NCAA Softball: Time and TV coverage announced for Arizona’s opening game in the Women’s College World Series

The Arizona Wildcats have known since they clinched their berth at the Women’s College World Series that they would play the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. The two teams were the first to punch their tickets to Oklahoma City. Now, they know when they will play and how their fans can watch.

The Wildcats and the Cowgirls will watch the action all day on Thursday, June 2 before playing in the final game of the day at 6:30 p.m. MST/PDT. The game will air on ESPN.

It gives Arizona even more time to prepare. The Wildcats have not been back to Tucson since they left for their May 20 game at the Columbia Regional. After winning in Missouri and being told that their next stop was the Starkville Super Regional, the team headed straight for Mississippi. Their sweep of the Bulldogs was followed by a charter directly to Oklahoma City.

UA and OSU are each one of three teams from their conference taking part in the WCWS. The Pac-12 is also sending UCLA and Oregon State. Texas and Oklahoma are joining OSU from the Big 12. One Big Ten team and one SEC team round out the field.

The opening game at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium will feature fifth-seeded UCLA taking on unseeded Texas at 9 a.m. MST/PDT on ESPN.

No. 9 Northwestern, which became the last team to punch its ticket by defeating ASU in game three in Tempe on Sunday, will play top-seeded Oklahoma at 11:30 a.m. MST/PDT on ESPN in the second game of the WCWS.

Game three features unseeded Oregon State which is making its first WCWS appearance since 2006. The Beavers took out the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford to get to their second WCWS in program history. They will face No. 14 seed Florida at 4 p.m. MST/PDT on ESPN.

If Arizona defeats Oklahoma State, the Wildcats will play again on Friday at 6:30 p.m. MST/PDT. They would face the winner of the game between Oregon State and Florida.

If the Wildcats lose on Thursday, they will play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. MST/PDT. In that case, they would be up against the loser of the Beavers vs. Gators game.

Keep an eye out for our coverage from Oklahoma City and many thanks to the readers and supporters who have helped make that coverage possible by donating for travel costs.