{"id":2115,"date":"2026-05-30T13:34:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T13:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2115"},"modified":"2026-05-30T13:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T13:34:57","slug":"no-1-seed-alabama-and-defending-champ-texas-lead-talented-field-at-womens-college-world-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2115","title":{"rendered":"No. 1 seed Alabama and defending champ Texas lead talented field at Women’s College World Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – Alabama starting pitcher Jocelyn Briski (23) throws against Belmont during an NCAA regional softball game on Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo\/Vasha Hunt, File)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Top overall seed Alabama, defending national champ Texas, and Big Ten Conference champion Nebraska headline a balanced field at the Women\u2019s College World Series.<\/p>

Read more Florida to pay new football coach Jon Sumrall\u2019s assistants a combined $11.2 million in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Alabama, with star pitcher Jocelyn Briski (22-3, 1.30 ERA), is capable of knocking off the second-seeded Longhorns and six others, including newcomers fifth-seeded Arkansas and unseeded Mississippi State.<\/p>\n

The Crimson Tide (54-7)) will open on Thursday against No. 8 seed UCLA, which boasts NCAA single-season home run leader Megan Grant and the top scoring team in the nation.<\/p>\n

No. 4 seed Nebraska, which is ranked first in the latest ESPN.com\/USA Softball poll, is making its first series appearance since 2013. The Cornhuskers (51-6) have won 26 straight games and are led by USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Jordy Frahm.<\/p>\n

Frahm led Oklahoma to a national title in 2023 as Jordy Bahl before transferring, then later getting married and changing her name. Her previous team \u2014eight-time national champion Oklahoma \u2014 won\u2019t be making the 26-mile drive to Oklahoma City\u2019s Devon Park for the first time since 2015.<\/p>\n

The third-seeded Sooners, who won four of the last five national titles, were eliminated by Southeastern Conference upstart Mississippi State in three games at the Norman Super Regional. The Bulldogs (43-19) are coached by former Sooners All-American Samantha Ricketts, who played for coach Patty Gasso at Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week right now has been about enjoying the moment after obviously a historic Super Regional for us and also just being where our feet are,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cWe want our players to enjoy every step of this, being present, but then really using today to lock back in and knowing that we\u2019re not done yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mississippi State will open with 2025 runner-up Texas Tech and ace NiJaree Canady. The Red Raiders (57-7), seeded No. 11 overall, took down sixth-seeded Florida at the Gainesville Super Regional and are looking to get back to the championship series. Canady, who wore down against Texas last year, now has help from pitcher Kaitlyn Terry, a transfer from UCLA.<\/p>\n

Arkansas, the team with the top regular season RPI, makes its Devon Field debut. The Razorbacks haven\u2019t reached the World Series, despite playing in super regionals in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2025. Coach Courtney Deifel\u2019s team racked up 26 run-rule victories this season, including five straight. The Razorbacks went undefeated in regional and super regional competition.<\/p>\n

Texas opens defense of its title Thursday against No. 7 seed Tennessee and hard-throwing Karlyn Pickens, the No. 1 overall pick in the AUSL draft.<\/p>\n

The Volunteers (47-10) are making their 10th appearance in Oklahoma City and Pickens (15-7, 1.53 ERA and six saves) is among the reasons why, with 180 strikeouts in 132 1\/3 innings. But the Lady Vols can throw more than just Pickens at opponents. Sage Mardjetko (0.99 ERA) and Erin Numar (1.09 ERA) rank second and fourth, respectively.<\/p>

Read more Shaka Smart is a program builder at Marquette. But he says it\u2019s time to dig into the transfer portal<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey definitely have three pitchers that have shown they can beat anybody at any time, especially going through the SEC Tournament,\u201d Texas coach Mike White said. \u201cThey\u2019re dangerous. They\u2019re well coached.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Longhorns counter with Teagan Kavan, the Most Outstanding Player of last year\u2019s Women\u2019s College World Series. Kavan has a 25-5 record with a 2.47 earned run average and beat Alabama in the SEC title game. Katie Stewart leads the team with a .436 average and 27 home runs.<\/p>\n

Briski has 198 strikeouts in 156 2\/3 innings. She combined with teammate Vic Moten to limit LSU to one run and seven hits in two games at the Tuscaloosa Super Regional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think really the main goal here is to just go out and win one game at a time and win each game,\u201d Briski said. \u201cI\u2019m just excited to take the field. It all starts tomorrow, and we\u2019re just focusing on that game tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crimson Tide pitching staff will be tested right away.<\/p>\n

UCLA (52-8) features Grant, a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist who has 40 home runs, and Jordan Woolery, the 2026 Big Ten Player of the Year who is on pace to become the first player in NCAA history to hit .500 with 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs in the same season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the times me and Jordan are talked about as a duo, but I\u2019m happy to say that I can finally talk about her individually because what she\u2019s done this year is simply incredible,\u201d Grant said. \u201cI mean, honestly, she\u2019s just going out there and she\u2019s being herself, and she\u2019s being everything that we always knew that she could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alabama coach Tim Murphy invited fans of the Oklahoma Sooners to switch their allegiances for the next 10 days or so.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, to all the Oklahoma fans that are looking for a team to cheer for, it\u2019s right here,\u201d Murphy told reporters during media day interviews. \u201cWe have the same color palette. AMA at the bottom. You can almost think it says Oklahoma, pretend it does. I\u2019ll take those 10,000 fans cheering for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco called the overall talent level \u201cunbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s literally — I think anyone in the field can win it, and I just don\u2019t see anybody that\u2019s going to be a clear-cut favorite,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a war from start to finish. There\u2019s just so many teams that are really good here.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire proud of Brendan Sorsby for getting help with gambling addiction<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Softball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/softball<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top overall seed Alabama, defending national champion Texas, and Big Ten Conference champion Nebraska headline a balanced field of contenders at the Women\u2019s College World Series<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNo. 1 seed Alabama and defending champ Texas lead talented field at Women's College World Series - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2115\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No. 1 seed Alabama and defending champ Texas lead talented field at Women's College World Series - 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