​With the University of Alabama softball team back at the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2016, the season can already be called a success.

Now comes the hard part.

With the selection committee’s questionable seeding of Alabama (57-8) at No. 8 in the NCAA Tournament, the Crimson Tide has the unenviable task of opening the double-elimination Women’s College World Series against No. 1 Oklahoma (8:30 p.m., ESPN2).

Not only are the Sooners (49-2) trying to win their third title in four years, but had a 41-game winning streak recently snapped. They lost to reigning champion Florida State back on Feb. 15, and once to Wisconsin during the Norman Regional.

They’re also essentially the host team. The distance from Marita Hynes Field to USA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City on I-35 North is less than 30 miles. Oklahoma has won 23 of its last 26 games there.

Making matters only worse is that the teams are on the same side of the bracket of the next closest participant, No. 13 Oklahoma State (44-15), which faces No. 5 Florida (49-16). So the winners meet at 8:30 p.m. Friday night, while the losers square off in an elimination game Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

“Obviously we want to stay in the winner’s bracket,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said.

On paper, it’s the marquee matchup of the first round, which is why ESPN slated that side of the bracket for the evening starts and prime-time viewing – resulting in west coast teams Arizona, UCLA and Washington playing earlier.

Oklahoma has been like a machine with its proficiency this season. It leads the nation in batting average (.355), ERA (1.06), fielding percentage (.987), home runs per game (1.89), on-base percentage (.447), runs per game (7.67), shutouts (28), slugging percentage (.661), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.89) and win-loss percentage (.947).

“There are times I wonder, ‘Why aren’t we celebrating harder? Why aren’t we dog-piling?’” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said at a Sooners’ press conference. “It’s this commitment to excellence they have, the expectations.”

The key player is senior Sydney Romero, leads all active Division I players with 313 career hits, 833 career at-bats and 545 career total bases. She ranks third with 212 career RBIs and fourth with 224 runs scored and 57 doubles.

Both teams have solid pitching. Oklahoma has more power in its lineup, but Alabama features more speed. The Crimson Tide is fourth nationally with 141 stolen bases, which tops all teams at the World Series.

Junior Elissa Brown leads all players at Oklahoma City with 46 stolen bases. Not only is she fifth nationally, but has more than three of the eight World Series teams.

However, Brown has had trouble getting on base lately as she’s been repeatedly been called out for stepping out of the batter’s box, something college softball has been cracking down upon. Murphy said they’ve continually gone over it during practice, when it’s not been a problem, but becomes an issue when emotions are running high in games.

Regardless, Alabama will need contributions from everyone if it’s going to stay in the winner’s bracket. It’s something that this team prides itself upon.

"From the very beginning, when we got off to that 33-0 start, every win just gave them confidence," Murphy said. "I don't think people talked enough about how many new kids we had. We had a brand new infield, a new right fielder and basically three new pitchers.

"By the time we got to SEC play, we got down to Missouri 7-0, I think it was the first inning or the second inning, but we came back and scored 14 runs and kept the streak alive. I think it just vaulted us into this really, really good season. Everybody believed in everybody else and we had a different star in almost every game."

Among them, junior Bailey Hemphill recently tied the Alabama single-season record with her 25th home run, and sophomore Kaylee Tow matched another by drawing her 66th walk. But players like Caroline Hardy and KB Sides also made key contributions as the Crimson Tide advanced through both the regional against Arizona State and super regional vs. Texas.

"This team, among probably any other team I've had, they really bought into that team concept,” Murphy said. “They really don't care who gets the credit, as long as the team wins everybody's good."