Here are the eight teams headed to Oklahoma City to play in the 2024 Women’s College World Series (WCWS). Three of the teams reached by sweeping their opponents in the Super Regional. Four of the top six teams in the country are in the WCWS. The Series begins on Thursday, May 30th, when all eight teams get underway, and runs through June 5th or 6th (as needed).
Bracket 1
No. 1 Texas
No. 8 Stanford
No. 5 Oklahoma State
No. 15 Florida
Bracket 2
No. 14 Alabama
No. 6 UCLA
No. 2 Oklahoma
Duke (unseeded)
Two and you’re out. The WCWS has a double-elimination format, and all the games are played in Oklahoma City. The way it works, the four winners from Thursday’s opening games head to the winners’ bracket, while the four losing teams face each other in elimination to see who moves on or drops out.
Been here before. Four of the final eight teams are previous national champions: Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, and UCLA. UCLA has the most titles all time with 13, followed by Oklahoma with seven. Florida has two titles and Alabama one.
Here’s a closer look at the matchups.
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastpitchsoftball/
Texas Longhorns vs. The Stanford Cardinal
Texas got to the Super Regional round by outscoring their opponents 26-2 in the regionals. Facing a tough Texas A&M, Texas lost the first game and had to come from behind to win Game 2. They beat Texas A&M 6-5 in Game 3.
This is just the second time Texas will be in the WCWS. The Longhorns feature strong pitching, led by Reese Atwood, a National Player of the Year finalist.
Stanford won their Super Regional by beating LSU. This is the second straight World Series tournament appearance for the Cardinal and the fourth time in school history. The Cardinal have relied on the pitching of National Player of the Year finalist NiJaree Canady, who compiled a .67 ERA in nearly 200 innings of work this season. She struck out 307 batters, while walking just 36. Canaday shut out the LSU Tigers in two consecutive games to seal a berth to the World Series.
Oklahoma Sooners vs. The Duke Blue Devils
Oklahoma is shooting for their fourth straight National Championship after sweeping Florida State in their Super Regional. The Sooners have been the most successful softball team over the past dozen years, winning six titles. The Sooners have to be the WCWS favorite, with their history and momentum. This season, they outscored opponents 483-107 and have gone 5-0 in the NCAA tournament, outscoring their opponents 33-10.
Duke shocked the doubters by defeating Missouri in their Super Regional. The Blue Devils are the only team making their first appearance in the WCWS. Duke didn’t even have a softball program until 2018, yet made it to Super Regionals in 2022 and ’23. This season, they won the ACC tournament and finished with a 50-6 record, mostly on the talents of star pitchers Claire Davidson, Jala Wright and Cassidy Curd.
Alabama Crimson Time vs. UCLA Bruins
The Alabama Crimson Tide won the second game against the Lady Volunteers in 14 innings, the longest game by innings ever in Super Regional history. They took out Tennessee in Game 3, winning 4-1 off a first-inning grand slam by Riley Valentine. Pitching is their strength, with a staff having an ERA under 2.0. Alabama comes to the World Series for the 14th time.
The UCLA Bruins have the most softball national championship titles of any team, 13, and the most title game appearances, 22. UCLA cruised into this World Series by sweeping No. 11 Georgia. The Bruins’ Sharlize Palacios hit two homers in Game 2 to wrap up that Series. Maya Brady, two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, leads the offense with a .431 average and 17 homers. She’s also the niece of Tom Brady and Kevin Youkilis.
Florida Gators vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls
Florida makes its way to the WCWS for the 12th time. They won back-to-back WCWS titles in 2014-15 and were the runner-up to Oklahoma in 2017. This year, they eliminated Baylor in the Super Regionals, taking Game 3 by a score of 5-3. They lost back-to-back games just once during the season. They’re relying on a potent offense to hopefully take them all the way.
Oklahoma State, who beat rival Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series this year, shut down Arizona in their Super Regional in two games, winning the clincher 10-4. They’re heading to the WCWS for the fifth straight year, the second longest active streak in the country. Pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl, a National Player of the Year finalist, posted a record of 26-3 and racked up wins in all five postseason games for the Cowgirls.
Will Oklahoma “four-peat”?
The biggest story is whether Oklahoma, led by coach Patty Glasso, can win its fourth consecutive WCWS, which no team has done. UCLA won three straight (1988-1990) and made it to the title game the following season, but Arizona beat them to claim the championship.
Pac-12 packs it up.
Finally, this will be the last year of the Pac-12 Conference, which is represented by UCLA and Stanford in this year’s Women’s College World Series. Those teams will be headed to other conferences in 2025, as will seven other Pac-12 schools.
Play ball!
Resources: ncaa.com/scoreboard/softball/d1; espn.com/college-sports/softball/super-regionals; bleacherreport.com/2024-super-regionals-results; ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1
espn.com/video/clip/womens-super-regionals; espn.com/college-sports/2024-ncaa-tournament-wcws-roundtable-experts; bleacherreport.com/2024-super-regionals-results
