NCAA Softball: Arizona vs Oklahoma State Women’s College World Series game thread

Oklahoma City - - They've won eight national titles, but they’re one of two Cinderellas out of the Pac-12 this season. The Arizona Wildcats will get their third straight Women’s College World Series underway when they face the Oklahoma State Cowgirls to wind up opening-day action in Oklahoma City.

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Arizona Wildcats (38-20, 8-16 Pac-12) vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowgirls (46-12, 14-4 Big 12)

When and where: The game will start at 6:30 p.m. MST at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.

TV: The game will air on ESPN.

Streaming: The game will stream on Watch ESPN.

How they got here: Arizona has not been home in over two weeks. The Wildcats were the No. 3 seed in the Columbia Regional where they went 3-0 by defeating Illinois once and Missouri twice. They also swept the Starkville Super Regional, dismissing Mississippi State in two games. Arizona has not had to face any team seeded higher than 15th in its postseason run.

Like the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls will not have to leave their home state for the entire postseason. They hosted the Stillwater Regional, where they beat Fordham, Nebraska, and North Texas. That gave way to the Stillwater Super Regional, where the Cowgirls beat the tenth-seeded Clemson Tigers in two straight games.

Probable starters: Arizona will likely start fifth-year senior Hanah Bowen. Bowen is 3-0 this postseason. For the season, she is 13-10. She has a 3.67 ERA and 1.40 WHIP for the year. In the postseason, she has pitched 22 innings and has a 1.59 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. She was Arizona’s game one starter in last year’s WCWS, as well.

OSU will probably start ace Kelly Maxwell. The redshirt junior has a 1.16 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in 169 innings this season. She has yet to allow an earned run this postseason and sports a WHIP of 0.39. She struck out 41 batters in 20.2 IP in the regional and super regional rounds.