OKLAHOMA CITY — No. 4 Tennessee softball will make its 8th Women's College World Series appearance in program history this week, and the Lady Vols will kick off the tournament with a meeting against conference foe and fifth-seeded Alabama on Thursday, June 1 at noon.
The Lady Vols are making their first trip to Oklahoma City since 2015 when the team fell to top seed and eventual winner Florida before losing to Auburn in the losers' bracket.
Tennessee has never won the Women's College World Series and has been the runner-up twice, in 2007 and 2013.
This year's Women's College World Series features two-time defending champion and top seed Oklahoma, as well as No. 9 Stanford on Tennessee's side of the bracket. Tennessee will play one of those two teams following its game against Alabama, regardless of the result.
The other four teams competing are No. 3 Florida State, who is facing off against No. 6 Oklahoma State, as well as a first-round bout between No. 7 Washington and No. 15 Utah.
The first-round matchups will all be played on Thursday, June 1, and the schedule is as follows:
- Game 1: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Alabama (12 p.m. on ESPN)
- Game 2: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Standford (2:30 p.m. on ESPN)
- Game 3: No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Oklahoma State (7 p.m. on ESPN)
- Game 4: No. 7 Washington vs. No. 15 Utah (9:30 p.m. on ESPN)
The Lady Vols enter this year's WCWS with their highest seed in program history and have gone 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament so far. The team has outscored opponents 42-6 on its road to Oklahoma City, which falls in line with the two-way dominance the team has boasted all year. Tennessee is second only to Oklahoma in scoring with 7.11 runs per game average, and the Lady Vols are also trailing just the Sooners with a 1.48 team ERA.
Tennessee's first-round opponent Alabama is also the only team the Lady Vols have matched up against earlier this season. Tennessee defeated the Crimson Tide 7-6 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on May 12. The Lady Vols also hosted Alabama for a three-game series at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in March, when Tennessee edged the Crimson Tide two games to one.
The WCWS is a double-elimination format, which means Tennessee would have to lose two games before being eliminated from contention in the championship series.
The Women's College World Series Championship Finals will be held as a best-of-three series starting on Wednesday, June 7 at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Game two is set for Thursday, June 8 and an if-necessary game three will be played on Friday, June 9.
