you, and if God permits, we will be in touch to provide more information,” he said.

The show’s promoter and Copar Music said they were working with Álvarez’s team to reschedule the performance. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date and refund details will be provided for those who cannot attend, it said.

A US State Department spokesperson declined to comment on Álvarez’s case, telling CNN that visa records are confidential and that, by law, they cannot comment on individual cases.

Álvarez and his band are the latest Mexican artists to allegedly have their US visas revoked amid Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

Last month, the State Department revoked the tourist visas of members of the Mexican band Los Alegres del Barranco, after they projected the face of a drug cartel boss onto a screen during a performance in the western state of Jalisco.

The Trump administration has also cracked down on foreign nationals allegedly linked directly or indirectly to drug cartels. This includes revoking the visas of artists whose work depicts drug cartels that the administration has deemed foreign terrorist organizations.

In 2017, Álvarez had his US work visa revoked after the US alleged he and around 20 other people – including soccer player Rafael Márquez – had ties to a drug trafficker linked to major cartels and were put under sanctions, according to a US Treasury statement.

Álvarez denied those allegations and said he was only connected to the trafficker over a real estate purchase.

Álvarez was removed from the sanctions list in 2022 and was able to regain his visa, making a return to the United States earlier this year with three sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in April.

With nearly 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Álvarez is renowned in Mexico for his traditional music style with elements of banda, norteña, and mariachi. Some of his top hits include heartbreak hits like “Póngamonos de Acuerdo” and “Te Hubieras Ido Antes.”