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Katie Drohan, the Wildcats’ coach, aims to guide the program past its furthest mark in the tournament as a WCWS runner-up in 2006. Northwestern finished the regular season atop the Big Ten standings and was the only team in the league to earn a top-16 seed in this year’s tournament, despite not winning the conference tournament. The Wildcats return to the WCWS for the first time in 15 years and are one of four teams seeking its first NCAA softball championship. Patrick Breen/USA Today Network Northwestern: The Big Ten’s best
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Wildcats ace Danielle Williams started all three games for Northwestern in the Super Regional. Then, consider the Sooners’ three pitchers: Hope Trautwein, who went 18–1 while sitting atop the country with a 0.40 ERA Jordy Bahl, the nation’s freshman of the year, who posted a 0.95 ERA and went 21–1 as a starter and Nicole May, who went 15–0 and recorded a 0.99 ERA. While anything can happen, Oklahoma looks primed to compete through the final game of the WCWS.
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The team, itself, currently sits atop the nation in batting average (.369) and also has players like Tiare Jennings and Grace Lyons who have combined for 45 homers this season. But, the outfielder’s production is not the be-all end-all to the Sooners’ offensive arsenal. Oklahoma boasts the back-to-back college player of the year in Jocelyn Alo, who has recorded more home runs (117) than any other player in Division I history and sits second in the country in batting average (.497). 1 Sooners to potentially bring the program’s sixth WCWS championship trophy back to Norman, backed by an explosive offense and stellar pitching. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso has positioned the No. While the Bruins sit as the sole leader for the most WCWS titles (13), the Sooners have flexed their muscles, winning four titles within the last 10 years and three since 2016. Oklahoma, UCLA and Florida have combined for seven of the last 10 championships, which provides an accurate depiction of the three conferences-the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the SEC-that have dominated the sport through the years.