Norman Region 2014 Softball World Series Breakdown
#7 Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Hofstra, Bryant
Defending NCAA national champion Oklahoma (45-10) will host one of the 16 Regionals May 16-18 in a four-team field that also includes Bryant (32-20), Hofstra (33-13) and Texas A&M (35-20). The No. 7 seeded Sooners ended their regular season in style over the weekend, sweeping a pair of games against arch rival Oklahoma State to conclude the regular season 45-10 and 16-2 in the Big 12, winning its third conference title and 11th overall.
The Sooners concluded the season by winning its last 12 games in a row and 27 of 29 games. In the past three years the Sooners have averaged more than 52 wins a year while only losing 24.
OU figured to host an NCAA Regional and was hoping for a top-eight seed and the chance to host a Super Regional. It's a seed that OU Coach Patty Gasso thinks the Sooners have earned. “I think, not just from the body of work, but also from the reputation of what we do in the postseason,” she said. “I think the defending national champion deserves a little love. Whether they [the committee] think that way or not, I don’t know. I think we’re going to fall somewhere [No.] 7, 8, 9 or 10. Hopefully we can get into that [No.] 8 spot; it fits pretty nicely.”
This will be the first time Bryant has appeared in an NCAA Softball Regional and will play the Sooners in Friday's second game at 7:30 p.m. Hofstra will face Texas A&M in the regional opening game at 5:00 p.m.
Friday's winners will square off in Saturday's first of three games, while Friday's two losers will face off in an elimination game later that night. The loser of Saturday's first game will take on the winner of the day's second game in an elimination game. The winner of Saturday's final game will take on the winner of the day's first game on Sunday with an if necessary rematch scheduled for later on Sunday.
Oklahoma has met Bryant (Smithfield, RI) once before. The Sooners defeated the Bulldogs, 4-1, March 8, 1992. OU is also 0-1 all-time against Hofstra and 45-30 all-time versus Texas A&M. Last season, Oklahoma swept Texas A&M in the NCAA Super Regional, winning 10-2 in six innings and 8-0 in five innings.
The winner of this weekend's regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round against the winner of the Knoxville Regional the following weekend with an ultimate goal of reaching the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma has made the NCAA tournament in each of head coach Patty Gasso's 20 seasons at the helm of the program. Last season, Oklahoma was a perfect 10-0 in the postseason en route to the program's second national title.
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