There will be no surprises when Oklahoma opens its ninth straight trip to the Women's College World Series against familiar conference foe Tennessee on Thursday afternoon.
The Sooners (50-7) and Volunteers (45-15) have already played each other this season and are two of a record five teams out of the SEC that make up the 2025 WCWS field.
Four of the five SEC teams -- No. 6 Texas and No. 3 Florida -- are on OU's side of the bracket. Ole Miss is the other SEC team that is in Oklahoma City after winning its Super Regional over No. 4 Arkansas. This is the first WCWS appearance for Ole Miss.
No. 2 Oklahoma, the highest remaining seed in the tournament, swept its Super Regional series over No. 15 Alabama to advance to Oklahoma City, while No. 7 Tennessee had to go to a deciding third game to get by former Sooner Jordy Bahl and Nebraska to earn its way to this year's WCWS.
The Sooners have an 8-7 record all-time against Tennessee and are 3-0 versus the Volunteers in the WCWS, but the Vols were one of three SEC teams to win a series in the regular season against Oklahoma, taking two of three games in Norman in late March. Those were the only two games out of 29 that the Sooners lost at home this season.
First pitch for the Oklahoma-Tennessee game at Devon Park in Oklahoma City on Thursday is set for 1:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN with the network's No. 1 softball announce team of Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza and Michele Smith.
The winner between OU and Tennessee will move on to the winner's bracket on Saturday against either Texas or Florida, which is the game that precedes the Sooners on Thursday. The losers of those two games will meet in an elimination game on Friday.
Win or lose on Thursday, it sets up an intriguing scenario for Oklahoma's second game in the WCWS. Florida won two of three at home over the Sooners in the regular season, so you know OU will have redemption on the mind if it's the Gators.
If rival Texas is the Sooner's second-round opponent, the reverse will be true. Oklahoma swept the then-No. 1 Longhorns in the regular season this year and also swept Texas in the WCWS championship series a year ago on the way to its fourth consecutive national title.
What fans need to know for Sooners' rematch with Vols
Oklahoma
- OU is 21-3 at the Women's College World Series during its four-year run of consecutive national championships between 2021-24. The Sooners are 53-24 all-time in the WCWS, including eight national titles, all since 2000.
- The Sooners are sure to face Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens, who is allowing an incredibly stingy 1.03 runs per nine innings. Oklahoma is going to have to find ways to get on base, get over and get in at a higher rate if it is going to get by the 7-seed Volunteers. Pickens pitched in two of the three games against OU back in March, starting in one game and entering in relief in the other. She was the winning pitcher in both games, working a total of 12 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits with a dozen strikeouts.
- Oklahoma was undefeated in Regionals and Super Regionals, going 5-0 with four of the wins by run-rule. The Sooners outscored their five NCAA Tournament opponents 47-5. The Sooners are batting .414 as a team in the postseason and have hit 13 home runs, pushing their SEC-leading total to 115. Eight of those 13 postseason home runs are by freshman Gabbie Garcia and junior Kasidi Pickering, who have four apiece.
- The OU-Tennessee pairing in Game 2 of the 2025 WCWS shapes up as a bona fide pitcher's dual between two of the best pitchers in the SEC with Sam Landry for the Sooners and Tennessee's Karlyn Pickens. The two rank one and two in ERA and wins. Pickens is 23-9 with a 1.03 ERA in 39 games, while Landry is 23-4 with a 1.92 ERA.
Tennessee
- The Volunteers have six players in their starting lineup hitting .300 or better, led by outfielder Taylor Pannell with a .392 batting average, 15 home runs, 62 runs batted in and a .486 on-base percentage. Pannell had four hits and a home run against Oklahoma in the regular-season series.
- Pitching is the major strength of Tennessee's success this season. The Vols possess the Pitcher of the Year in the SEC this season in Karlyn Pickens. The junior right-hander leads the SEC in earned run average (1.03) and strikeouts (280), averaging at least one per inning, and is third in the conference in opponents' batting average (.168). She started all three games in the Super Regional with Nebraska last weekend and pitched a two-hit, complete-game gem with 10 strikeouts in Tennessee's 1-0 win in the deciding third game.
- Former Sooner Sophia Nugent has been a big contributor on offense and behind the plate for the Volunteers this season. The senior catcher played her freshman and sophomore seasons at OU before transferring to Tennessee. She is batting .302 with a team-high 17 home runs and 59 runs batted in. One of those 17 fence-clearing bombs was a game-winning, two-run shot against Oklahoma.
- As phenomenal as the Tennessee pitching has been this season, nine times this season the Tennessee offense has been held to zero or one run.
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