Sooners Selected as No. 1 Overall Seed

NORMAN — The nine-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma softball team (45-2, 16-1 Big 12) has earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2021 NCAA Division I Softball Championship and will host the NCAA Norman Regional at Marita Hynes Field beginning Friday, May 21.

Oklahoma has been a national seed for each of the past 14 seasons and will host a regional for the 10th year in a row. This is the third time in program history that the Sooners have been the top-seeded team, also earning the No. 1 spot in 2013 and 2019.

The four-team, three-day event features Wichita State (39-11-1, 18-5-1) facing Texas A&M (31-21, 8-16 SEC) at 5 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN2 before the Sooners take on Morgan State (24-15, 14-5) at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN3.

Friday's winners will square off in the first of three games Saturday, while Friday's losing teams will face off in an elimination game for game two of Saturday's tripleheader. The loser of Saturday's first game will take on the winner of the day's second game in an elimination game later Saturday night. The winner of Saturday's final game will take on the winner of the day's first game on Sunday with an if-necessary rematch scheduled for later on Sunday.

The winner of this weekend's regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round against the winner of the Seattle regional, hosted by Washington, the following weekend with the ultimate goal of reaching the 2021 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma has made the NCAA Tournament 27 straight seasons overall and every year of head coach Patty Gasso's tenure since 1995 (tournament was not played in 2020).

In 2019, the last season the tournament was played, OU reached its 13th WCWS in program history, culminating in a runner-up finish in the championship series. With four national titles (2000, '13, '16, '17) Oklahoma trails only UCLA (12) and Arizona (8) for most in NCAA history, and no other team has more than two.

Season-ticket holders will receive first priority to tickets for the regional and should expect an email from the OU Ticket Office Sunday evening. If any tickets are still available following the presale to season ticket holders, they will go on sale to the public Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. CT. Check back with SoonerSports.com or the OU Ticket Office (SoonerSports.com/tickets; (405) 325-2424) for updates.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Selected as No. 1 Overall Seed

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