Sooners Beat Horns, Advance to WCWS Semis

Saturday, June 4

Oklahoma City, Okla.

2 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

56-2

Texas

44-20-1

Oklahoma

Texas

Sooners Beat Horns, Advance to WCWS Semis

June 04, 2022 | Softball

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By: John Rohde for SoonerSports.com

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — When Texas stunned unbeaten Oklahoma with a 4-2 upset on April 16 in Austin to snap the greatest start to a season in Division I softball history at 38-0, the Longhorns celebrated as though they had just won this year's Women's College World Series.

The teams finally met again on Saturday afternoon. This time, the Sooners won comfortably, 7-2.

Lo and behold, the game actually was played at the WCWS. Afterward, OU players calmly reacted as though it was business as usual.

Whether the Sooners (56-2) sought to avenge or get revenge is a matter of semantics. Whichever directive you considered, the top-ranked, top-seeded team in the land left little doubt who's in charge before a sellout crowd at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

With the outcome, OU remains unbeaten in its quest to repeat as national champions and claim its sixth NCAA crown overall, which would include a fourth title in the last six staged events (COVID cancelled the 2020 WCWS).

As you might expect, the Sooners indeed had not forgotten UT's post-game celebration on McCombs Field.

"Yeah, I think for sure it was on our mind," said All-American second baseman Tiare Jennings, who went 3 for 4 with two RBI on Saturday and hit what OU Hall of Fame coach Patty Gasso considers to be one of the longest home runs she's ever witnessed. "We had something to prove. No team beats us twice. We proved that here. Just taking that and not letting it get too big, not letting the moment get too big, playing with that chip on your shoulder."

Fellow All-American and home run queen Jocelyn Alo said had a different take.

"Me personally, I didn't have it in my mind," said Alo, whose two-run homer in the top of the first inning upped her season home run total to 30 and her record career total to 118. "Just watching it, I was like, 'You know, I would celebrate like that, too,' because we're the No. 1 seed. I mean, our record speaks for itself. We're pretty solid. So I would say they should celebrate the way they should. But, yeah, we came out here and we just did our thing."

Another All-American, centerfielder Jayda Coleman, had a broader scope.

"I think for me personally, (the key Saturday) was just resetting," said Coleman, who went 2 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. "I don't really think we ever play out of revenge or hate in our heart. We really just play for one audience. That's why we play so free. That's why we play so fun. Yeah, it was a tough day watching them celebrate like that, but the next day it was over. It's the next game. Today we came out and played free and played fun."

Saturday's contest certainly had plenty of witnesses. It was the first nationally televised softball game on ABC.

"An absolute honor," Gasso said of the sport's national exposure. "I think of ABC, maybe nobody even thinks the same way, but to me it is the 'Wide World of Sports.' I've been watching it for that long. To think that we are in a game on ABC is just a wow factor for me personally. I don't even talk to our team about it because they don't watch ABC. They watch Netflix [laughter]."

The Sooners won't play again until Monday at 11 a.m. against a team facing elimination (either UCLA or Saturday night's Florida-Oklahoma State loser).

OU has now outscored opponents 72-7 so far this postseason.

The Sooners wasted little time jumping in front of the Longhorns with Alo's towering two-run homer into the left-field bleachers after Coleman led off with a double to right-center.

"That was fun, being able to lead it off," Coleman said. "I knew if I just get on base, I could trust Jocey to get me in. She hit a bomb. It was great."

Alo went 2 for 3 with three RBI and two runs scored while becoming the first player in Division I history to hit at least 30 home runs in three seasons.

"It was funny," Alo said. "We (Coleman andI) talked about it last night. I was like, 'You're going to get on and I'm going to hit you in.' I think we had the edge this time, a little bit of chips on our shoulder. Yeah, we had something to prove for sure."

The Longhorns (40-20-1) used the speed of third baseman Mia Scott (25 steals this season) to narrow the gap to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning. Scott bunted for a single, easily beating Hope Trautwein's throw to first. She stole second on a delayed steal, then scored on Alyssa Washington's double down the left-field line.

Things calmed down considerable the next three innings.

After Alo left the yard, Texas senior workhorse righthander Hailey Dolcini (23-11) retired nine straight hitters before Tiare Jennings doubled to lead off the fourth.

OU super senior starter Trautwein (20-1), meanwhile, retired nine of the next 12 batters and wound up pitching a complete game, allowing six hits, two earned runs, and two walks while striking out one.

"I thought she was stellar, fantastic," Gasso said of Trautwein. "I think Hope is kind of on fire right now. She's really found her comfort zone. I think the matchup was better for us with Hope."

OU pulled away with a four-run, five-hit fifth inning to take a 6-1 lead while chasing Dolcini in the process.

Rylie Boone, who jump-started the Sooners with a line-drive double to the right-field wall against Northwestern on Thursday, once again provided an opening spark – this time with a well-placed, 3-foot bunt directly in front of home plate that she beat out for a single.

After Jana Johns sacrificed Boone to second with a bunt of her own, Coleman laced her second double to right-center to score Boone.

Alo collected her third RBI by singling up the middle to score Coleman and make it 4-1. With the hit, Alo's season batting average rose to .503.

At that point, Dolcini was pulled in favor of freshman righthander Sophia Simpson.

Jennings launched Simpson's second pitch into the next-to-last row of the left-field bleachers and pushed OU's advantage to 6-1. "I've seen a lot of far home runs, but that was elevated to allow her to really get underneath it and get her power in it," Gasso said. "So it was definitely another momentum builder for the team."

Leftfielder Alyssa Brito had an RBI single to left in the seventh to make it 7-1. Texas four-time All-American Janae Jefferson homered to right in the bottom of the seventh to set the final margin.