Oklahoma softball enters the 2025 NCAA Softball Championship as the No. 2 national seed and as a regional host for the 14th consecutive season.
The SEC regular-season champions and conference tournament co-champions Sooners will host Boston University, California and Omaha at Love's Field for the Norman Regional that will begin on Friday and conclude on Sunday with a championship game.
Norman is one of 16 regional sites around the country. The Sooners have served as a regional host every season since 2011 and is 40-3 in NCAA regional play over the last 14 years. Oklahoma has been the regional champion in all 14 seasons and advanced to super regionals, which OU has hosted 10 times, including 10 of the last 12 and each of the last six seasons.
Oklahoma has softball history with each of the three other teams in the Norman Regional. The Sooners are 4-0 vs. Omaha (3-0 in Norman) and 4-2 against Boston University, with only one of the six games in Norman. The Sooners won that game 9-0 in 2018.
The Sooners actually have a losing record in the all-time series with the Cal Bears, who have an 11-8 record against OU and are 2-2 in games played in Norman.
This is the second season an NCAA softball regional has been held at Love's Field. Oklahoma defeated Cleveland State and Oregon twice to capture the regional championship last year and went on to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship, going 5-2 in the 2024 Women's College World Series.
The Sooners will open up with Boston University at 5 p.m. CT on Friday evening. That game will be preceded by California vs. Omaha at 2:30 p.m. The Oklahoma-Boston U game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
The winners of Friday's games will play at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The losing teams from Friday will play after that. Later on Saturday, the loser of the early game on Saturday will play the winner of the second Saturday contest in an elimination game. The winner of Game 3 on Saturday will advance to the championship game on Sunday against the winner of the first game on Saturday.
If the Sooners (45-7) win the Norman Regional championship, as expected, they will host Super Regionals against the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional being hosted by Alabama, the No. 15 national seed. The Crimson Tide won two of three games from Oklahoma in the regular season.
Oklahoma has been to the NCAA postseason tournament in softball in every one of head coach Patty Gasso's 31 seasons at OU. All eight of the Sooners' national championships have come on Gasso's watch.
What fans need to know ahead of Norman Regional
No. 4 Boston University
- The Boston University Terriers are 39-17 this season and 14-4 in the Patriot League, where they were the Patriot League Tournament champions. The team is coached by Ashley Waters, who has been there 10 seasons and has a 166-35 record at BU.
- Notable wins this season include Boston College, Leigh and Army (three times).
- Junior right-hander Kasey Ricard is the Terriers' best pitcher. She has a 26-10 record with a 1.97 ERA, 227 strikeouts and just 49 walks in 237.2 innings. BU's best two hitters are infielder Brooke Deppiesse, who is hitting .419 with a .483 on-base percentage, and outfielder Kyle Doherty, who leads the team with 14 home runs and 46 runs batted in.
No. 2 California
- The Cal Bears have an overall record of 35-19 and were 11-13 in the ACC this season, their first in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Head coach Chelsea Spencer is in her fifth season.
- Notable wins include Washington, Northwestern, Georgia Tech (twice), Virginia, Stanford and Virginia Tech.
- Cal features a balanced pitching staff with four pitchers logging at least 60 innings. The best of the lot is freshman Miranda De Nava with a 12-5 record in 11 starts (26 overall appearances) and a 3.29 ERA. She has pitched seven complete games this season. The Bears' starting lineup is also fairly balanced offensively, led by junior infielder Tianna Bell with a .354 batting average, 15 home runs and 53 RBI.
No. 3 Omaha
- The Omaha Mavericks tied for the Summit League regular-season championship but won the conference tournament title, earning the leagues' automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The Mavericks are 39-11 overall and were 14-4 in conference play. Mike Heard is the head coach and has been in the role since Aug. 2021.
- The team's notable 2025 wins include Wisconsin, Pitt, Kansas and South Dakota in the Summit League Championship.
- Sophomore Maddie Groff is the workhorse of the Omaha pitching staff. The left-hander has an impressive 26-5 record in 29 starts and a 1.62 ERA in 190.2 innings this season. Senior infielder Sydney Thomason is the big stick in the lineup, hitting .368 with 13 home runs and 58 runs batted in. She has delivered the big hit all season long when the Mavericks needed it.
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