It’s softball time in Oklahoma.
Well, actually, it’s been that way for a few months. Our state is googly-eyedfor college softball, so the interest cranks up as soon as the games start.
But this week, we're taking things to another level.
The NCAA Tournament will get started Friday. We’ve got regionals at OU and OSU, and if the seeds hold, we’ll have super regionals at both places next week. And of course, in a couple of weeks, we’ll have the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Center of the softball universe?
Yep, that’s us.
So as OKC prepares to host its 31st WCWS, here are 31 things to know about the people, places and plots in this NCAA Tournament.
1. First things first. Grand Canyon, North Texas, Murray State and UNC Wilmington will be making their first-ever appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
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2. Seems fitting North Texas is in a regional in Oklahoma. The Mean Green has tons of ties to the state, starting with head coach Rodney DeLong. He is a native of Lawton who played baseball at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, then at Cameron University. He coached high school ball at Cache and Lawton MacArthur before moving to the college level at Cameron.
3. Check out the Oklahomans on North Texas’ roster, too: Rylan Dooner, Tuttle; Kailey Gamble, Westmoore; Shelby McHughes, Community Christian; Molly Rainey, Byng by way of UCF; and Mikayla Smith, Southmoore.
4. Former SoonerRaegan Rogers is a volunteer assistant for North Texas.
5. One more North Texas tie to the state — athletic director Wren Baker is a native of Valliant, got his bachelor’s from Southeastern Oklahoma State and earned his master’s from OSU. He was a grad assistant, then basketball operations assistant for Cowboys men’s basketball.
6. If North Texas is familiar, Fordham is exotic. The team facing OSU in its regional opener hails from New York City. To be more accurate, the Bronx. The Jesuit university was founded in 1841, and among its most notable grads are Denzel Washington and Vince Lombardi.
7. Prairie View A&M, OU’s opening opponent, has perhaps the most unlikely path to the tournament. It started the season 0-19. But it won 20 of its last 29 games, including sweeping through the SWAC Tournament.
8. Oklahoma City area softball fans may recognize a familiar face in the Prairie View infield. Taliya Talley is a product of Carl Albert High School. She is at her third school in three years after going from Butler (Kansas) Community College to Alabama State to Prairie View.
9. Fun fact: Talley made the NCAA Tournament last season, too, at Alabama State. Her former teamwas who her current team had to beat in the SWAC championship to make the NCAA Tournament this year.
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10. Another Carl Albert alum to watch is Arkansas pitcher Chenise Delce. She was named SEC pitcher of the year after transferring to Arkansas after three seasons at Tulsa. The Razorbacks are the No. 4 overall seed, meaning they have a great chance to advance to the WCWS.
11. If Arkansas makes the WCWS, Delce will be returning for the second consecutive season. But last year, she wasn’t playing. She worked concessions during the series.
12. One of Delce’s best friends and former travel ball teammates Steffany Dickerson is also in the tournament. The senior pitcher leads Missouri State after being named Missouri Valley pitcher of the year. She went to Putnam North.
13. Missouri State is in the Missouri regional. The Tigers are one of six regional hosts from the SEC.
14. The SEC has 12 teams in the tournament, the most of any conference.
15. Only one SEC team failed to make the field: South Carolina.
16. The ACC has four regional hosts, second only to the SEC.
17. Three of the four ACC teams hosting regionals have never done so before. Virginia Tech, Clemson and Duke are first-timers.
18. The other first-time regional host is Central Florida. UCF is the first non-Power 5 program to host a regional since 2016 when Louisiana and James Madison hosted.
19. The state of Florida has three regionals: Florida State, Florida and UCF.
20. The only other state with multiple regionals: Oklahoma.
21. If the seeds hold and OU and OSU advance, Oklahoma would be the only state with multiple super regionals.
22. The Big 12 managed only three teams in the tournament, a number matched by the American Athletic Conference.
NCAA softball tournament:Get to know the OU Sooners' opponents in Norman Regional
23. Two of the nation’s top hitters will be on the same field this weekend in Norman. Home run queen Jocelyn Alo has a .481 batting average while Prairie View slugger Bivianna Figueroa is hitting .444. The only player in the tournament with a higher batting average is Wichita State’s Sydney McKinney at .511.
24. Sooner fans will see a familiar face in the Minnesota dugout this weekend. Former OU pitcher Mariah Lopez is a graduate manager for the Gophers. She played her last two seasons at Arizona.
25. The Gophers spent some quality time in the state of Oklahoma earlier this season, playing at OSU on March 6, at OU the next day, then returning to OSU on March 9. Minnesota dropped all three games, losing to OSU 7-6 in 10 innings and 7-0 and to OU 9-1 in a five-inning run rule.
26. Texas A&M, another team at the OU regional, also played OSU this season. They met twice in February with the Cowgirls winning 1-0 and 2-1
27. Texas A&M coach Jo Evans is one of the longest-tenured coaches in all of college softball. She is in her 26th year at Texas A&M.
28. Evans won’t be the longest-tenured coach in the OU regional, though. Sooner coach Patty Gasso is in her 28th season at OU.
29. Neither Gasso nor Evans have been at their schools as long as Rhonda Revelle has been at hers. The Nebraska coach is in her 30th season in Lincoln. Revelle and the Cornhuskers will play in the OSU regional.
30. If you prefer new coaching blood, keep an eye on Arizona and Georgia. Long coached by the legendary Mike Candrea, the Wildcats now are led by first-year head coach Caitlin Lowe. Georgia has a first-year head coach as well in Tony Baldwin, who replaced Lu Harris-Champers. Both Candrea and Harris-Champers retired last season after making the WCWS.
31. If you like great pitching, be sure to check out the Florida State regional and South Florida pitcher Georgina Corrick. She leads the nation in strikeouts (407), wins (36) and shutouts (20), and she ranks third in ERA (0.53).
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
NCAA softball tournament:Get to know Oklahoma State's opponents in Stillwater Regional
Norman Regional
Friday's games at Marita Hynes Field:
► Texas A&M (29-26) vs. Minnesota (26-24-1), 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
► No. 1 OU (49-2) vs. Prairie View A&M (20-27), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Stillwater Regional
Friday's games at Cowgirl Stadium:
► North Texas (35-14) vs. Nebraska (40-14), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
► No. 7 OSU (41-12) vs. Fordham (30-20), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
