Women’s College World Series Field Is Officially Set

The 2024 Women’s College World Series begins on Thursday. The Oklahoma Sooners will look to continue their dominance and go for their fourth straight title, while the rest of the field will look to knock off the reigning champions.

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Matchups

The first-round matchups will consist of four games on Thursday. Game one is between the 14th-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide and sixth-seeded UCLA Bruins at noon EDT. The second game is between the tenth-seed Duke Blue Devils and second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners at 2:30 p.m. Game three is between the top-seeded Texas Longhorns and eighth-seeded Stanford Cardinals at 7 p.m. The fourth and game of the day is between the fifth-seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls and fourth-seeded Florida Gators at 9:30 p.m.

Out of these eight squads, only Alabama and UCLA have yet to face any of their WCWS competitors. Duke and Oklahoma have met once in the regular season, with Oklahoma defeating Duke 3-0. Texas and Stanford have played each other twice, splitting the season series at one game apiece. Texas won the first meeting by a score of 9-2, while Stanford won the second game by a score of 4-3. Oklahoma State and Florida also met on the diamond earlier in the year, with the Cowgirls winning 3-0.

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SEC Teams

Alabama and Florida will represent the Southeastern Conference in this year’s College World Series. Alabama (38-18) comes into the WCWS after stunning No. 3 Tennessee in the Super Regionals. The Crimson Tide lost the first game to Tennessee 3-2, but bounced back and won the second game 3-2 in 14 innings. The final game of the three-game series saw Alabama end the Volunteers season by a score of 4-1.

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The Florida Gators (51-13) comes into the Women’s College World Series after defeating Baylor in their own Super Regional. The Gators won the first game of the series 4-2 but lost the second game 5-2. Florida won the third game 5-3 to advance to the WCWS.

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Oklahoma’s Dominance

Oklahoma softball has won seven WCWS championships, six of which have come in the last 11 years. The Sooners enters the bracket as the second-ranked team in the nation, only sitting behind the Longhorns.

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The 2024 WCWS will kick off at Devon Park (formerly known as the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium) in Oklahoma City.