Stanford hoping to derail Oklahoma's NCAA reign

Oklahoma could become the first college softball program since UCLA more than 30 years ago to win three consecutive national championships.

And the Sooners enter the World Series on an NCAA Division I-record 48-game win streak.

The first team with a chance to stop them? Stanford.

The Cardinal are back in the Women's College World Series for the third time in program history and first time since 2004.

As the No. 9 seed, Stanford (45-13) gets the unenviable task of taking on the juggernaut Sooners (56-1), who lead the nation in scoring, batting average, ERA and fielding percentage. They'll square off at 11:30 a.m. today, with the game broadcasted on ESPN.

Oklahoma is an overwhelming favorite to win the NCAA championship and become the first team to three-peat since UCLA won titles in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Since then, teams have won back to back seven times. Oklahoma went for three after winning it all in 2016 and 2017 but lost in the semifinals in 2018.

Stanford will likely send freshman Nijaree Canady to the mound to try to be a major roadblock to Oklahoma's title hopes.

The freshman has a 16-1 record with a nation-leading 0.48 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 116 1/3 innings.

Stanford's elite pitching staff also includes Alana Vawter, who is 20-8 with a 1.83 ERA.

In Stanford's two previous trips to the WCWS (2001 and 2004), the Cardinal reached the semifinals both times but have never made it to the WCWS finals.

A win today makes reaching that round far easier in the double-elimination tournament. But to do so, those pitchers will have to shut down two USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 finalists in the Oklahoma batting lineup — Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman.

Oklahoma's pitching staff includes Jordy Bahl — another Top 10 finalist — and Alex Storako, a transfer from Michigan who was the first player chosen in the Women's Professional Fastpitch draft last month.