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OU Softball: Again, WCWS Adjusts Monday Schedule for Ongoing Delays

The Sooners are trying to get ready to play Florida in a game already delayed more than three hours, which affects the status of the second game if the Gators win.

John E. Hoover

Taking the tarp off in OKC
Taking the tarp off in OKC / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

OKLAHOMA CITY — With rain almost all morning leading to a three-hour delay, Oklahoma's softball game against Florida is expected to start at just after 2 p.m.

However, the windows for an if-necessary game for OU-Florida and the later matchup between Texas and Stanford may have closed.

The NCAA announced that in the event of an if-necessary game — if Florida beats OU in a game now scheduled for 2:06 first pitch — then that elimination game in the double-elimination tournament would be bumped to Tuesday, which was originally scheduled as an off day before the championship series.

OU goes into today's action 2-0 at the WCWS this season, while Florida is 2-1.

The OU-UF if-necessary game was originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

If No. 2-seed Oklahoma beats Florida this afternoon, the Sooners will get Tuesday off as planned.

One complication: if OU advances to the champ series by beating the Gators on Monday, then a potential Texas-Stanford if-necessary game would be played Monday night as originally planned. That way, both finalists would have Tuesday off.

However, if Stanford beats the Longhorns and forces the if-necessary game on that side of the bracket, that game would be played Tuesday — but only if OU is playing an if-necessary game, too. That game is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Monday night (if necessary).

Tournament organizers want to give both semifinalists the same scenario, either both playing Tuesday or both off Tuesday.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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