Latest news with #WomensCollegeWorldSeries
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Finally, this is happening': Fans pack Omaha field for inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited Softball League
In 2025, a record 2.2 million people tuned in to watch the Women's College World Series. Now, a professional softball league is attempting to capitalize on the sports momentum in Omaha over the weekend.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Future superstars' key to Sooners NCAA Tournament run
In many ways, Oklahoma's heartbreaking loss to Texas Tech in the Women's College World Series semifinals seemed more like the beginning to a story than an end to one. The Sooners may have come up just short of earning a spot in the championship series, but it's hard to imagine this group won't have more opportunities. They had just eight returners from last year's national championship run, the last of a historic four-peat, and 14 newcomers were expected to immediately take over that mantle. Advertisement 'There's some future superstars on this team, and I'm really excited about that, but they had to grow through Cyd Sanders and others that have been around, Ella Parker,' OU head coach Patty Gasso said on Monday. 'Still going to be a young team next year, but extremely excited about it.' They came very close — winning the Southeastern Conference regular season title in their first year in the league and seven NCAA Tournament games before running into two of the top pitchers in the country. The Sooners wouldn't have made it that far into the tournament without several young players performing like veterans. Redshirt freshman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas took over a captaincy role and finished fifth on the team in batting average and was named First Team All-SEC. Gabbie Garcia led the team in home runs and was a NFCA Third Team All-American as a true freshman shortstop. 'I think what me and my class and a lot of the young players on this team will remember is how well we all gelled together and how we used our differences and our superpowers to work together,' freshman Sydney Barker said. Advertisement Out of the eight players that started 55 games or more this season, four were underclassmen and one was a senior (Cydney Sanders). The Sooners will also have to replace a pair of pitchers in Sam Landry and Isabella Smith. With the future of the program as bright as it's ever been, it's easy to overlook the three seniors, who helped provide valuable leadership during an uncertain season. Landry was the Sooners' ace this season, starting 27 games and going 25-6 in the circle. The final game of her career came against her former head coach from her time at Louisiana. She finished the season with a 1.94 ERA, throwing 191 innings and 19 complete games. 'It's bittersweet,' Landry said about facing her coach. 'I wished him luck going forward. Neither one of us wanted to be where we met in postseason. Super happy for them.' Advertisement Smith appeared in 22 games with 10 starts including an appearance in the NCAA Norman Regional against Cal. Sanders was fifth on the team in home runs with 13 and had two in the Sooners' win over Oregon in the WCWS. Landry and Smith both joined the program last offseason in the transfer portal. Sanders was the only senior who had played on a national championship team and one of just eight players total.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Alabama softball vs Oklahoma takeaways: 3 takeaways from NCAA super regional loss
Alabama softball's 2025 season is officially on the line. In the first game of the Norman Super Regional in the NCAA Tournament, the No. 15 Crimson Tide were blanked by Oklahoma 3-0, leaving the Sooners one win away from a Women's College World Series berth. Advertisement Alabama will face Oklahoma in Game 2 at 2 p.m. May 24 in Norman. Here are three takeaways from Alabama's NCAA super regional loss to Oklahoma in the first game of super regionals. Buy Alabama softball tickets Alabama softball, meet Oklahoma pitcher Sam Landry The first inning seemingly set the tone for Alabama's offense against Oklahoma pitcher Sam Landry. The Crimson Tide offense only had one base runner after a Kali Heivilin walk. But Landry was forced to work for the scoreless inning, throwing 20 pitches to four batters. Alabama continued to put Landry to work, forcing the Oklahoma pitcher into numerous at bats of eight pitches or more. But Landry seemed unperturbed, finishing with seven shutout innings allowing four hits, two walks and five strikeouts on 108 pitches. Advertisement Landry was Alabama's second shutout of the season after LSU beat the Tide 8-0 on April 4. FROM THE WIN: Alabama softball vs Virginia Tech live updates: Score, highlights from NCAA regional final FROM YESTERDAY: Alabama softball vs Virginia Tech game takeaways: 3 defining moments from NCAA regional win One inning defines Jocelyn Briski Alabama softball performance The first time through the Oklahoma order, Jocelyn Briski was dealing. The Alabama pitcher allowed a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch her first time through the Sooners lineup. But after walking Oklahoma center fielder Abigale Dayton to begin the third inning, Briski began to struggle, allowing a two-run home runs to Kasidi Pickering, the first of three hits in the inning. The struggles returned in the fifth with two hits including an RBI single by Sydney Barker. Alabama softball has seen this narrative before Alabama has been here before. Advertisement In 2024, the Crimson Tide lost 3-2 in its first super regional game against Tennessee before beating the Volunteers 3-2 in 14 innings and exploding for a 4-1 win to secure a Women's College World Series berth. Same in 2023, when a 3-1 loss to Northwestern turned into two straight wins and a Women's College World Series berth. In 2025, Oklahoma, which has won four straight national championships, is in the way. But it's a narrative Alabama seems comfortable in. Alabama softball tickets Looking to buy Alabama softball tickets? We've got you covered. Buy Alabama softball tickets This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama-Oklahoma softball: Tide returns to familiar NCAA super regional narrative
Washington Post
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Record-breaking viewership and attendance mark historic Women's College World Series
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Women's College World Series has set viewership and attendance records. ESPN said in a news release that the average of 1.3 million viewers across 15 games on its platforms was the most-watched World Series ever, surpassing the record set in 2021. Game 3 of the championship series , Texas' 10-4 win over Texas Tech for its first national title, was ESPN's most watched NCAA softball game ever with 2.4 million viewers. The previous high was 2.3 million for the 2007 Game 3 between Arizona and Tennessee. Games 1 and 2 both set championship series records with 2.1 million viewers each. Overall World Series viewership was up 24% from last year. Among non-championship games, the UCLA-Tennessee game on June 1 pulled in 2.2 million viewers with a peak of 3.9 million to deliver the best non-Finals WCWS game of all time. Tennessee's 5-4 win marked the best audience for a WCWS game in a decade. Oklahoma City's Devon Field, the site that will host softball at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, hosted the most-attended World Series ever dating back to the first one in 1982. In all, 119,778 fans attended, with a session average of 11,978. There were three session attendance records, including for the decisive Game 3 of the championship series. Session 4, which included Texas's 4-2 win over Oklahoma and Texas Tech's 3-1 victory over UCLA , set the record for any session with 12,595 fans. The numbers come on the heels of the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League's partnership with Major League Baseball . The attention was heightened for several reasons. Texas is the nation's second-largest state by population, and two teams from there played in the championship series. Texas and Texas Tech earned attention by beating Oklahoma, which had won four straight national titles. And Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady, who signed a $1 million-plus NIL deal before the season and another during the World Series, got the Red Raiders to the final. ___ AP sports:
Associated Press
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Record-breaking viewership and attendance mark historic Women's College World Series
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Women's College World Series has set viewership and attendance records. ESPN said in a news release that the average of 1.3 million viewers across 15 games on its platforms was the most-watched World Series ever, surpassing the record set in 2021. Game 3 of the championship series, Texas' 10-4 win over Texas Tech for its first national title, was ESPN's most watched NCAA softball game ever with 2.4 million viewers. The previous high was 2.3 million for the 2007 Game 3 between Arizona and Tennessee. Games 1 and 2 both set championship series records with 2.1 million viewers each. Overall World Series viewership was up 24% from last year. Among non-championship games, the UCLA-Tennessee game on June 1 pulled in 2.2 million viewers with a peak of 3.9 million to deliver the best non-Finals WCWS game of all time. Tennessee's 5-4 win marked the best audience for a WCWS game in a decade. Oklahoma City's Devon Field, the site that will host softball at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, hosted the most-attended World Series ever dating back to the first one in 1982. In all, 119,778 fans attended, with a session average of 11,978. There were three session attendance records, including for the decisive Game 3 of the championship series. Session 4, which included Texas's 4-2 win over Oklahoma and Texas Tech's 3-1 victory over UCLA, set the record for any session with 12,595 fans. The numbers come on the heels of the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League's partnership with Major League Baseball. The attention was heightened for several reasons. Texas is the nation's second-largest state by population, and two teams from there played in the championship series. Texas and Texas Tech earned attention by beating Oklahoma, which had won four straight national titles. And Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady, who signed a $1 million-plus NIL deal before the season and another during the World Series, got the Red Raiders to the final. ___ AP sports:
