FSU softball defeats Oklahoma in the WCWS Championship opener, putting them one win away from a national title. The Seminoles came into the Women's College World Series Championship Series riding a four-game winning streak. They left it all on the field in their first game of the series against Oklahoma, which was tied at 1 after five innings. FSU scored three runs in the sixth off of two Oklahoma errors and went on to win 3-1. Their victory set up a championship showdown with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who they had already beaten this season by an average of 13 points per game.
Florida State beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi twice this season, including once by an average of 20 points per game. The Seminoles are looking to become the first 16th-place team to win the title since LSU did so in 1987. They would also be the lowest seed ever to win the title.
This is only the second time in history that two 16th-seeded teams have made it to the championship game. The other time this happened was 2013 when Louisville defeated Michigan State 2-1 in nine innings to claim its first title in program history.
Louisville was the last 16th-seed to win the title, doing so in 1989.
OU is defeated 8-4 by Florida State in Game 1 of the WCWS Championship Series-Crimson and Cream Machine. The final score does not reflect the actual game value since it was stopped after six innings due to rain. The suspended game will be completed on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET with a winner-take-all finale.
The Crimson Tide lead the all-time series 18-5-1, including 11-3 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has won nine in a row overall and 10 straight in Tuscaloosa.
Florida State has never beaten Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Seminoles are looking for their first win in Tuscaloosa since 1993. They fell behind 3-0 before storming back to take a 4-3 lead into the sixth inning. With two out and nobody on base, Brittany Ghioto hit a ball down the left-field line that bounced off the wall and came back toward the field. Two Florida State players tried to combine on a throw but were unable to get it in time as the clock ran out on the sixth.
In the championship game, scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
The Women's College World Series is a college baseball tournament held in the United States. The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the last round of the NCAA Division I softball championship in the United States. Host cities alternate between regions within the country; Oklahoma City has hosted every year since its inception in 1998. The eight-team double elimination format was used from its inception until 2000 when it was modified to include an additional game on the final day of the season. That game is now played as the championship game if necessary and determines who wins the title.
There are two different tours for women's sports at the NCAA Division I level. The Women's Basketball Tournament begins with first-round games on week of March 6th. The Final Four takes place beginning on Saturday, April 4th and ends on Sunday, April 5th. The Women's Golf Championship starts with the first round on Thursday, May 9th and concludes with the national championship on Monday, May 13th. Softball follows a similar schedule to that of basketball with first-round games on campus sites on week of May 17th and the Final Four taking place at US Cellular Field in Chicago from Wednesday, June 7th to Friday, June 9th. The championship game is on Monday, June 12th at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Women's basketball began in 1939 while softball came later that same year.
The No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (49-13-1) defeated the Florida State Seminoles (49-13-1) 5-1 on Thursday to win the 2021 Women's College World Series Championship. With the national championship in hand, OU concludes the season with a record of 56-4. (.933).
This is the first title for the Sooners in school history and third overall. They last appeared in the championship game in 1999 where they lost to Arkansas 3-0.
Florida (48-15) was trying to become the first team since 1986 California to win the title after losing the first game of the series. The Gators finished second in the SEC this year behind Alabama.
This is also the first title for head coach Joanne McCallum who took over after Tim Walton left for Arizona State. She is now the all-time winningest coach in Florida history with an overall record of 714-186-.
On the other hand, this is the first title for head coach John Savage who replaced Dan Magill after he moved to South Carolina as assistant coach. He is now the all-time winningest coach in Florida history with an overall record of 819-253-3.
The winner of this game will face LSU in the best-of-3 series. Game 2 is scheduled for Friday night in Oklahoma City and Game 3 is set for Saturday morning in Orlando.
Florida State University Alabama softball's season ended Monday night in the semifinal round of the Women's College World Series, falling to Florida State, 8-5. The top-seeded Seminoles advance to face No. 4 Texas for a spot in the championship series.
The Crimson Tide finished the season 42-19 overall and 17-7 in the SEC, finishing second in the conference standings. Florida State was ranked first at the end of the regular season before losing two of its last three games. The victory over Alabama ends Florida State's run of five consecutive Women's College World Series appearances.
Including its win over Alabama, FSU has now defeated each of the other four teams that remained in the tournament after it advanced. The Seminoles will play Texas for the title on Tuesday night in Omaha, Nebraska.
Alabama played in its third WCWS final in four years, but failed to capture its first national title. The Crimson Tide lost all three of its previous trips to the series while Florida State won in 2013 and 2014.
Monday's game was tied at 5-5 before Florida State scored six runs in the seventh inning to take control of the match.
The Seminoles are sixth all-time in overall wins and second in postseason victories. The Seminoles have played in the NCAA Tournament 58 times, advancing to the College World Series 23 times (including three times in the CWS Championship Game or Championship Series). Florida State has won at least 20 games five times, most recently in 2000 when they finished with a 36-5 record.
The Seminoles have made at least one appearance in the CWS every year since its inception in 1947 except for 1952 when they went 38-7 but were ineligible for post-season play because of limitations on conference teams at that time.
Florida State has won at least 10 games six times, most recently in 2013 when they finished with a 42-16 record.
The 2013 season was head coach Tim Walton's first full season as manager of the Seminoles. A former player at Florida State, he replaced Jack Flick who was fired after four seasons.
Under Walton, Florida State advanced to the Super Regionals for the first time in school history before being eliminated by Texas Tech. This was also just their second 40-win season since 1990 when they finished with a 41-20 record. In 2011, the Seminoles reached the Super Regionals before losing to South Carolina in eight games. Prior to this season, Florida State had never made it past the opening round of the CWS.
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