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Oklahoma looking to continue unimaginable NCAA Regional success

Sooners host their 15th consecutive NCAA Regional this weekend. They advanced to the WCWS in all but one of those years.
ByChip Rouse|
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BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma has made it to the NCAA Softball Championship in all 32 seasons that Patty Gasso has been at the helm of Sooner softball, and this season will be the 22nd time OU has served as a regional host.

Moreover, the 2026 Norman Regional marks the 15th consecutive year that Oklahoma has hosted a regional, which is awarded to the top-16 overall seeds. And if you are a top-8 national seed and you win your regional, you get to host for a second straight week in a two-team Super Regional, the winner of which advances to the Women's College World Series.

The postseason process to earn one of the prized eight spots in the WCWS begins this weekend in 16 different locations around the country, including Norman, where No. 3 overall seed Oklahoma will play host to a four-team field that includes Kansas out of the Big 12, Michigan from the Big Ten and Binghamton, champion of the American East Conference.

Oklahoma will face Binghamton in the opening game of the Norman Regional at 2:30 p.m. CT on Friday. That game will be televised on SEC Network. The second game of the double-elimination tournament on Friday will feature Kansas vs. Michigan, scheduled for 5 p.m. at Love's Field.

Read more: How to watch every inning of Oklahoma's journey to Women's College World Series

The winner of the OU-Binghamton game will play the winner of Kansas-Michigan at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The losing teams from Friday's two games will face each other at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. At 7 p.m. Saturday night, the loser from the first game on Saturday will go against the winner of the second game that day in an elimination game.

The two remaining teams will square of on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the regional championship. If a second game is necessary, it will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

The winner of the Norman Regional will take on the winner of the Eugene Regional in the Super Regional round next weekend.

What fans should know about the 4 teams competing in the Norman Regional

Oklahoma

  • Oklahoma is 89-20 all-time in NCAA Regional appearances, including 16 consecutive regional wins. This is the eighth consecutive season the Sooners hearned a top-four national seed. The Sooners ended the regular season with a 48-8 overall record and as SEC regular-season champions for a second-straight season.
  • A pair of Sooner freshmen find themselves near the top of the national leaderboard. Center fielder Kai Minor leads Oklahoma and the SEC with a .446 batting average, and catcher Kendall Wells set the SEC single-season record for home runs, as well as the NCAA single-season freshman mark and the OU single-season record. She currently sits with 36, two back of Megan Grant of UCLA, who broke the all-time single-season record for home runs by an individual, hitting her 38th last weekend. The previous record was 37 set by Lauren Espinoza of Arizona in 1995.
  • Oklahoma enters NCAA postseason play leading the nation in batting average (.389) and hits (590).
  • The Sooners are 24-1 in games played at Love's Field this season.

Binghamton

  • The Binghamton Bearcats are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance.
  • They are the champions of the American East Conference with a 20-25 overall record.
  • Sophomore third baseman Rachel Carey hits leadoff and leads the Bearcats in hitting with a .477 batting average, along with 14 home runs, 47 runs batted in and a .518 on-base percentage. Junior infielder Elisa Allen has 16 home runs and 44 RBI.
  • Senior right-hander Olivia Kennedy is the ace of the pitching staff with a 4.72 ERA and an 8-8 record in 17 starts. Her strikeout-to-walk ratio, however, is a troublesome 0.74.

Kansas

  • The Kansas Jayhawks ended the regular season with a 35-19 record and 14-10 and fifth place in the Big 12. Oklahoma is 83-44 all-time against its former Big 12 compatriot and 42-10 vs. the Jayhawks in Norman.
  • This is Kansas' 13th NCAA Tournament appearance but first since 2015.
  • Senior outfielder Presley Limbaugh leads Kansas in hitting with a .388 batting average and a .475 on-base percentage. Freshman catcher Ella Boyer is one of four Jayhawks with double-digit home runs this season. Her 18 long balls and 57 RBI leads the team, which set a new program record with 81 home runs so far this season.
  • Freshman right-hander Lila Partridge has made 13 starts for Kansas and owns a 9-4 record with a 3.95 ERA. She has five complete games to her credit this season, including four in a row from April 19 to May 2. Cloe Barber has a 9-7 record and a 4.18 ERA in 14 starts.

Michigan

  • The Michigan Wolverines are making their 32 NCAA Tournament appearance and 30th in the last 31 years. The Wolverines are 91-26 all-time in the NCAA Regional round, and they have made it to the Women's College World Series 13 times with one national championship in 2005.
  • The Wolverines have a 34-20 overall record this season, and they finished 11-13 and tied for ninth place in the Big Ten. Michigan is 8-13 all-time against Oklahoma.
  • Sophomore outfielder Lauren Putz is one of the best offensive players in the Big Ten and leads the Wolverines with a .442 batting average, 21 home runs, 77 RBI and a 1.542 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
  • A pair of junior right-handers, Gabby Ellis and Erin Hoehn, are the primary starters for Michigan. Ellis is 13-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 20 starts this season; Hoehn is 8-5 with a 4.29 ERA in 19 starts. Between them they have 13 complete games.

Oklahoma's 15-year run as a regional host site (2011-present) has worked out exceedingly for Gasso's Sooner teams. Oklahoma has won all 14 of the Norman Regionals held since 2011. The Sooners won 13 of the 14 Super Regionals that followed, including all 11 that were held in Norman, and advanced to the Women's College World Series every season except 2015.

In 14 trips to the WCWS since 2011, the first of OU's 15 consecutive season hosting the NCAA Regional round, the Sooners came away with seven national championships and two national runner-up finishes.

This is the third straight season the Norman Regional has been held at Love's Field. With a seating capacity of 4,200, Oklahoma's home field is the largest on-campus softball facility in the country and is expected to be filled and rocking this weekend.

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