2013 NCAA Softball Championship | Norman Super Regional | Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M "Preview"

My apologies for the lack of a proper preview for this week's softball Super Regional between the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas A&M Aggies. Things just got a little hectic with what we're trying to do to raise money for the tornado victims and this just kind of fell through the cracks.

Be that as it may, this is a big week for an Oklahoma team looking to advance to the Women's College World Series just down the road in Oklahoma City. Being No. 1, the Sooners are obviously the favorite to win this Super Regional but that does not mean the Aggies present little threat.

Texas A&M is a power-hitting team in every sense of the word. Much like Oklahoma, they have power hitters throughout their lineup and can turn a game around in a hurry if they connect and put a couple over the fence. Texas A&M's number one starter, Mel Dumezich, has been dealing with a shoulder/rotator cuff issue for a decent portion of the season but started three of the Aggies four games last weekend. So much to chagrin of at least one CCM reader here, the A&M coaches are not hesitant to put things all on her shoulder(s) should the situation call for it.

To that point, expect the Oklahoma hitters to be aggressive in their at-bats but intelligently so. Meaning, Dumezich having to throw a lot of pitches early, even if it leads to some OU outs, isn't necessarily a bad thing.

From an Oklahoma perspective, at this point what else can we really tell you? They'll look to stay hot at the plate and score a bunch of runs with their lineup that is loaded literally from top to bottom. Keilani Ricketts wasn't quite the unhittable force in the circle last weekend we've become accustomed to, so hopefully she can resume that role which would obviously make things much easier for this team if for some reason the bats are not clicking.

This best of three series kicks off Thursday evening with first pitch now rescheduled for around 7:00 p.m. (CST) and the game still expected to be broadcast on ESPN.