OMAHA – The Omaha softball team hosted an NCAA Tournament selection show watch party at DJ’s Dugout in Aksarben Village on Sunday. The Mavericks recently returned from South Dakota, where they won the Summit League Tournament for the third consecutive year.
The Mavericks received the third seed in the Norman Regional, where they will face No. 2 California. That game will take place Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT, with live coverage on ESPN+, followed by the regional host and overall two-seed Oklahoma taking on Boston University.
“Oklahoma is one of the big names in college softball, so it will be fun to go down there and experience the atmosphere and go play softball the way we like to play softball,” Mike Heard, the university’s head coach, said.
“Norman, Oklahoma, is going to be so much fun,” senior shortstop Maggie O’Brien said. “I think it is going to be one of the coolest experiences that we will have in our entire life.”
Omaha, 39-11, enters the NCAA Tournament after winning their third consecutive conference title. They include Maddia Groff, the Summit League’s Pitcher of the Year, and O’Brien, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“Very excited,” Groff said. “That is a super fun atmosphere to play at and a cool field, so just trying to shock people.”