It a rarity in sports, particularly in college, when the two best teams during the regular season make it all the way to the finals to settle it on the field but that that’s what we have in store for us in the women’s College World Series when #2 UCLA takes on #1 Oklahoma. If that’s not enough it also features two of the game’s biggest stars against each other as UCLA’s Rachel Garcia and Oklahoma’s Sydney Romero will face off along with their teams. You don’t even have to be a college softball fan to be intrigued by the storyline of this year’s final so in the event you haven’t followed the sport all year we’ll make sure you’re prepped to get the most out of what should be an epic World Series.
Firstly, to understand the intrigue you need to get caught up on the history. Oklahoma, the top-seed is looking for its third title in four years, they have had a reign of domination that makes them odds on favorite to win it all again and after beating their rivals Alabama to get to the final. One more and they would match Arizona and ironically UCLA as the only programs to win three titles in four years. Meanwhile UCLA, much like in men’s basketball has won the most Women’s Softball Championships in NCAA Division 1 history with 11 but they haven’t been in the show since 2010. Last year they were close but lost two games to the eventual champion Florida State in the semi-final.
The two schools have met previously this season in February at the Mary Nutter Classic Tournament where UCLA handed the Sooners convincing 7-1 beatdown so rest assured OU will be looking to settle that score. Standing in their way of both extracting revenge and getting the upper hand in this World Series is Rachel Garcia, the favorite to win “player of the year” again, who struck out 15 batters while allowing only 4 hits and walking only two. She will be on the bump for the Bruns in game 1 and looking to give them the upper hand in the series.
What could be the difference in this series is defense. On the surface, UCLA’s .973 fielding percentage would seem like a number high enough to give them a decisive edge in this series but it was only good enough for 24th in the nation. Moreover, their 41 errors were more than twice as many as Oklahoma’s paltry 19. In fact, the .987 fielding percentage is tied for the best in the country and in 10 post season games the Sooners have given up only 10 runs. This is a big check in she Sooner’s column as these games promise to be tight where even one run could be the difference.
Regardless of where your allegiance might lie, one thing is certain, that this will be a great series and for the record our prediction is for the upset. Much like in basketball, the team with the most dominant payer usually wins if they get to the Finals, and that player is Rachel Garcia, and with her on the bump in every game, even for a little bit, it may be too much for the Boober to handle. Bruins in 3.