Women's College World Series storylines: The underdogs, villains and history-makers to watch in Oklahoma City

· Yahoo Sports

Oklahoma is out, Mississippi State is in and this could be anyone's WCWS to win. (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports illustration)

For the first time in more than a decade, the Women’s College World Series will go on without Oklahoma. 

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Unseeded Mississippi State upset No. 3 Oklahoma 6-0 in Game 3 of the super regionals on Sunday, ending the Sooners’ stretch of nine consecutive WCWS berths. Eight-time national champion Oklahoma last missed the final tournament in 2015 (the NCAA tournament was not played in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic). The Sooners won four straight titles from 2021-24. 

Mississippi State (43-19) heads to Oklahoma City for the first time in program history as the underdog, earning its spot on a gutsy full-game shutout by junior lefty Delainey Everett. It was the first start of her career after pitching only 13.1 innings throughout the course of the season. 

“An underdog is still a freakin’ dog,” Everett said after securing their spot as the Cinderella of this year’s tournament. 

The last time the Sooners were shut out at home was April 16, 2015 — a stretch of 4,056 days. The last time they were shut out at all was 399 days ago against Alabama in the 2019 WCWS. Seventh-year Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts played for the Sooners, finishing her playing career in 2009 as the program’s record-holder in career home runs (48) and RBIs (239). She started her coaching career as an assistant under head coach Patty Gasso. 

The final eight-team field includes five from the powerhouse SEC, led by reigning champion, No. 2 Texas. No. 1 Alabama, No. 5 Arkansas and No. 7 Tennessee also made it to Oklahoma City. The Razorbacks are in their first WCWS in program history and swept the NCAA tournament competition, 5-0, with every win by the run-rule. They are the second team in history to do so, joining 1995 national champion Arizona. 

The rest of the field is completed by No. 4 Nebraska and No. 8 UCLA out of the Big Ten, and No. 11 Texas Tech from the Big 12. Here are the major storylines Yahoo Sports is following at the WCWS, which begins on Thursday with a quadruple header. 

Nebraska is back in the WCWS for the first time since 2013 and only the third time in the last 25 years. The Cornhuskers reached the championship series once, in 1985, but the runner-up finish was vacated by the NCAA due to the use of ineligible players. 

The homegrown-heavy Cornhuskers (51-6) head to Oklahoma City boasting the game’s longest consecutive wins streak (26 games) and one of the best pitchers in the nation. Jordy Frahm (née Bahl) won back-to-back national championships at Oklahoma (2022-23) before transferring home ahead of the 2024 season. In her Cornhuskers debut, she sustained a torn ACL and redshirted the 2024 season. 

She credited the time away for returning better than ever. The 2025 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Year is fourth in ERA (1.14), fourth in shutouts (eight), third in strike-to-walk ratio (7.80) and ninth in total strikeouts (234). The righty went 20-4 in the circle with a career-high 12 saves. In five tournament games, Frahm and freshman phenom Alexie Jensen have allowed two earned runs in 33 innings (0.42 ERA). 

Frahm, 23, is also one of their best hitters. She’s reached base safely in 46 consecutive games, with a .827 slugging percentage and team-high .511 on-base percentage. She leads all Huskers hitters with 19 home runs and is tied for second with 50 RBIs. The Cornhuskers won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. 

NiJaree Canady, the riseball ace known for becoming the sport’s first (and then second) $1 million player, is 4-for-4 on WCWS appearances in her collegiate career. Now she has one last shot to win a national title after finishing third in back-to-back seasons with Stanford and losing Game 3 to Texas last year. 

Once the darlings, the Red Raiders (57-7) now step back into the WCWS as the villain to many, including Florida fans amid a testy super regional series. It was their first top-10 opponent since the second week of the season. 

The Matador Club, Texas Tech’s NIL collective, reportedly offered seven players six-figure deals a year ago while they were still playing for other programs. 

“They had lawyers advising us, and the advice to me was to go coach softball," head coach Gerry Glasco said in comments that rubbed many the wrong way. "Stay out of it, don't contact anyone, you've got to go quiet … They'd handle building the roster for us."

They filled in their roster with a massive (and expensive) transfer haul: junior infielder Mia Williams (Florida), junior infielder Taylor Panell (Tennessee), junior catcher Jasmyn Burns (Ohio State), junior pitcher Kaitlyn Terry (UCLA), senior utility Jackie Lis (Southern Illinois), junior pitcher Desirae Spearman (New Mexico State) and junior catcher Lagi Quiroga (Cal).  

The righty Canady is still one of the best pitchers in the nation despite higher stats than a year ago, and earned her 100th career win in the Game 3 super regional victory. But Glasco has pulled her early in multiple postseason games, and she gave up a total of 10 earned runs in 8.2 innings against Florida. She and Terry traded off time in the circle to run-rule the Gators in Game 3. 

UCLA slugger Megan Grant could pull off a championship double. The two-time USA Softball Player of the Year finalist won a national championship ring with the basketball team in April after playing 14 games as a reserve early in the season. She called it a “side quest,” and added another by becoming the first in 31 years to re-set the home run record. 

She sits at 40 heading into the WCWS, a record she can move up, but will not lose since Oklahoma slugger Kendall Wells’ season is over.

The Bruins (52-8) offense set NCAA single-season records in home runs (200), runs scored (651), RBIs (623), total bases (1,355) and extra-base hits (323). They lead the nation in scoring (10.85), slugging (.836), on-base percentage (.496) and walks (317), with a lineup that features the NCAA leader in homers, OBP, SLG and OPS (Grant); RBIs (Jordan Woolery) and runs scored (Rylee Slimp). 

The Bruins are the winningest program in the history of college softball, having won 12 NCAA championships (and one AIAW title). They are the only program to win a championship in every decade, though they have not won in the 2020s yet. Their last title was in 2019. 

Pitching is at a premium in a record-shattering season of strength and power. Many programs set single-season home run records this year, led by national record-setters Oklahoma and UCLA. 

The early innings of Texas Tech’s 16-7 Game 3 super regionals win showcased what could be to come. Both teams scored at least three runs in each half-inning until Florida went scoreless in the bottom of the fourth.  Pitchers on both sides were chased, only to be re-inserted as the deep balls added up. There were a combined seven home runs. 

The rise in power is a result of better and additional analytics that began in Major League Baseball, as well as the athleticism of players coming up through the ranks. Nine teams hit at least 100 home runs, and the top six of them rank in the top 25 all-time in single-season homers. UCLA (200) and Texas Tech (136) are the only ones still in the field, followed by Alabama (96), Nebraska (93) and Texas (90). 

The WCWS field includes three 2025 first-team All-American pitchers — Canady, Frahm and Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens — who will try to limit the damage. 

The Lady Vols (47-10) boast the nation’s best pitching staff (1.35), closely followed by Alabama (1.48). Sophomore righty Erin Nuwer (0.99 ERA) and junior right-hander Sage Mardjetko (1.12 ERA) rank second and third in ERA, respectively, with Pickens (1.53) in 10th. They slid into their first back-to-back WCWS appearances since 2012-13 with a bare-bones five total runs in two wins over Georgia (3-1, 2-1). 

Alabama (54-7) is led by junior Jocelyn Briski (1.30 ERA) and freshman Kaitlyn Pallozzi (1.47 ERA), trailed closely by freshman Vic Moten (1.66) at 11th overall. Texas heads back to Oklahoma City with reigning WCWS Most Outstanding Player Teagan Kavan in the circle. 

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