Overview
- Play begins Thursday in Oklahoma City with four Day 1 games that include Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech, defending champion Texas vs. Tennessee, No. 1 Alabama vs. UCLA and Nebraska vs. Arkansas.
- Tennessee is expected to lean on ace Karlyn Pickens and a 1.35 team ERA when it faces Texas, while Alabama will rely on Jocelyn Briski’s staff to counter UCLA’s record-setting power hitters.
- Mississippi State is making its first WCWS appearance after upsetting No. 3 Oklahoma in the Norman super regional, ending Oklahoma’s streak of trips to Devon Park that dated to 2015.
- The tournament uses a two four-team double-elimination bracket that produces finalists for a best-of-three championship series set for June 3–5, with all games televised on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC and available to stream via the ESPN app and services such as fubo.
- Key players to watch include Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery for UCLA’s offense, Jordy Frahm as Nebraska’s two-way star, NiJaree Canady and Kaitlyn Terry for Texas Tech, and multiple SEC teams whose depth shapes the field’s balance between pitching and hitting.