OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - There are lot of new faces at the Women's College World Series this year.

 Led by U.S. national team coach Ken Eriksen, South Florida will make its World Series debut Thursday when it takes on Oklahoma.

"The girls are just trying to get better," said USF Head Coach Ken Eriksen.  "Sure, they're exhilerated, but we just went back to practice this week.  The community and the university are all jacked up right now.  We're playing for the national championship."

Oregon is back for the first time since its only other appearance in 1989, and LSU returns for the first time in eight years.

 It's a new-look field in an event that was historically dominated by UCLA and Arizona. Those two schools combined to win 20 of the first 28 World Series titles but now have both missed the final eight in back-to-back years and only the third time ever.

 

That leaves it to top-seeded California, defending champion Arizona State and Oregon to continue the Pac-12's streak of six straight national titles.