June 1, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The two teams scheduled to play in Friday night's first winner's bracket game at the Women's College World Series both boast purple as a school color. Tonight, the sky is turning a similar shade as severe weather approaches, and Northwestern vs. Washington's 6 p.m. CT scheduled start on ESPN is officially under a weather delay.

FINAL UPDATE: GAME ON! First pitch came at 8:47 p.m. CT, check out ESPN or WNUR 89.3 FM to catch the action.

8:05 p.m. CT UPDATE: The NCAA has released an 8:45 p.m. CT target start time for Northwestern's game against Washington. The game still will be televised on ESPN.

7:10 p.m. CT UPDATE: The bulk of the storm has passed through, blowing plastic chairs from their perches in the outfield trailers. The tarp remains on the field, but there is optimism that tonight's game will begin sometime around 8:15 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. CT.

While a light rain continues to fall, it should soon cease and the remaining obstacle to softball will be the lightning in the region. That, too, is forecast to pass in time for Friday night softball.

The current storm carries with it a strong wind and hail threat.

After this initial strong storm cell passes, the weather forecast for the Oklahoma City area is for unstable conditions throughout the night, so stay tuned to this page for further information on the situation, delay status and potential game start time.