Sooner Softball on the Road for Super Regional
NORMAN, Okla.-- After winning the Regional softball title Sunday, beating Texas A&M 2-0, the Sooners will be on the road for a change when they compete in the Super Regional and a shot at advancing to the WCWS.
The Sooners will be competing in their sixth straight Super Regional and it will be against a familiar opponent--the Alabama Crimson Tide, which was impressive in winning its Regional. Alabama will be competing in its 11th consecutive Super Regional and enter the event 45-12.
The Tide also owns a 7-3 all-time record against Oklahoma, and beat the Sooners in the 2012 Women’s College World Series championship series. The Sooners won’t host a Super Regional for the first time since 2011.
“What I like about this Alabama trip is the fact that we are looked at as the underdog,” said OU coach Patty Gasso. “Everywhere we’ve been all year has been everybody after us, so now, we can go in and see what we’re really made of. Sometimes the toughest place to play is at home because the expectations are enormous.”
This will be Oklahoma's ninth appearance in the Super Regionals since the format was introduced in 2005, posting a 10-9 record. The Sooners have reached the Super Regional round in each of the last six years, tying Oregon for the second-longest streak behind only Alabama (11).
Oklahoma is 3-7 all-time against the Crimson Tide with all 10 matchups occurring at neutral sites. Friday's contest will mark the first time the schools have met on one another's campus. This will be the third time in the last four postseasons that the teams will have met. Alabama edged out Oklahoma in three games to win the 2012 National Championship, and last season the Crimson Tide won 6-2 in the teams' opening game of the Women's College World Series.
Following Sunday's 2-0 win over Texas A&M, OU's three seniors--Lauren Chamberlain, Georgia Casey and Shelby Pendley--were honored in a ceremony on Marita Hynes Field. Each player singled in their final home at-bats.
OU’s senior class reached the Women’s College World Series championship series as freshmen and sophomores, winning the title in 2013.
“Everything that they’ve done has been memorable, and just besides great athletes, they’re just great kids,” Gasso said. “They’re great young women, and I’m so proud of them.”
