Overview

• Thursday’s opener featured No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas at noon, No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee at 2:30 p.m., No. 12 Texas Tech vs. unseeded Ole Miss at 7 p.m. and No. 9 UCLA vs. No. 16 Oregon at 9:30 p.m.
• Oklahoma, seeking a fifth consecutive national title, drew Tennessee’s NCAA record-throwing pitcher Karlyn Pickens in its first game of the double-elimination bracket.
• First-time WCWS participants Texas Tech and Ole Miss squared off as Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady and Ole Miss’s two-way star Aliyah Binford anchored their teams’ debuts.
• The double-elimination format guarantees each team at least two games, with survivors advancing through the bracket toward the best-of-three finals beginning June 4.
• All first-round contests were televised on ESPN networks and streamed live on the ESPN App and Fubo, ensuring nationwide access to every game.