Alabama Softball Playing with 'Nothing to Lose' Heading into Supers Matchup at OU

The Crimson Tide is a major underdog facing the four-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners at Love's Field this weekend with a spot in the Women's College World Series on the line.

Alabama Softball Player Salen Hawkins (47) runs the bases against Oklahoma at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Sunday, Apr 13, 2025. / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama and Oklahoma are two of the most familiar faces around the Women's College World Series over the last decade with six appearances for the Crimson Tide since 2015 and eight for the Sooners.

However, this season, only one of the crimson-clad teams will get to make the pilgrimage to the mecca of college softball to Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

Alabama reached the WCWS as the 14 seed last season with an upset over No. 3 Tennessee, and the Crimson Tide is in a similar position this year traveling to face No. 2 Oklahoma, the four-time defending national champion.

"We have nothing to lose, right?" Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said Wednesday. "They should win. They’re favored. They’re at home. All the things are in their favor. So all we’re going to do is go out there and play our hardest with a lot of energy, have a short-term memories. If something bad happens, who cares? So what, now what? And move on to the next pitch."

Alabama and Oklahoma already met during the regular season with the Crimson Tide winning the final two games to take the series. However, that series was in the friendly confines of Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. This weekend, the Tide will be traveling to Norman for the first time ever in front of raucous Love's Field crowd with more than 4,000 fans.  

"I talked to somebody, and they said, ‘Murph, you’re going to feel like you’re playing at the Rhoads House. They’re just cheering against you,'" Murphy said. "It’s that type of atmosphere, and it’s really cool. And kudos to the Oklahoma athletic department for investing almost $42 million into the softball stadium, and it’s paying off. The return on investment is tremendous."

While the stadium will be a new setting for this Crimson Tide team, this type of enviornment and moment won't be completely new. Alabama regularly plays in front of thousands of fans at home, and with a top-10 strength of schedule, has played in tough enviroments all season starting Week 1 at Arizona, moving on to Clearwater and road trips around the SEC.

"I would say that we’re the most prepared that we could be," Alabama catcher Marlie Giles said. "We’re blessed to be in an awesome conference, and we’ve played at some really hard places like Texas A&M. That stadium was crazy when we played there. We’ve played at Florida. Really this season has just prepared us for this atmosphere."

Some teams might be intimidated by the stage, the moment or especially the opponent, but not this Alabama team. The Tide already knows what it takes to beat Oklahoma, and as Murphy said, Alabama has nothing to lose, but a whole lot to gain.

"Our mindset this weekend is just take it one play at a time," GIles said. "We’re playing the same game we’ve been playing all year. Just trusting each other and getting the job done, whether that’s hitting, defense or pitching. It doesn’t really matter who’s in the other dugout.”

Under the direction of head coach Patty Gasso, Oklahoma has won seven national championships since 2013. The only time since 2011 that the Sooners have not made it to OKC was when Alabama beat Oklahoma in two of three games in the 2015 Super Regionals in Tuscaloosa.

These two programs have met in some epic postseason matchups, most notably the 2012 WCWS championship series that gave Alabama its first and only national title, but Alabama and Oklahoma have played since in the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019 postseasons. This season unlocks another chapter starting Friday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.

"It’s a clean, healthy rivalry," Murphy said. "It’s just going to be a good series I think."

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