Sooners Softball : Regional Preview & Schedule

The Sooners earned the 11th seed overall in the NCAA Softball tournament. Which means they get to yet again host the regional. Oklahoma will face off against Central Arkansas today, while Texas A&M and Lehigh will have played right before.

OU has already beaten Central Arkansas this season, 12-6 in Norman. They're 35-19 but the Sooners shouldn't have any trouble with them in this double elimination region. Oklahoma is a tough team to beat at home, and they always seem to kick it in to gear once postseason begins.

Saturday's game against either Lehigh or Texas A&M should be the one the Sooners are concerned with. Especially if they are to face off against the Aggies on Saturday.

Texas A&M went 38-18 but just 12-12 in SEC play. It's the toughest conference in softball, but there's a reason they weren't seeded like the other SEC teams. They did beat LSU in Baton Rouge, something the Sooners weren't able to accomplish in their series earlier in the year. A&M wins against good teams by holding them to lower scoring games than they are use to, which could give the Sooners problems this weekend.

Lehigh has the second best record in the region after Oklahoma, sitting at 39-7. Their weak schedule should come back to haunt them, as there's three other talented teams in the region. Lehigh is not going to be able to run over teams like it did in the Patriot League this season, as they went 16-2.

Oklahoma is the obvious favorite in this region, but the other three teams are fairly even making this an interesting region if the Sooners are to fall at home to one of these three teams.

If Oklahoma wins at 3:00 p.m. today, they play the TAMU/Lehigh winner Saturday at 2:30 p.m. If the Sooners lose their postseason opener then they will play the loser of the previous game at 5:00 p.m. later that day. If Oklahoma wins their first two games, they advance to the regional championship where the winner of the loser bracket must beat them twice to win the region and vice versa.

The Sooners will likely play sixth seeded Alabama in the Super Regional if they are to win their region.