Sooners to face Tennessee in WCWS opener

NORMAN — The Sooners now know how their path begins in Oklahoma City.

Patty Gasso's squad will matchup with Tennessee when the Women's College World Series opens on Thursday. Tennessee (45-15) advanced to the WCWS after beating Nebraska in Game 3 of Sunday's super regional.

The Sooners (50-7) punched their ticket to the WCWS after beating Alabama 13-2 on Saturday.

It'll be a familiar matchup for the Sooners, and a difficult one as they fight for their fifth consecutive national championship.

Tennessee beat the Sooners twice in Norman back in March, representing OU's first series loss in SEC play. The Sooners' offense struggled through the weekend, totaling just seven runs and 17 base hits across the weekend. Tennessee ace pitcher Karlyn Pickens was dominant that weekend, allowing just 10 hits and four runs in 12.2 innings.

OU's pitching staff largely slowed down Tennessee's offense. But the Volunteers scored three runs in the eighth inning to win Game 1, then scored five runs in the fourth inning of Game 3 to rally and win the series.

With their win, Tennessee joins the Sooners, Texas, Texas Tech and Oregon as the teams in the WCWS field as of Sunday afternoon. The bracket will be solidified following the Arkansas-Ole Miss game at 4 p.m. CT.

The WCWS begins May 29 and ends June 5/6.

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