OU softball: Sooners earn top overall seed, will host Prairie View A&M in NCAA Regional
NORMAN — There was little question where OU was going to be slotted Sunday when the NCAA revealed the softball bracket.
As expected, the Sooners are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, hosting the regionals this weekend and — should they advance as expected — Super Regionals the weekend after.
The question was who would the Sooners be matched against in the Regional and Super Regional rounds.
The four-team regional in Norman, which begins Friday, will also include Prairie View A&M, Minnesota and Texas A&M.
The Sooners take on the Prairie View A&M at 6:30 p.m. Friday in a game that will be streamed on ESPN Plus. The Aggies and Golden Gophers will play at 4 p.m. in the first game of the regional.
If the Sooners advance out of the regionals — as they have for 11 consecutive postseasons — they would host the winner of the Orlando Regional, where No. 16 seed Central Florida is the first mid-major program to host a regional since James Madison in 2016.
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Now, the biggest question around the Sooners centers around the health of freshman ace Jordy Bahl.
Bahl is 21-1 with a 0.95 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 132 ⅓ innings, but did not pitch in the Big 12 tournament after experiencing arm soreness.
Gasso said after Saturday’s game that she wouldn’t get a sense of Bahl’s availability for regionals and beyond until during the week.
Talking to ESPN on Sunday night, Gasso said, "We're optimistic. We're going to take it day by day. ... We'll handle whatever comes our way and our pitching staff knows how to do it."
Though Hope Trautwein and Nicole May have also been excellent in the circle for the Sooners, Bahl pitched in most of OU’s most important games until the conference tournament.
The Sooners enter with a 49-2 record after falling to Oklahoma State, 4-3 in eight innings, in Saturday’s Big 12 tournament championship game.
OU began the season 38-0, the longest winning streak to start a season in NCAA history, before suffering their lone loss of the regular season, 4-2, at Texas on April 16.
The Sooners then reeled off an 11-game winning streak before Saturday’s loss.
"It's a hard place to live. Any team that's lived up there and tried to stay No. 1 knows what I'm talking about," Gasso said of maintaining a No. 1 ranking and the expectations that go with it. "A lot of pressure comes along with it. But at the same time it's been such a pleasure."
OU is a national seed for the 15th consecutive season, the longest current streak by a non-SEC team, and the No. 1 overall seed for the third consecutive tournament and fourth time since 2007.
Only Florida, which has been the top overall seed five times, has been the top seed more than the Sooners during that span.
OU is hosting regionals for the 11th consecutive season.
Prairie View A&M enters the regional 20-27, making a remarkable run to the SWAC tournament title after starting 0-19.
The Panthers are in the tournament for the second time in program history, the first coming in 2019.
Minnesota is 26-24-1, going 11-12 in Big Ten play. The Sooners beat the Golden Gophers 9-1 in five innings on March 7 in Norman.
Texas A&M comes in 29-26, but was just 6-18 in SEC play. The Aggies did win their series against Alabama.
More: Get to know the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners softball team and schedule
The Aggies came to Norman for regional play in 2015 and 2014, with the Sooners eliminating Texas A&M with two victories in each of those seasons. In 2013, OU and A&M squared off in the Super Regionals in Norman, with the Sooners sweeping the series to advance to the Women’s College World Series.
OU is 8-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament play against the Aggies. The Sooners have not faced Minnesota or Prairie View A&M in postseason play.
The Sooners lead the all-time series against Texas A&M 50-30, including 24-8 in Norman. OU is 4-8 all-time against Minnesota, and will meet Prairie View A&M for the first time.
OU announced that a limited number of general-admission all-session tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, costing $75.
If tickets remain, single-session tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Norman Regional
Friday's games at Marita Hynes Field in Norman:
► Texas A&M (29-26) vs. Minnesota (26-24-1), 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
► No. 1 OU (49-2) vs. Prairie View A&M (20-27), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball: Sooners earn No. 1 overall seed for NCAA Tournament
