Big conference matchups highlight NCAA baseball and softball weekend

April 21, 2023
he reigning women’s and men’s College World Series (CWS) champs both have huge matchups against conference rivals.
CollegeSoftball
Big conference matchups highlight NCAA baseball and softball weekend
SOURCE: OU_SOFTBALL/TWITTER

The GIST: There’ll be no shortage of drama on the diamond this weekend: The reigning women’s and men’s College World Series (CWS) champs both have huge matchups against conference rivals. Grab some Cracker Jills, and let’s dig in.

🥎 Softball: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners are literally crushing it. The reigning national champs have destroyed everyone in their path this season…except for No. 19 Baylor. The then-unranked Bears became the only team to top the Sooners with their 4–3 February 19th home win — and now Oklahoma’s back for more.

  • Baylor will host Oklahoma for a three-game series starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The Sooners look inevitable against their Big 12 rivals, but maybe lightning can strike twice in Waco, TX?

⚾ Baseball: Last year’s CWS winner, Ole Miss, started the season ranked No. 4, but it’s been downhill from there. The Rebels lost their last five (!!!) series and haven’t tasted the Top 25 since mid-March, which makes this weekend’s matchup against No. 1 LSU seem insurmountable.

  • But LSU’s shown some vulnerability this week — the Tigers stunningly dropped Tuesday’s tilt against relative-unknown UL-Lafayette 8–5. And for all their dominance, LSU’s conference record doesn’t come close to first in the brutal SEC.
  • If they hope to slide in on top of the regular season, this series is a must-win for the Tigers. But if Ole Miss can pull their sh!t together, they might just crash LSU’s party.