The University of Arizona women’s softball team returns to Oklahoma City for a chance at a ninth championship title.
Arizona will play Oklahoma State University, Thursday, June 2, at 6:30 p.m. local time on ESPN.
The unranked and unseeded Wildcats clinched their ticket to the Women’s College World Series after beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville at the Super Regional, 7-1.
Coach Caitlin Lowe, who is in her first season leading the Wildcats, is the first female head coach to reach the College World Series in her first year coaching in the sport’s NCAA history.
This is also the third consecutive year that the Wildcats have gone to the World Series in Oklahoma City and the 25th trip overall for the program.
Despite only six out of the 18 players on the roster having experience playing in a World Series, the team has come together undefeated in the postseason.
Their two pitchers, Hanah Bowen and Devyn Netz, have thrown five complete games combined, with a 1.17 ERA, allowing only six runs to score across 36.0 innings pitched.
Out of the eight teams competing at the WCWS, both Arizona and UCLA of the PAC-12 conference are tied with a batting average of .324, with only Oklahoma of the BIG-12 Conference having a higher batting average of .369.
The team will have to rely on its powerhitters. Allie Skaggs has 24 home runs; Sharlize Palacios and Carlie Scupin have 19 home runs each. Palacios leads the team with 62 RBI, followed by Skaggs with 58 RBI and Scupin with 56 RBI.
Arizona finished 38-20 during the regular season and 8-16 in PAC-12 conference play.
