Three Arizona schools start their journey to lift the 2025 Women’s College World Series trophy on Friday.

Arizona State, Arizona and Grand Canyon each play their first games in the NCAA softball tournament on Friday.

Arizona, ranked 13th in the nation, and GCU are in the same four-team, double-elimination regional bracket. The Wildcats will have home-field advantage in the regional, as it is hosted by Arizona’s Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson.

Arizona starts by playing Santa Clara (California) while GCU plays Mississippi. The winners of the two games will face each other on Saturday. The Friday losers will also play on Saturday, facing elimination from the tournament.

ASU will play in Los Angeles Friday, in a regional hosted at UCLA’s home stadium. The Sun Devils face Sand Diego State on Friday with UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, ranked ninth in the nation, also in the bracket.

The 64-team tournament field will be whittled down to after the regionals. The 16 regional winners will be matched up one-on-one in a best-of-three series in the Super Regionals round. The eight winners there will advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City where the tournament transitions back into four-team double-elimination tournaments. The winners of those two tournaments advance to the finals, where they play a best-of-three series.

Schedule and where to watch

4:30 p.m.: ESPN+ — Arizona vs. Santa Clara

7 p.m.: ESPN2 — Arizona State vs. San Diego State

7 p.m.: ESPNU — Mississippi vs. Grand Canyon