Ten things to watch for in Women's College World Series

By Ramona Shelburne

With the Women's College World Series set to begin on Thursday in Oklahoma City, SIOC answers 10 critical questions about the action.

1. Can Arizona repeat?

Despite crashing face-first into the outfield wall at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday, Arizona's Caitlin Lowe is expected to play in this weekend's WCWS. AP

It's certainly been done before in college softball. Five times in fact. Three times by UCLA, including a three-peat, and twice by Arizona. But this could be the most competitive World Series field ever and the selection committee didn't do the top-seeded Wildcats any favorites when it constructed the bracket.

Arizona was placed in the uber-competitive bottom bracket in Oklahoma City. To advance to the semifinals, the 'Cats will have to beat Baylor, a team a lot of experts like to win it all, in the WCWS opener, then get past Tennessee and national Player of the Year Monica Abbott or Texas A&M and do-it-all pitcher Amanda Scarborough.

2. Will Caitlin Lowe be able to play?

Anyone who saw the replays of Lowe's face-first crash into the wooden outfield fence at Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday would probably answer no. Lowe did her best Ryan Freel imitation on the play. She crashed into the wall at full speed then dropped to the ground as cameras caught blood spilling from her nose. A few minutes later she got up.

And by the next inning, the four-time All-America and U.S. national team star was back in the dugout.

Word out of Arizona is that Lowe suffered a broken nose but will be able to play with a mask. With the speedy leadoff batter in the lineup, the Wildcats are the team to beat. Lowe hit .425 with 49 stolen bases in 50 attempts this year.

3. Can Monica Abbott finally break through?

Tennessee's hard-throwing left-hander from Salinas, Ca. has been the dominant pitcher in college softball this year, breaking the NCAA all-time strikeouts record and posting a 46-3 mark with a 0.60 ERA. But if Abbott can't lead the Lady Vols to a national championship this year, her career will feel incomplete, just like the last pitcher to dominate the college game, Texas' Cat Osterman, who came up short all four times she led her team to Oklahoma City.

Tennessee has finished third each of the past two seasons. The Lady Vols were ranked at or near the top of the national polls all season, making them one of the favorites to win this year. But they'll have to overcome the loss of leadoff hitter India Chiles, who suffered a torn ACL two weeks ago.

4. Is Kaitlin Cochran softball's version of the natural?

The sweet-swinging Arizona State slugger leads the nation with a .495 average. She hit a ridiculous .506 in the pitching-dominated Pac-10, including 18 home runs, 59 RBIs, 72 scored runs in 69 games, 27 stolen bases and just 14 strikeouts in 184 at-bats. And she's just a sophomore.

5. Can anyone catch Baylor?

The Bears surprised a lot of people by ousting one of the pre-tournament favorites, Michigan, in the Super Regionals. But they won't be sneaking up on anyone this time around. The Big 12 champs are the hottest team coming to Oklahoma City. Their first-round game against Arizona could be a classic. Both teams like to run and put pressure on the defense. Baylor has 140 stolen bases in just 64 games this year, led by Nicole Wesley's 27 in 28 chances. The Bears attack starts at the top with 6-foot-2 lead-off hitter Ashley Monceaux, who has 20 home runs, 70 RBIs and a .409 average.

The reason the Bears have emerged as a darkhorse national championship contender is pitching. Senior righty Lisa Ferguson tossed a five-game shutout in the Bears 4-0 victory over Michigan. Around Waco, she's known as the ``Postseason Fergie'' -- definitely the best nickname of the weekend -- for her penchant for post-season success. And if she needs any counsel, she's got two great mentors: pitching coach Britni Sneed was a former ace at LSU and head coach Glen Moore was something of a legend back in his playing days. Moore was the pitcher for the famous ``King and his Court'' team, which regularly beat opponents using just a pitcher, catcher, shortstop and first baseman.