OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The pinnacle event in NCAA softball is opening Thursday in Oklahoma City.
Missouri (51-11) and first-time entrant Hawaii will play the first game in the weeklong Women's College World Series at noon. It's the second straight year Missouri has made it to Oklahoma City and the Tigers are the only Big 12 Conference squad in the eight-team field.
Hawaii (49-14) stunned the tournament's top seed, Alabama, to qualify for the WCWS for the first time.
Other first-round games in the double-elimination tournament will pit Pacific-10 Conference and Southeastern Conference teams. UCLA (45-11) will play Florida (48-8), Arizona (48-11) will play Tennessee (47-13) and defending national champion Washington (50-7) will play Georgia (48-11).
The event's three-game championship series will start on Monday.
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