2021 NCAA Women’s College World Series Preview

The 2021 NCAA Women’s College World Series is set to begin Thursday, June 3.

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The World Series will be taking place in Oklahoma City with eight competing teams.

Out of the eleven SEC teams that hosted regionals, only two SEC teams are left standing. The two teams representing the SEC in the tournament include Georgia and Alabama.

Preview

The eight teams set to compete include Alabama, Arizona, Florida State, Georgia, James Madison, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and UCLA.

Game 1 on Thursday will feature Oklahoma and James Madison at noon ET, following Georgia facing Oklahoma State at 2:30 p.m. ET. Game three is set for 7 p.m. ET with Arizona and Alabama,  while game four is set for 9:30 p.m. ET with Florida State and UCLA.

The format of this tournament is double-elimination until Monday when the best-of-three championship series begins.

Due to the 2020 College Series canceling last year’s tournament, UCLA remains the reigning champs.

The Teams

This year an unseeded team made it into the mix, James Madison University.

“We deserve to be here,” redshirt junior Lynsey Meeks said. “We deserve to be recognized for how much work we’ve put in. I don’t consider us a mid-major anymore. We’re up with the big dogs, and we deserve to be there.”

The team made their first appearance in the NCAA Super Regional in 2016, but has never advanced this far in the competition.

Head Coach Loren LaPorte explains that they are going to have to work extra hard to prepare for the tough competition.

“We’re gonna celebrate this tonight,” LaPorte said. “And then it’s prepare time, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. … We want to show up and compete and not be intimidated. Yes, this might be the first time we’ve ever been there, but we want to make a name for ourselves.”

Meanwhile, this is going to be the no.1 Oklahoma Sooner’s 14th appearance at the WCW. Previously, they won four NCAA titles.

It’s no. 5 Oklahoma State’s 12th appearance at the tournament, while it’s the Georgia Bulldogs fifth. This is  No. 3 Alabama’s 13th appearance, while they also won the 2012 national title. The no. 11 Arizona Wildcats is on its 24th WCW appearance and the team won eight NCAA titles. No.10 Florida State won the 2018 NCAA title and this competition marks the team’s 11th appearance. The no. 2 UCLA Bruins are on their 30th appearance and have won NCAA titles 13 times.