The round of 16 has arrived in the NCAA softball tournament. The remaining teams are set to square off in eight super regional series, with the winners earning a ticket to the sport’s showcase event, the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Two of the eight best-of-three matchups, hosted by fifth-seeded Florida State and No. 6 Texas, will get started Thursday night, with the rest starting on Friday. All could be wrapped up as early as Saturday, but the odds are there will be at least one series that will require a decisive third contest.
Here’s a breakdown of the matchups and the schedule with TV channels for each series (all times eastern).
No. 16 Oregon vs. Liberty
Liberty made the biggest splash of the regionals by eliminating top overall seed Texas A&M. Outfielder Rachel Roupe provides much of the pop from the plate with 23 homers and 73 RBI. Oregon’s Lyndsey Grein has a 28-2 record with a 2.15 ERA.
Friday, May 23
Game 1, 10 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday, May 24
Game 2, 7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Sunday, May 25
Game 3, if necessary.
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 15 Alabama
This Sooners team might not be quite as dominant as some of its recent championship squads, but it finds ways to win more often than not. It usually starts in the circle with Sam Landry, who is 22-4 with an ERA of 2.00. The sparkplug for the Crimson Tide is freshman sensation Audrey Vandagriff, who bats .406 and has swiped 50 bases.
Friday, May 23
Game 1, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, May 24
Game 2, 3 p.m., ESPN
Sunday, May 25
Game 3, if necessary.
No. 3 Florida vs. Georgia
The Bulldogs had to go on the road for their regional but overcame Duke in extra innings in an elimination game to earn this date with the archrival Gators. Florida’s Taylor Shumaker (.387, 21 HR, 83 RBI) was named national freshman of the year by Softball America.
Friday, May 23
Game 1, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Saturday, May 24
Game 2, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN
Sunday, May 25
Game 3, if necessary.
No. 4 Arkansas vs. Mississippi
Arkansas overcame an early challenge by Oklahoma State but powered through the remainder of its regional. The catalyst for the Razorbacks is Bri Ellis (.457, 26 HR, 72 RBI), who already has single-season school records in the latter two categories. Ole Miss, however, took two of three from the Razorbacks in Oxford back in March.
Friday, May 23
Game 1, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday, May 24
Game 2, 9 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Sunday, May 25
Game 3, if necessary.
No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 12 Texas Tech
The Seminoles and Red Raiders take the field first this weekend. FSU shortstop Isa Torres is a textbook leadoff hitter with a .448 batting average and 70 runs scored. But she and the ‘Noles will be up against one of the nation’s most dominant pitchers in Red Raiders junior NiJaree Canady, who has struck out 272 over 191 innings.
Thursday, May 22
Game 1, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Friday, May 23
Game 2, 3 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, May 24
Game 3, 7 p.m., if necessary.
No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Clemson
National runners-up in Oklahoma City a year ago, the Longhorns look to take the next step on their redemption tour. If they do it, it will likely be battery mates Teagan Kavan and Reese Atwood setting the tone. The Tigers feature ACC pitcher of the year Reese Basinger and do-everything freshman Macey Cintron.
Thursday, May 22
Game 1, 9 p.m., ESPN2
Friday, May 23
Game 2, 9 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, May 24
Game 3, 9 p.m., if necessary.
No. 10 Tennessee vs. Nebraska
The star power in this series makes it arguably the most compelling of the weekend. In this corner, the Volunteers have the nation’s ERA leader in Karlyn Pickens with a minuscule 0.90 average through 186.1 innings pitched. The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, have two-way standout Jordyn Bahl, who can take over a game with her arm and her bat.
Friday, May 23
Game 1, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, May 24
Game 2, 5 p.m., ESPN
Sunday, May 25
Game 3, if necessary.
No. 8 South Carolina vs. No. 9 UCLA
The overall strength of the SEC likely helped the Gamecocks’ case for hosting privileges for this series that could certainly go either way. Jori Heard and the rest of the South Carolina pitching staff will have their hands full with the Bruins’ one-two power punch of Megan Grant (25 HRs) and Jordan Woolery (22).
Friday, May 23
Game 1, 1 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, May 24
Game 2, 1 p.m., ESPN
Sunday, May 25
Game 3, if necessary.
