The national dominance of SEC softball is showing up in a major way in postseason play

Twelve SEC teams, including No. 3 overall seed Oklahoma, opened play this weekend in the NCAA Softball Tournament, and as of Sunday, all 12 are still alive with an opportunity to advance to the Super Regional round this weekend.

Nine of the top 16 national seeds are from the SEC, including seven of the top 10 seeds, and served as NCAA Regional hosts. Eight of those SEC teams that hosted regionals have advanced to the Super Regionals, including the Sooners, who will host fellow SEC team Mississippi State in a best of three series this weekend at Love's Field.

Sooners dominate Norman Regional to set up All-SEC Super Regional vs. Mississippi State

Mississippi State (41-18, 9-16) defeated Santa Clara 5-0 to win the Eugene Regional, setting up an all-SEC Super Regional matchup with Oklahoma. The two teams did not meet this season, but the Sooners are 11-0 against the Bulldogs all-time and 3-0 in Norman.

The Sooners (51-8, 20-4) rolled through the Norman Regional, going 3-0 and defeating Michigan 8-1 in the championship game on Sunday. OU outscored Binghamton, Kansas and Michigan by a combined 28-1 with a pair of run-rule victories. OU pitching was outstanding in the regional, allowing just six hits over the three games and a composite opponents' batting average of .105.

Oklahoma is heading to its 16th consecutive Super Regional, the longest active streak in college NCAA Division I softball. The Sooners have won 19 consecutive regional games and are 13-0 in postseason games at Love's Field.

Texas A&M was the only SEC team of the nine SEC teams that hosted regional tournaments that did not advance to the next round. The No. 15-seeded Aggies were eliminated by Arizona State 9-1 on Sunday.

Ole Miss and South Carolina were also eliminated in the regional round. No. 8 UCLA sent the Gamecocks home in the Los Angeles Regional, and No. 11 Texas Tech defeated Ole Miss, knocking the Rebels out of the Lubbock Regional.

In addition to the OU-Mississippi State matchup in the Norman Super Regional, there will be two other all-SEC Super Regionals: No. 16 LSU will travel to Tuscaloosa to face No. 1 Alabama, and No. 7 Tennessee will face No. 10 Georgia in Knoxville.

No. 2 Texas will host Arizona State, champion of the College Station Regional, No. 5 Arkansas will host Duke, champions of the Durham Regional, and No. 6 Florida will play Super Regional host to No. 11 Texas Tech, champions of the Big 12 conference.

What to know about OU vs. Mississippi State

• Oklahoma and Mississippi State met twice last season with the Sooners sweeping a two-game series in Norman.
• The Sooners lead the SEC and the nation in batting average (.390) and hits (617) and rank second nationally in home runs, total runs (599) on-base percentage (.490) and slugging percentage (.802).
• Eight different OU players have hit 10 or more home runs this season. The Sooners have hit 182 as a team, second nationally to UCLA (193).
• Mississippi State features one of the best pitching staffs in the SEC. The Bulldogs rank third in the conference with a staff ERA of 2.12. They are not a strong hitting team, however. Their collective .271 team batting average ranks 15th in the conference, and they average just 4.6 runs per game.
• The Bulldogs are 9-6 in the SEC this season when their starter goes at least 5.0 innings, but 0-10 when they are outhit by their opponent.
• Seniors Kiarra Sells and Nadia Barbary are the two big hitting threats for Mississippi State. Sells leads the team with a .342 batting average and 14 home runs. Barbary is hitting .330 with 14 round-trippers and 40 runs batted in.

Game 1 of the Oklahoma-Mississippi State Super Regional will be Friday at 12 p.m. CT. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 12 p.m. and, if necessary on Sunday with a time to be determined. The winner of series will move on to the Women's College World Series.

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