NCAA softball: No.1 Oklahoma vs. unseeded Texas

The GIST: The Women’s College World Series (WCWS) championship matchup is set — No. 1 Oklahoma and unseeded Texas will go head-to-head in a best-of-three series, beginning with tonight’s 8:30 p.m. ET Game 1. David, meet Goliath.

How they got here: The most dominant team in the nation (and maybe in all of sports), defending champ Oklahoma has broken countless records — including the largest win in WCWS history in its 15–0 rout of No. 5 UCLA in Monday’s semi — en route to its seventh championship series appearance in the last 10 seasons. Goodness gracious.

• On the flip side, Texas has become the first-ever unseeded team to advance to the championship, rallying from a five-run deficit to eliminate No. 7 Oklahoma State 6–5 on Monday. Even LL Cool J would call it a comeback.

The matchup: This will be the first-ever all–Big 12 final, and these Red River rivals know each other well. Oklahoma lost only three games all season, but one of those Ls came at the hooves hands of the Longhorns, who snapped the Sooners’ 40-game win streak with a 4–2 victory on April 16th.

• That said, Oklahoma bounced back with a 7–2 win when the teams squared off in the early rounds of the WCWS last weekend.

The difference-makers: Boasting a nation-leading .368 team batting average, Oklahoma’sentire lineup is dangerous, but the star of the show is two-time Player of the Year and home run queen Jocelyn Alo, who blasted two dingers on Monday to send Oklahoma back to the champ series.

• As for Texas, it’ll be up to ace pitcher Hailey Dolcini (who held Oklahoma to just two hits back in April) to quiet the red-hot Sooners’ bats. Play ball!