Alabama and Oklahoma Set for High-Stakes Super Regional Clash With College World Series Dreams Hanging in the Balance

Alabama softball is back in NCAA super regionals for the third-straight year and the 19th time in program history. This time, the No. 15 Crimson Tide will face a familiar postseason foe — the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners.

The two programs have met 17 times since 2006, with eight of those meetings coming in the Women’s College World Series, including Alabama’s 2012 national championship victory. They have faced off once in the Super Regionals, when Alabama won the 2015 Tuscaloosa Super Regional 2-1 to advance to Oklahoma City.

The teams most recently met in a conference series in April in what is Oklahoma’s first season in the Southeastern Conference. At the time, Oklahoma was ranked No. 2 and Alabama No. 22. The Crimson Tide went on to win the best-of-three series 2-1.

After dropping the series opener — blowing a 1-0 lead by allowing five runs in the seventh inning — Alabama bounced back with a 6-1 win in Game 2, handing the Sooners their then-largest margin of defeat at that point in the season. The Crimson Tide clinched the series the next day, when Audrey Vandagriff hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning to secure a 2-1 victory.

Now, they’ll meet again — with a trip to Oklahoma City on the line.

Alabama advanced by sweeping the Tuscaloosa Regional wins over Jackson State (8-0, 5 innings) and Virginia Tech (4-3, 3-2) to punch its ticket to super regionals. Oklahoma, meanwhile, swept the Normal Regional with wins over three run-rule wins over Boston University (8-0) and Call (11-2, 12-1). The Sooners are the four-time defending national champions.

Alabama heads into Norman as the underdog, but it is nothing new.

Just last year, then-No. 14 Alabama headed to the Knoxville Super Regional to face No. 3 Tennessee. After dropping the opener, 3-2, the Crimson Tide evened the series with a 14-inning, 3-2 win, then clinched the series with a 4-1 victory to secure a return trip to Oklahoma City.

Here’s a look back at Alabama’s most recent match-up vs. Oklahoma and a glance at its history with the Sooners.