NCAA Women’s College World Series Begins Thursday

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com will continue to combine for the most extensive coverage of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship with all 17 potential NCAA Women’s College World Series Presented by Capital One games Thursday, June 2 – Wednesday, June 8. Every game will be offered in high definition and be available on ESPN3.com, while ESPN Mobile will provide 13 contests. Game action begins from Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., Thursday, June 3, at 1 p.m. with four games, all on ESPN2 HD, ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile.

NCAA Women’s College World Series Highlights:

• Four Big 12 teams advanced – No. 11 Baylor, No. 5 Missouri, No. 9 Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – its first berth since 1998;
• Seven of the original 16 seeded teams will be vying for the national title in Oklahoma City including the top two seeds – No. 1 Arizona State and No. 2 Alabama;

• The networks will use two announce teams on the NCAA Women’s College World Series, each featuring U.S. Olympic Gold Medal winners as analysts. Beth Mowins will call play-by-play with analyst Jessica Mendoza, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist. Pam Ward will call play-by-play with analyst Michele Smith, a two-time U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist (1996 & 2000). Holly Rowe will serve as the field reporter on every telecast;

• Beginning with the NCAA Women’s College World Series, the telecasts featured “K Zone 2.0” – the enhanced version of ESPN’s Sports Emmy Award-winning  “K Zone”:
  • In addition to identifying the speed and location of a pitch in replays, “K Zone 2.0” is also capable of tracking the path of the ball from the pitcher’s hand through the strike zone and numerically sequencing pitches thrown;
• ESPNU will the 2011 NCAA Women’s College World Series Press Conferences from Oklahoma City, Wednesday, June 1, at in two 30-minute shows at 2 & 4 p.m. Lowell Galindo, Charlotte Morgan and Amanda Scarborough will provide analysis from ESPNU’s studio in Charlotte, N.C.;
• ESPNU will also provide studio coverage Thursday, June 2 and Monday-Wednesday, June 6-8 surrounding the games;
• Writer Pat Borzi will be onsite in Oklahoma City for espnW, submitting daily stories and video pieces capturing the excitement, drama and the behind-the-scene stories of the WCWS:
  • A preview of the NCAA Women's College World Series, featuring the top five storylines entering the event;
  • This NCAA Championship takes on added significance since softball is no longer an Olympic sport. espnW will speak to that and also give an update on where softball stands in its efforts to get back in the Olympics;
• ESPN International will show the NCAA Women's College World Series Finals and had select early-round games in 170 countries and territories on ESPN Latin America, ESPN Europe, ESPN Pacific Rim, ESPN Australia, ESPN Africa, ESPN Middle East, ESPN Caribbean and ESPN Brazil.

NCAA Women’s College World Series Studio Programming

* - If necessary

NCAA Women’s College World Series Presented by Capital One

* - If necessary

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Media Contact: Rachel Margolis at 860-766-2798 or rachel.l.margolis@espn.com