OU Softball: Oklahoma Earns No. 2 Seed in NCAA Tournament

The field for the Norman Regional has officially been announced as OU looks to win its fourth-straight national title.

BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

Oklahoma’s postseason path is set. 

Patty Gasso’s Sooners, fresh off winning the Big 12 Tournament with a 5-1 win over No. 1 Texas on Saturday, earned the No. 2-overall seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. 

By capturing a top eight seed, OU will host the Norman Regional this weekend at Love’s Field, and should the Sooners continue on, they will host a Super Regional as well. 

Before looking that far down the road, Gasso’s team needs to handle business in Regional play. 

Boston University, Oregon and Cleveland State will all head to Norman this weekend in the double-elimination Regional. 

The Sooners (49-6, 22-5 Big 12) will open the tournament on Friday at 7 p.m. against Cleveland State (22-24, 15-10 Horizon League) in a game broadcast on ESPNU. The Vikings won the Horizon League Tournament to qualify for the Tournament.

Friday's contest will be the first ever meeting between Oklahoma and Cleveland State on the diamond.

Boston (52-4-1, 18-0 Patriot League) and Oregon (28-19, 13-10 Pac 12) will face off at 4:30 p.m. on Friday on ESPN+. Boston enters the NCAA Tournament riding a 26-game unbeaten streak. A familiar face will lead the Ducks to Norman as head coach Melyssa Lombardi spent 21 years on staff with Gasso before taking the Oregon job.

Gasso said the team and coaching staff alike enjoy getting to prepare for three new teams as the postseason gets underway every year after battling through conference play. 

“Refreshing… Not that you can take any kind of break but we know each other so well,” Gasso said on Saturday. “… One thing that'll be fun about the game is the research that goes into it and really connecting with the game plans.”

The winner of the Norman Regional will take on the winner of the Tallahassee Regional in Super Regional play 

As the 15-seed, Florida State will host Chattanooga, Auburn and UCF.

Oklahoma defeated Florida State in the WCWS Championship Series in 2021 and 2023.

Super Regionals will play from May 23-26, and should the Sooners advance, they will host the Norman Super Regional at Love’s Field. 

The Sooners have won 13-straight Regionals, having last failed to advance out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in 2009. Oklahoma has reached the Women’s College World Series in each of the last seven tournaments. 

OU has won five of the last seven national titles, including the last three seasons. 

This run through the NCAA Tournament will offer something new for the Sooners, however, as it’s the first time they’ll host postseason contests at Love’s Field. 

Oklahoma expects another weekend of raucous crowds as Gasso’s team begins its quest for an unprecedented fourth-straight championship. 

“Craziness… that's what we like to play in front of,” Gasso said. “… The goal here is to play our best at Love's Field, and I don't think we've done that yet.

“But we're on the track to do that, and that's how we're gonna get back (to the WCWS) is to play our best at Love's Field.”