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USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
How does WCWS work? Explaining double-elimination format for NCAA softball tournament
How does WCWS work? Explaining double-elimination format for NCAA softball tournament Show Caption Hide Caption OU softball coach Patty Gasso, pitcher Kierston Deal talk about Sooners reaching WCWS OU softball coach Patty Gasso, pitcher Kierston Deal talk about the Sooners' 13-2 win against Alabama in Game 2 of the NCAA super regionals to reach the WCWS. The college softball world has shifted its entire focus to Oklahoma City for the 2025 Women's College World Series. Back for the ninth consecutive year is the sport's biggest titan, No. 2 Oklahoma. Patty Gasso's Sooners, who are led by Sam Landry and Kasidi Pickering, are looking to continue their dominance at Devon Park by winning their fifth consecutive (and ninth overall) national championship. The SEC also has a strong showing in Oklahoma City, as the conference owns five of the eight spots, largely due to the additions of Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 over the offseason. The Big 12 still is represented in Oklahoma City, though, as NiJaree Canady pitched Texas Tech to the WCWS for the first time in program history. WCWS BRACKET 2025: Full schedule, matchups for NCAA softball tournament Speaking of first-time appearances, Ole Miss is making its first trip to the WCWS as well. The Rebels upset back-to-back national seeds No. 13 Arizona and No. 4 Arkansas in the Tucson Regional and Fayetteville Super Regional, respectively. WCWS play opens up on Thursday, May 29 at noon ET with an SEC-on-SEC battle between Florida and Texas. But as the WCWS takes place over the next week, fans who watch the action unfold for the first time may wonder how the championship tournament format actually works. Here's what you need to know on the format of the Women's College World Series: How many teams make the WCWS? The Women's College World Series is comprised of the final eight remaining teams in the 64-team NCAA softball tournament bracket. The eight teams that compete in the WCWS have advanced to Oklahoma City by winning their respective regional and super regional series. Of the eight teams that have made the 2025 Women's College World Series, five of them hail from the SEC. REQUIRED READING: Does college softball have a pitch clock? Action clock length, rules explained How does the Women's College World Series work? Explaining WCWS format Similarly to the College World Series, the Women's College World Series begins with a double-elimination style format comprised of two four-team brackets. It's similar to how the regional round of the NCAA Tournament operates, where four teams compete against each other until a winner is crowned from that respective bracket. Each team begins WCWS play with a 0-0 record and is guaranteed to play at least two games in Oklahoma City. Those who lose their opening WCWS game will fall to 0-1 and drop into the "elimination bracket," where they will play to keep their stay alive by winning an elimination game. Those who win their opening WCWS games will move to 1-0 and continue further in the "winner's bracket." REQUIRED READING: How big is a softball? Size, weight for 2025 NCAA softball tournament, WCWS The team that drops their first "elimination bracket" game will drop to 0-2 and be eliminated from the chase for a national championship. But where the format of the WCWS differs from the CWS and gets a bit complicated is what happens to the loser of the second "winner's bracket" game. The loser of this game not only drops to 1-1 in WCWS play and is put into a survive-and-advance elimination game, but they have to play that elimination game on the opposite side of the bracket. From there, that team will play the winner of that bracket's "elimination bracket" game. The team that loses that game is eliminated from the WCWS, while the winner advances back into the "winner's bracket" to play in the semifinals with a 2-1 record. To make the WCWS championship, that team will need two wins against the representative of the "winner's bracket." REQUIRED READING: Why does Florida softball wear sunflowers in their hair? Gators honor Heather Braswell How does the Women's College World Series championship work? The Women's College World Series championship series is a best-of-three series, meaning a team needs to win two games to be crowned the national champion. A team that drops Game 1 of the WCWS championship series can still win the national championship by winning Game 2 and forcing the "if necessary" Game 3. WCWS bracket 2025 Bracket 1 for the 2025 Women's College World Series is loaded and consists of four national seeds in No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Texas and No. 7 Tennessee. Bracket 2 for the WCWS consists of No. 9 UCLA, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 16 Oregon and non-seeded Ole Miss. Here's a full breakdown of the two WCWS brackets: Parentheses represent team's seeding Bracket 1: (2) Oklahoma vs. (7) Tennessee (3) Florida vs. (6) Texas Bracket 2: (9) UCLA vs. (16) Oregon (12) Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss REQUIRED READING: Patty Gasso salary, contract details: How much does Oklahoma softball coach make? WCWS schedule 2025 Here's a full breakdown of the 2025 Women's College World Series, including available start times and TV channel information at the time of this writing: All times Eastern Thursday, May 29 Game 1: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas | noon | ESPN (Fubo) No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas | noon | ESPN (Fubo) Game 2: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Game 3: Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Texas Tech | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Texas Tech | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 4: No. 16 Oregon vs. No. 9 UCLA | 9:30 p.m. ESPN2 (Fubo) Friday, May 30 Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Saturday, May 31 Game 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner 3 p.m. | ABC (Fubo) Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner 3 p.m. | ABC (Fubo) Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner 7 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Sunday, June 1 Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser 3 p.m. | ABC (Fubo) Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser 7 p.m. | ESPNU (Fubo) Monday, June 2 Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | noon | ESPN (Fubo) Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | noon | ESPN (Fubo) Game 12 (If Necessary): Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Game 13: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 14 (If Cecessary): Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) WCWS championship series schedule 2025 Wednesday, June 4 WCWS championship Game 1: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 8 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Thursday, June 5 WCWS championship Game 2: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 8 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Friday, June 6
Associated Press
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Garcia hits 2 HRs, Oklahoma beat Alabama 13-2 in 5 innings, advances to 9th consecutive WCWS
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Gabbie Garcia hit two of Oklahoma's four home runs and the four-time defending national champion Sooners beat Alabama 13-2 in five innings on Saturday to win the Norman Super Regional and clinch a berth in the Women's College World Series. Oklahoma (50-9), which is 42-0 this season when scoring at least six runs, has won at least 50 games in nine consecutive seasons and advanced to the WCWS each of the last nine times it was played (2020 was canceled due to COVID-19). Nelly McEnroe-Marinas scored on a single by Abigale Dayton, who finished with three RBIs, in the second inning and the Sooners exploded for eight runs — sparked by Garcia's first two-run homer and capped by Ella Parker's two-RBI double — in the third to take a 9-0 lead. Parker, Garcia and McEnroe-Marinas each hit a home run in the sixth inning to give the Sooners a 13-2 lead. Parker had three hits — two doubles — and three RBIs. Kierston Deal (10-2) gave up two runs on three hits with four strikeouts over four innings and Audrey Lowry pitched a scoreless fifth to seal it. Kali Heivilin and Marlie Giles each hit a solo shot for Alabama (40-23). Catelyn Riley (11-4) pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up five runs on six hits with three walks. Garcia, a freshman, has 20 home runs this season. ___ AP college sports:
USA Today
27-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma Sooners take game 2 from Texas behind fantastic pitching performance
Oklahoma Sooners take game 2 from Texas behind fantastic pitching performance The Oklahoma Sooners won game two against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday night behind a masterful performance from junior Kierston Deal. Deal threw seven innings, allowing four hits, two walks, and two earned runs. But through six innings, she had only allowed one hit and two walks, keeping Texas hitters off balance all night. By the time the Longhorns put something together in the top of the seventh, it was too little too late. The Sooners offense staked Deal to a lead early in the third inning when Ella Parker homered to put OU on the board first. It was just Parker's seventh home run of the season and second of SEC play. In the bottom of the fourth, Oklahoma added a pair of runs to their lead after Ailana Agbayani scored from first on an Abigale Dayton double. Two batters later, Kasidi Pickering made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly. But the Sooners offense wasn't done there. Dayton provided two more runs on an RBI single and Longhorns error that led to Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and Chaney Helton coming across the plate to make it 5-0. Then in the bottom of the sixth, the captain, McEnroe-Marinas provided the exclamation point with a two-run home run to put the Sooners up 7-0 heading into the seventh. Although Texas was able to string together a few two out hits, including a two-run home run to help the Longhorns avoid the shutout, Deal was able to close out the game and get the win. With the win, Oklahoma moved to 41-5 on the season and have sole possession of first place at 15-5. They're a game and a half up on Texas A&M after the Aggies dropped the first two games of their series to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Sooners and Longhorns will complete their three-game Red River Showdown series at Love's Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. That game can be seen on ESPN2. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
USA Today
14-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma Sooners bats go cold in loss 6-1 to Alabama Crimson Tide
Oklahoma Sooners bats go cold in loss 6-1 to Alabama Crimson Tide The No. 2 Oklahoma softball narrowly avoided being shut out for the first time since 2019 on Sunday as the Sooners fell, 6-1, to No. 23 Alabama. Alabama evened the SEC series at a game apiece after Oklahoma took Saturday's opener 5-1. The last team to shut out OU was, coincidentally, the Crimson Tide. Alabama beat the Sooners, 1-0, in the first game of their semifinal meeting in the 2019 Women's College World Series. OU would win the next game before falling twice to UCLA in the championship series. Oklahoma starter Kierston Deal didn't have her best stuff. She retired just seven batters before being pulled, finishing with three runs allowed on four hits, a walk, and a hit batter. But it wasn't just Deal. The Tide struck for a run on her replacement, Isabella Smith, and two against Audrey Lowry. The Sooners were one out away from the shutout when Sydney Barker hit a solo home run to left-center field. Abigale Dayton was retired immediately after, and Alabama evened the series at one. Oklahoma's only other hit on the day came in the third inning when Kasidi Pickering hit a two-out double. Alabama collected home runs from Kali Heivilin, a solo shot, and Abby Duchscherer, who hit a two-run blast. Jocelyn Briski pitched her best game of the season, working all seven innings while giving up just the two hits and a walk. OU could blame only themselves, as they also just struck out twice against Briski. Briski was just 11-10 on the season coming into the game with an ERA of 2.62. It was only her third time all season throwing a seven-inning complete game. But she was brilliant, keeping Oklahoma off balance and inducing 11 ground ball outs in the win. The series finale between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Alabama Crimson Tide is set for Monday at 6 p.m. from Tuscaloosa.
