2024 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament Review

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Softball heavyweights Oklahoma (59-7) continued to do the Big 12 Conference proud, sweeping conference rivals Texas (55-10) in the best-of-3 Women’s College World Series Finals, winning 8-3 in Game 1 on June 5 and 8-4 in Game 2 at Devon Park, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Recent Domination by Oklahoma in Women’s Softball

This marked the fourth straight year that the Sooners have won the D1 Softball championship and the third straight year in which Oklahoma has swept its opponents. In 2023, Oklahoma defeated the ACC’s Florida State (5-3, 3-1) and beat Texas in 2022 (16-1, 10-5). In 2021, the Sooners needed all three games to win over FSU (4-8, 6-2, 5-1).

Oklahoma has now gone an impressive 8-1 in its last nine WCWS Finals games, outscoring opponents 65-28 along the way. The Sooners have now won six of the last eight Softball College World Series under NFCA Hall of Fame Head Coach Patty Gasso, who just finished her 30th season in Norman with OU.

The Sooners are now tied for second with the most WCWS championships with eight (2000, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 204) with Arizona (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007). Only UCLA has more Softball College World Series titles than Oklahoma and Arizona, winning 12 times (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2019).

2024 WCWS Super Regionals Review

64 teams entered this annual tournament, with eight qualifying in the eight different Super Regionals hosted by the No. 1 seeds. Thirty-two of these women's softball teams entered by getting an automatic bid, while the remaining 32 made it by receiving an at-large bid from the NCAA Selection Committee.

Here is what happened at the eight Super Regionals, where the winners advanced to the College World Series Softball tournament (WCWS) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Austin Super Regional

The eight teams in the Austin Super Regional played at the home of the regional, tourney, and top-ranked team in the nation, Texas—Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin—with Siena, Saint Francis (PA), Northwestern, Texas A&M, Albany, Texas State, and Penn State joining the host Longhorns.

In Round 1, Texas, Northwestern, Texas A&M, Saint Francis, Penn State, and Texas State all advanced to Round 2, with Texas, Northwestern, Texas A&M, and Texas State all moving on to the Regional Finals. There, Texas shut out Northwestern (7-0), and A&M blanked Texas State (8-0) to set up a Longhorn State showdown in the best-of-3 Austin Super Regional Finals between the Big 12's Longhorns and Aggies.

After losing the opener, 6-5, Texas rallied to beat A&M in Game 2 (9-8) and Game 3 (6-5) in dramatic fashion to survive its own Regional and Super Regional and qualify for the WCWS. Game 2 went to extra innings, and Texas won it in the 9th to stay alive.

Stanford Super Regional

The Stanford Super Regional was played at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium in Stanford, California, and saw host Stanford, Saint Mary's (CA), Mississippi State, Cal State Fullerton, LSU, Jackson State, California, and Southern Illinois all qualify.

Stanford and California State met in the Regional Finals, where the Cardinal prevailed, with LSU eliminating SIU in the bottom half of the bracket. In the Stanford Super Regional Finals, Stanford won the best-of-three series to advance to the WCWS (1-11, 3-0, 8-0), rallying for two shutouts after getting clawed in the first game by the SEC's Tigers.

Stillwater Super Regional

The Stillwater Super Regional was played at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where hosts and No. 5 ranked Oklahoma State joined Northern Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Arkansas, Arizona Villanova, and Southeast Missouri.

The Cowgirls and Michigan advanced to the Regional Finals, as did Arizona and Villanova, the latter having upset No. 12 ranked Arkansas in Round 2. Oklahoma State and Arizona then won to make it to the Stillwater Super Regional Finals, where the hosts swept the Wildcats (8-0, 10-4) to make the final eight in the WCWS.

Gainesville Super Regional

The Gainesville Super Regional was hosted by No. 4 ranked Florida and played at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Joining the Gators were South Alabama, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, No. 13 Louisiana, Princeton, Ole Miss, and Baylor.

Florida and South Alabama got out of Round 2 to meet in the Regional Finals, where the Gators won 9-1 to move on, while Baylor handed Louisiana its second loss to earn a chance to oust the hosts. But Florida beat the best-of-3 Gainesville Super Regional Finals (4-2, 2-5, 5-3) to make it to Oklahoma City.

Knoxville Super Regional

The Knoxville Super Regional was played at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. The No. 3 ranked Volunteers played host to Dayton, Virginia, Miami (OH), No. 14 Alabama, USC Upstate, Southeastern Louisiana, and Clemson.

Two more SEC teams made it to the Regional Finals, where the Volunteers eliminated Virginia, and the Crimson Tide ousted SELA to set up an all-SEC showdown in the Knoxville Super Regional Finals. There, Alabama upset the hosts Tennessee, winning two of three (2-3, 3-2, 4-1), punching their ticket to the 2024 Women's D1 Softball World Series.

Los Angeles Super Regional

The Los Angeles Super Regional was played at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles. The hosts, UCLA, and No. 5 ranked Grand Canyon were joined by Virginia Tech, San Diego State, No. 11 Georgia, UNC Wilmington, Charlotte, and Liberty.

UCLA and Georgia both advanced to the Los Angeles Super Regional Finals, ousting upstarts Grand Canyon and Liberty, respectively. The host Bruins swept the Bulldogs (8-0, 6-1) en route to making the esteemed final eight in the WCWS.

Columbia Super Regional

The Columbia Super Regional was played at the beautiful Mizzou Softball Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. The No. 7 ranked Tigers welcomed Omaha, Washington, Indiana, No. 10 Duke, Michigan State, South Carolina, and Utah.

Mizzou made it to the Regional Finals, where it bounced Omaha, with Duke taking out South Carolina in the bottom half of the bracket. The Blue Devils then upset and eliminated the hosts, beating Missouri in two of the three games (6-3, 1-3.,4-3), needing nine innings in the dramatic last game to punch its ticket to Oklahoma City. Watch.

Norman Super Regional

The Norman Super Regional was played at the new Love's Field in Norman, Oklahoma, where the then-three-time defending champions and No. 2 ranked Oklahoma hosted Cleveland State, Oregon, Boston University, No. 15 Florida State, Chattanooga, UCF, and Auburn.

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Catcher Kinzie Hansen and the Sooners defeated Oregon in the Regional Finals, with FSU eliminating Auburn in the same round. OU was too much for FSU in the Norman Super Regional, sweeping the Seminoles (11-3, 4-2) and setting up a chance for a fourth straight national softball championship.

2025 WCWS Finals Bracket

At Devon Park, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the Softball College World Series, it was all Power Five Conferences at the party with Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State representing the Big 12, UCLA and Stanford repping the now-gone Pac-12, Alabama and Florida in from the SEC and Duke the lone representative of the ACC still alive.

Top-ranked Texas shut out its first three opponents (Stanford twice, Florida) to reach the 2024 WCWS Finals without having allowed a run in Oklahoma City (4-0, 10-0, 1-0). No. 2 ranked Oklahoma had a much harder route to the championship round.

The Sooners defeated Duke in Round 1 (9-1) and beat UCLA in Round 2 (2-0) but needed two games to oust Florida in the Semifinals (3-9, 6-5), meaning that the defending champions were just one loss away from not even getting a chance to four-peat in the WCWS Finals series.

But Senior Jayda Coleman came through for the Sooners, blasting a walk-off home run to give Oklahoma the win and keep their hopes alive at making a little history as OU made its seventh WCWS Finals championship series in the last eight years.

2024 Women’s College World Series Finals Results

As we said, Oklahoma swept Texas in the Women's College World Series Finals, winning Game 1 (8-3) on Wednesday, June 5, and then Game 2 (8-4) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Sooners made it four straight championships and eight overall.

For legendary Head Coach Gasso, it was particularly satisfying to see her five graduating Seniors fulfill their destiny and make it a championship every season they all played, beating the nation's top-ranked team and a conference rival who heeded into the 2024 Women's College World Series Finals having not even allowed run in the Sooner State.

The aforementioned Catcher Hansen and OF Coleman, along with IF Tiare Jennings, OF Riley Boone, and Pitcher Nicole May, made sure there would be no sour memories as Oklahoma outscored Texas 16-7 in the two victories. No team had ever won four straight WCWS.

Hansen, Jennings, DP Ella Parker, Freshman OF Kasidi Pickering, and Graduate Student and Pitcher Kelly Maxwell were all named to the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team, with Maxwell being named the WCWS Most Outstanding Player.

2025 WCWS Brackets Predicted Eight

Although Oklahoma will see an awful lot of talent leaving, expect the Sooners to make a run at a fifth straight WCWS championship in 2025 and host a Super Regional again. Six of the eight teams that hosted Super Regionals made it to Oklahoma City in 2024, and we can probably expect the same thing in 2025.

One host team who was eliminated, No. 8 ranked Tennessee—upset by Alabama—should find a way back and qualify for the 2025 Women's College World Series, as should fellow SEC counterparts Florida. And expect Oklahoma State and Texas from the Big 12, UCLA, and Stanford to again be there.

So the Power Five—now more like the Power Four with the evaporation of the Pac-12—may again have all eight representatives in Oklahoma City. But can the Sooners repeat after losing so much talent? They certainly can.

The Perfect Game Class of 2025 Softball Player Rankings reveals that six of the top 11 recruits in the country will be heading to Norman to play for Grasso in 2025, including No. 2 Lexi McDaniel (MIF), No. 4 Berkeley Zache (RHP), No, 5 Kai Minor (OF), No. 7 Allysa Parker (RHP), No. 10 Kendall Wells (C), and No. 11 Sophia Bordi (RHP), proving Gasso is as good of a recruiter as she is a coach.

With Frosh sensation Pickering—who homered in both College Softball World Series schedule games—and Parker and all of these talented incoming Freshmen, the cupboard will be far from bare in Norman in 2025.

Future Women’s College Softball World Series Dates and Sites

• 2025—Devon Park, OKC, OK ➤First Day—May 29 ➢Championship Game—June 5/6

• 2026—Devon Park, OKC, OK ➤First Day—May 28 ➢Championship Game—June 4/5

• 2027—Devon Park, OKC, OK ➤First Day—June 3 ➢Championship Game—June 10/11

• 2028—Devon Park, OKC, OK ➤First Day—June 1 ➢Championship Game—June 8/9

• 2029—Devon Park, OKC, OK ➤First Day—May 31 ➢Championship Game—June 7/8

• 2030—Devon Park, OKC, OK ➤First Day—May 30 ➢Championship Game—June 6/7

Where to Buy 2025 Women’s College World Series Tickets

Now is the best time to get your College World Series Softball Tickets for 2025 after witnessing the sold-out crowds we saw at Devon Park in Oklahoma City this year.

You can get single-game and hospitality tickets from NCAATickets.com, while OnLocation may also be offering 2025 NCAA Division I WCWS tickets but without the hospitality feature. Using a third-party ticket site like TicketX may end up being your best bet.

Here is a WCWS Fan Guide that offers information on tickets, parking, policies, and exactly how to get to Devon Park (2801 Northeast 50th Street) in Oklahoma City.

First-time users can get 10% off using the special TicketX promo code during the month of June.

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