Two familiar foes square off with a trip to Oklahoma City on the line.
The last time these two teams got together, the Tigers walked away with a 3-2 win. Unfortunately, that game didn't mean much. It was the opening game of the 2017 season.
The series between these two teams that everyone remembers is last year's Women's College World Series final. Oklahoma and Auburn played three extremely exciting and memorable games in Oklahoma City that ended with the Sooners winning the 2016 NCAA Softball National Championship.
Now, just under a year later, the two will meet again in another 3-game series. Last year's series was a virtual home slate for Oklahoma with it taking place less than an hour from OU's campus. This year, it's on the Plains of Auburn, Alabama at Auburn's own Jane B. Moore Field.
Oklahoma still has ace Paige Parker. Auburn really never could figure out what to do with her last year and that's with the excellent group of hitters that the Tigers had at the time. This year's batters will face one of the best pitchers they've ever seen when they go against Parker.
The good news for Auburn is that Oklahoma has had plenty of trouble with Makayla Martin, as well. And they've never really had to face Kaylee Carlson.
For the Tigers, the best news has to be the reawakening of Kasey Cooper's bat over the last game or so. Auburn really needed the bats to come alive before this Super Regional, and they definitely started doing that in the final two Regional games last weekend. It wasn't just Cooper, either. Haley Fagan's bat was on fire. Carlee Wallace, Allysa Rivera, and Victoria Draper were, of course, just continuing things as they had been all season.
This is going to be one very tough series. Oklahoma feels slighted that it wasn't a Top 8 seed. Auburn feels like it should have been higher and not have to face a team of Oklahoma's caliber in the Super Regionals. Auburn wants revenge from last year's WCWS. Auburn is at home. Oklahoma doesn't want to miss out on going to Oklahoma City the year after winning it all.
How big is the series going to be? Auburn is adding more seating in the outfield in anticipation of the crowds. It's a holiday weekend and what better place to be than watching one of the best Softball series in the country all season long?
If you're not able to make it to Auburn, you can still follow along. You can bet that this game is going to be one of the Super Regionals that gets on national TV all weekend. Here's what you need to know:
Game 1: 3:00 pm Central, ESPN 2
Game 2: 12:00 pm Central, ESPN
Game 3: 12:00 pm Central, ESPN (If Necessary)
All games will, of course, be available on WatchESPN as well if you happen to be out and about and need to stream them.
Let's get after 'em, Auburn. Do what it takes to get back to OKC!
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