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  • Flowers flourishes Posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008 0:00 AM ET By USA Softball Tairia Flowers hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam in the third inning, to power a U.S. attack that scored half of its runs via long ball in a 22-0 rout of Team Sacramento.
  • Osterman throws no-no Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 0:00 AM ET By The Associated Press Cat Osterman pitched a six-inning no-hitter with 14 strikeouts as the U.S. Olympic softball team beat a California All-Star team 13-0 on its pre-Beijing tour Friday night.
  • Record crowd watches U.S. softball win Posted Saturday, May 10, 2008 0:00 AM ET By By the Associated Press

    Monica Abbott struck out five of the six batters she faced and the U.S. women's softball team beat NPF's Washington Glory 2-0 on Saturday in front of 8,724 fans, the largest crowd to see an American pre-Olympic tour game.

  • Finch, Lappin lead Team USA Posted Friday, May 9, 2008 0:00 AM ET Jennie Finch pitched a two hitter with 19 strikeouts and was backed by five home runs, two by Lauren Lappin, as the USA Softball team won its 30th game on the Bound 4 Beijing Tour.
  • Mendoza hits grand slam in Team USA rout Posted Thursday, May 1, 2008 0:00 AM ET By (AP)

    WASHINGTON, Pa.(AP) Jessica Mendoza hit a grand slam and drove in seven runs in the U.S. national softball team's 16-0, six-inning exhibition victory over Robert Morris University on Thursday night.

  • Fernandez says goodbye on mound where she starred in college Posted Wednesday, April 23, 2008 0:00 AM ET By (AP)

    LOS ANGELES(AP) On the same mound where she starred in college, Lisa Fernandez played what could be her final game for U.S. softball.

  • Jennie Finch tosses perfect game for U.S. Posted Sunday, April 20, 2008 0:00 AM ET By (AP)

    SULPHUR, La.(AP) Jennie Finch pitched a perfect game for the U.S. softball team, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette 2-0 Saturday night during the pre-Olympic exhibition tour.

  • Speaking with Jackline Al-Duqom Posted Saturday, April 19, 2008 11:37 AM ET Jackline Al-Duqom, a two-time Olympian in table tennis, was appointed president of the Jordan Softball Union, the newest member of the International Softball Federation and one that could be vital in the sport's attempt to be reinstated to the Olympic program in 2016.
  • Speaking with Prince Feisal Bin Al-Hussein Posted Friday, April 18, 2008 6:54 PM ET Jordan's Prince Feisal Bin Al-Hussein is a major figure in international diplomacy. In 2007, Feisal launched Peace Through Sport, a global campaign aimed at helping youth from areas in conflict find common ground and peaceful goals through sports.
  • Speaking with Liz Kelly Posted Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:08 AM ET The Netherlands softball team was in a state of disarray just four years ago. Order was restored by American Liz Kelly, a native of California and a veteran collegiate coach in the United States. 
  • Perfect timing Posted Wednesday, April 16, 2008 1:08 PM ET By Joe Battaglia

    With one last chance to make an impression before the final team cuts were made, Vicky Galindo suffered a broken arm. But the veteran infielder drew from her experience to earn her first trip to the Olympics.

  • Softball: Bound 4 Beijing Just Hours Away By GlobalAdmin GlobalAdmin The long awaited start to the Bound 4 Beijing Tour is just hours away as the USA Softball Women’s National Team is in Tucson to compete against the University of Arizona today, Tue., Feb. 19th at 7:00 p.m./CT.
  • Ready to represent By Joe Battaglia, NBCOlympics.com After a dominant collegiate career, Monica Abbott was selected as one of three pitchers on the U.S. Olympic Team, an honor and responsibility she is taking seriously.
  • Armed and glamorous By Joe Battaglia, NBCOlympics.com Jennie Finch garners plenty of attention for her accomplishments as a pitcher. But she also happens to look like a supermodel, and her sex-symbol status often garners more attention than her athletic prowess.
  • Finch fired, but fine Softball player Jennie Finch, along with 13 other men and women from famous walks of life, were cast as contestants on the reality show Celebrity Apprentice, where stars battled to earn the approval of mogul Donald Trump while raising money for charitable causes.
  • Not ready to say goodbye By Joe Battaglia, NBCOlympics.com While the sun has set on softball in the 2012 London Games, the international softball community has banded together in an attempt to get the sport reinstated for the 2016 Olympics.
  • Softball: What to expect By Matt Stroup, NBCOlympics.com This may be the final chapter for Olympic softball, but the narrative on the field remains altogether unchanged: Heading toward Beijing, the juggernaut United States squad appears to be as dominant as ever.
  • Speaking with Jessica Mendoza: Part 2 Jessica Mendoza is a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and was named USA Softball's Athlete of the year in 2006. In January, she was one of five athletes selected for a 10-day, goodwill "Olympic Heroes Tour" visiting U.S. armed forces stationed in Qatar and Afghanistan.
  • Team USA softball wipes out Wildcats By GlobalAdmin GlobalAdmin Team USA's relentless lineup benefited early from four Arizona errors before flexing its muscle late in the game, routing the Wildcats 16-0 in an exhibition softball game Tuesday night.

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Basics

Olympic softball consists of one tournament with games played over a nine day span. The eight teams in the field play each other once during a round robin. The four teams with the best records advance to the medal rounds.

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