The Sooners' hunt for a fifth straight NCAA softball title is officially over, as No. 12-seed Texas Tech ousted No. 2-seed Oklahoma 3-2 in Monday's 2025 semifinals to book a trip to their first-ever Women's College World Series (WCWS) finals.

With a total of eight national championships under their belt, this year's WCWS marks Oklahoma's earliest exit since 2018.

Calling it "a great privilege" to play the modern dynasty that is Oklahoma softball, Red Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco said "This was our chance at forever — to leave a legacy at Texas Tech that will be remembered forever. Our team has done that. They've left a legacy."

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Seventh-inning heroics end in dramatic Texas Tech victory

Prior to this season, the Red Raiders had never advanced out of the Regional round in their six previous appearances in the NCAA tournament.

With the addition of Stanford transfer and 2025 National Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady — college softball's first $1 million player — Texas Tech has put together a magical run all the way to this week's best-of-three championship series.

Canady's seven-inning showing on Monday nearly clinched the Red Raiders win, as the ace protected Texas Tech's second-inning 2-0 lead until the game's final frame.

Down to their last strike, junior outfielder Abigale Dayton played hero for the Sooners, blasting a two-run homer to tie the score and keep Oklahoma's hopes alive in the top of the seventh.

The bottom of the inning, however, was all Texas Tech, as Raiders first baseman Lauren Allred popped up a deep-enough sacrifice fly to score junior centerfielder Mihyia Davis from third, walking off the 3-2 win.

"Honestly, it was a very cinematic way to go out," Oklahoma first baseman Cydney Sanders — one of just three seniors on the young 2025 Sooners' squad — said of Monday night's late-inning WCWS dramatics.

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2025 WCWS will crown a first-ever national champion

This week's championship series, which kicks off on Wednesday night, will now be an all-Texas affair, after the No. 6-seed Texas Longhorns also advanced with a 2-0 Monday win over No. 7-seed Tennessee.

Not only will the 2025 NCAA trophy be heading to the Lone Star State, this year's tournament will also crown a first-time victor: Despite their seven previous WCWS appearances and a now-third trip to the championship series in the last four years, the Longhorns — like the Red Raiders — have yet to hoist softball's national hardware.

Incoming Matildas boss Joe Montemurro revealed a new setback in the return of Australia captain Sam Kerr from injury on Monday, disclosing that the Chelsea striker has recently undergone an additional surgery unrelated to her January 2024 ACL tear.

"I think there were some complications," Montemurro told Australia's Channel 10 about the 31-year-old attacker's status this week. "There was a subsequent intervention, but I do believe she is now back running."

"It was something completely different [to the ACL injury]. I think the knee is fine," Montemurro continued.

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Montemurro, who took the reins of the Matildas this week following a year-long stint leading European club titan OL Lyonnes, did not detail a specific timeline for Kerr's return.

However, the Australia captain is likely to miss the world No. 16 team's upcoming three summer friendlies against No. 38 Slovenia and No. 57 Panama.

That said, though Montemurro has yet to directly connect with Kerr, the Australia boss did state that "there's nothing to worry about, she's on track."

"By all reports, she's focused on getting back and she's focused on being back at her best, knowing that there's an exciting tournament coming up," the new Matildas manager said, referencing the 2026 Asian Cup.

"So with that attitude, I expect to see a fantastic Sam Kerr."

This week's 2025 French Open quarterfinals set up the clay-court Grand Slam's semifinals, with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka taking on three-time defending champ No. 5 Iga Świątek while No. 2 Coco Gauff faces wild card No. 361 Loïs Boisson on Thursday.

In Wednesday morning's highly anticipated all-American showdown, Gauff survived a tight 6-7(6) 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal battle with fellow US star No. 8 Madison Keys to punch her semifinals ticket.

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Shortly thereafter, Boisson's historic Cinderella run continued as the 22-year-old French up-and-comer took down heavy favorite No. 6 Mirra Andreeva in straight sets — after pulling off a huge Round of 16 upset of US star No. 3 Jessica Pegula on Monday.

Boisson — the youngest French semifinalist at any Grand Slam in 26 years and the first woman to make the penultimate round in her major tournament debut since 1990 — will leap to at least No. 68 in the next WTA rankings thanks to her Roland-Garros performance.

"I don't think it's a miracle," said Boisson of her unexpected Grand Slam debut. "It's just the result of hard work. Nothing else."

On the other side of the 2025 French Open bracket, both Sabalenka and Świątek cruised through their Tuesday quarterfinal matches to reach Thursday's semis, but their toughest match lies ahead.

Despite beating Sabalenka in five out of six previous meetings on clay, Świątek hasn't reached a major tournament final since her 2024 Roland-Garros win.

"I'm super excited to go out there and to fight and to do everything I need to get the win," said Sabalenka about her upcoming date with Świątek.

How to watch the 2025 French Open semifinals

Sabalenka and Świątek will kick off the 2025 French Open semifinals at 9 AM ET on Thursday, with Gauff and Boisson taking the court shortly after the first semi concludes.

Both matches will are live on TNT.

The puck has officially dropped on the PWHL expansion process, with existing teams releasing protected players lists as incoming 2025/26 franchises Seattle and Vancouver begin to build rosters.

The teams' exclusive signing window opened Wednesday morning and runs through Sunday, with the 2025 Expansion Draft set for Monday evening.

Both Seattle and Vancouver can sign up to five players each from the league's unprotected and free agency pool this week.

Regardless of how many athletes the franchises choose to sign, the expansion process requires that the new teams grow their rosters to 12 total players by the end of Monday's draft, before completing their 23-athlete lineups alongside the other six teams during the June 24th PWHL entry draft.

The six founding PWHL clubs could only list three protected players for this week's signing window and next week's expansion draft, forcing some difficult roster decisions.

The Boston Fleet did not opt to add captain Hilary Knight to the protected players list — despite the 35-year-old leading the league in scoring this season — with New York's Alex Carpenter and Toronto's Sarah Nurse also headlining the unprotected list.

With growth front-of-mind, the PWHL Players Association also announced that its members voted late last week to publicly disclose their salaries — a move expected to aid negotiations during this week's signing window.

"This will be a tool for players as they consider opportunities across the league," PWHLPA executive director Malaika Underwood told The Athletic.

The Lone Star State is now ruling the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS), with the Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders taking the NCAA softball field for the national tournament's best-of-three championship series for the first time on Wednesday night.

No. 6-seed Texas reached the final round with a 2-0 semifinal win over SEC foe No. 7 Tennessee on Monday, while No. 12 Texas Tech denied defending champion Oklahoma a chance to extend their historic record, ending the No. 2 seed's hunt for a fifth straight NCAA title with a dramatic 3-2 semifinal ousting.

Pitching will take center stage throughout the championship series, as the regional rivals each boast a stellar ace in the circle in Texas Tech transfer junior and this season's National Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady and Texas star sophomore Teagan Kavan.

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Texas packs experience against Cinderella Texas Tech

While both programs are searching for their first-ever national championship, the more experienced Longhorns have the edge entering this week's competition.

This year marks Texas's eighth overall trip to the WCWS and the Longhorns' third championship series appearance in the last four years, having fallen to Oklahoma in both 2022 and 2024.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech is still blazing trails through brand-new territory, adding a WCWS finals debut to an already-historic 2025 run that included the Red Raiders' first Super Regional appearance and win, and first-ever WCWS berth.

The Longhorns also own this season's head-to-head record over the Red Raiders, snagging two wins over Texas Tech in February.

However, while Kavan threw both those games, including an 11-0 run-rule victory, Canady only featured in one — a narrow 2-1 extra-inning Texas Tech loss in which the deciding run crossed on a throwing error.

Though the Red Raiders are technically the underdogs of this week's championship series, the likely pitchers' duel between Canady and Kavan means that the 2025 WCWS title is anyone's for the taking.

How to watch the 2025 WCWS championship series

The best-of-three 2025 WCWS championship series between Texas and Texas Tech starts on Wednesday, with Game 2 set for Thursday and, if necessary, a winner-take-all final tilt on deck for Friday.

All of the 2025 WCWS championship series clashes will begin at 8 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.