Out of the shadows and into the WCWS spotlight, it's Oklahoma vs. Auburn for national title

— -- OKLAHOMA CITY -- A visual communications major in search of a project, Oklahoma senior right fielder Erin Miller took on the responsibility this season of designing the softball team poster. Start to finish, concept to print, she sought her muse.

What emerged was a statement of identity for a senior class that while blessed to play with some of the greatest individual talents in softball history, past Sooners like Lauren Chamberlain, Shelby Pendley and Keilani Ricketts, now wanted its own turn.

The theme: Into The Spotlight.

"We were always kind of in the shadows, if you will, behind some pretty big names," Miller said. "So this year I think it really hit home that our senior class was going to step into the leadership role, step into the spotlight. So I tried to hone in on that theme in the poster. You can see the seniors up in the forefront. I also decided to include the whole team in the poster, which is something I don't know that we've ever done as a program.

"I included the whole team because if you've been watching us the entire year, you know that it's an entire team effort. I think our freshman class is imperative for our success this year."

Consider the spotlight successfully located and occupied.

That team will play for a national championship beginning Monday, with No. 3 Oklahoma facing No. 4 Auburn in a best-of-three series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. And as it turns out, the theme on which Miller based her work in the preseason sums up both sides of the year's final series.

Now it's into the spotlight for an Oklahoma roster of rising stars and previously overlooked standouts, and out of the shadows for an Auburn program so long an afterthought in a conference of giants.

It is an Oklahoma team that, in a tournament promoted as Florida's march to a third consecutive national title and further confirmation of SEC supremacy, could join Arizona and UCLA as the only schools with more than two titles.

It is an Auburn team that could win its first championship in just its second World Series appearance.

Both the Sooners and Tigers sought that spotlight ahead of schedule. In Auburn's case, as described in the aftermath of their semifinal win against Florida State, a program that was an afterthought four years ago and a World Series rookie one year ago isn't waiting its turn. That is rare in college softball. It isn't rare for Auburn coach Clint Myers, who engineered the same sort of rapid ascent en route to two national titles at Arizona State.

Oklahoma has ample tradition and institutional memory when it comes to success in this setting, but the pitcher responsible for every inning thrown by Oklahoma in the postseason, Paige Parker, is just a sophomore. The hitters penciled into second, third, fourth and fifth behind Miller in the batting order are freshmen. Three more regular starters are in just their second seasons.

Oklahoma began the season ranked No. 8, hardly a slight but lower than it had been almost since the day Ricketts arrived in 2010 and a new era of dominance dawned in Norman. Within three weekends, following losses to Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon State and Washington, the Sooners had slipped into the middle teens in the polls.

Parker was not entirely healthy and the pieces, both new and old, were not aligned quite right, so it looked like a rebuilding season.

They have lost just three times since and enter the series against Auburn with 30 wins in a row.

"The chemistry on this team is something that I have not seen in a long time," Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. "This group is so enjoyable to be around every day. At practice, on the field, in battle, it's just a joy to be around them. They truly appreciate and respect each other. And at practice every day, I don't have to bark at them because they work. So it's just all the payoff.