STILLWATER – You knew it was good when rival and Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Oklahoma got the coveted number one seed. It is not often that something good for OU means good things for Oklahoma State, but in this case the Cowgirls, who many wondered if they would be a top eight national seed, were named the fifth-seed overall in the NCAA National Tournament.
The Cowgirls (42-9) will host in Stillwater and Cowgirls Stadium and if they handle their business on the first weekend. Kenny Gajewski’s team will open with Campbell (27-17)at 1 p.m. on Friday. The No. 2 seed in the Stillwater Regional is Mississippi State (33-23) and they will play Boston University (36-20) at 3:30 p.m.
As the fifth-seed, Oklahoma State is going to host the Super Regional or it will be in Austin, Texas as those are the pre determined host sets designated by the Division I Softball Committee. COVID-19 protocols are going to dictate that Cowgirls Stadium or Texas hosts the Super Regional based on the top surviving seed.
It is what Gajewski said he wanted coming out of the loss to Oklahoma 10-2 in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game on Saturday.
“If you go back through all the years, the teams that host have an advantage, and you’ve seen our ballpark. (Playing at Cowgirls Stadium), it’s an advantage. I want to play at home if we can, but we're not gonna get caught up in that,” Gajewski explained. "We'll play our best softball, no doubt about it. This team is resilient, they're tough. This is what they've had their eyes on all year, is this postseason, and we'll be in a good spot."
The regional winner in Stillwater will match up with the winner of the regional hosted in Austin, Texas by the Texas Longhorns. Oklahoma State has defeated Texas four times this season and most recently in the Big 12 Tournament 3-2 in 10 innings. The committee will pit Texas with Oklahoma State if both Big 12 teams win their regional.
Texas is 39-11 on the season and will open with St. Francis (40-8) and then with a win will take on Oregon (37-15) if they can beat Texas State (38-12) in a Friday first round game. Texas head coach Mike White came to Austin in 2018 after building Oregon into a national power the previous nine-years as the Ducks head coach.
Oklahoma State beat Texas this season three times in Austin 3-1, 5-1, and 6-4 in sweeping the regular season series before winning a fourth time in the Big 12 Tournament opener on Friday in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma State is lead by Big 12 Pitcher of the Year in Carrie Eberle and also have another sensational arm in Kelly Maxwell.
On offense the Cowgirls are also one of the best teams in the country and are led by Hayley Busby, Kiley Naomi, Chyenne Factor, and Alysen Febrey with the bats.
Besides Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas; Baylor and Iowa State also heard their names called meaning five teams from the Big 12 made it into the NCAA Tournament. The regionals start on Friday, Super Regionals start on May 28. The NCAA Women’s College World Series begins in Oklahoma City at the Softball Hall of Fame Complex on June 3.
