The No. 1 spot was given to Oklahoma, which has won the last two Women’s College World Series and is the clear favorite to do so again this season. 1 generally seed in the 2023 NCAA softball competition on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Sooners easily defeated Texas to win the Big 12 championship and improve to 51-1 on the season. There was no doubt who would earn the No. 1 overall position when the regional seedings were announced on Sunday.
The genuine show with Sunday’s competition declaration was whether there’s anybody in the horde of 64 groups equipped for elbowing Oklahoma off the high position.
The No. 1 spot went to UCLA, which defeated Oklahoma in the World Series last year. 2 by and large seed. After that, Washington, Florida State, Tennessee, and the four teams that were blown away in the regionals the year before all received high seeds in 2023.
No. 1 went to Florida State. 3 seed, trailed by No. No. 4: Tennessee 5 Alabama, No. No. 6 Oklahoma State 7 Washington and negative. Eight Duke will complete the top half of the seeds.
Kelly Gatwood, chair of the selection committee, stated on the selection show, “The committee had to look at a lot of really good teams with good résumés, especially for the top eight.” “We really had to dig deep and look at top-10 wins that would help us differentiate.”
This weekend, Oklahoma will play Hofstra in its first game, and Missouri and Cal will join them in the Norman regional. The Sooners would set the NCAA record for winning percentage if they win out and win their third title in a row.
The only loss Oklahoma suffered came against Baylor on February 18, when the Bears scored four runs in the third inning and won 4-3. Since last year’s world series, when the Sooners lost to UCLA 7-3 before winning three straight games by a combined score of 41-6 to win their second title, this is Oklahoma’s only loss.
With a 0.86 ERA for the team, Oklahoma leads the nation. That mark is within a full run of only 10 other teams. In addition, the Sooners lead the nation in scoring (423 runs), batting average (.368), on-base percentage (.463), and home runs (94), trailing only Virginia Tech by three despite playing four fewer games.
Jayda Coleman’s 14 home runs lead Oklahoma’s five players with double-digit home runs this season. Coleman and infielder Tiare Jennings both have an on-base rate better than .500, while the Sooners’ pivot of Nicole May, Alex Storako and Jordy Bahl have each dominated at least 15 matches.
The current year’s Bruins may be the smartest choice to knock Oklahoma off its roost on the game. UCLA is driven by Maya Brady – – resigned NFL quarterback Tom Brady’s niece – – who hit .458 on the season with 18 homers and 59 RBIs.
Grand Canyon will be UCLA’s first opponent, and San Diego State and Liberty will also compete in the Bruins’ regional.
As five unseeded teams advanced to the regionals last year, there was plenty of drama. Among the greatest surprises was a misfortune by No. 2 in general seed Florida State. This year, the No. 1 ranked Seminoles are aiming for vengeance. 3 seed, but they’ll have to work hard because Marist, UCF, and hot South Carolina are all in the Tallahassee area, too.
Alabama, a five-seed, has perhaps more mystery than any other team. The Ruby Tide fell in the SEC elimination round Friday yet procured a high seed from the determination board of trustees. Really upsetting, in any case, is the wellbeing status of star Montana Fouts, who left the Tide’s quarterfinal prevail upon Arkansas in light of a leg injury. It is unknown how she will fare at the regional.
“We focus on the team sheet, what they’ve done throughout the season and the results on the field,” Gatwood said. “We don’t always know the information about injuries, so we try to keep our focus on the teams.”
No owns the remaining seeds. No. 9 Stanford 10 LSU, No. No. 11 Arkansas No. 12 Northwestern No. 13 Texas No. 14 Georgia No. 15 and Utah Clemson, 16
With five of the top 16 teams and 12 teams in the field, the SEC dominated the competition. The Pac-12 had four cultivated groups, while the Large 12 and ACC each had three.
Super regionals are scheduled for May 25-28, and regionals begin on May 19. The Ladies’ School Worldwide championship starts June 1 in Oklahoma City, with the finals June 7-9.