OU Meets FSU in WCWS Championship Series

¹ Oklahoma

³ Florida State

June 7-9 / Oklahoma City / USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex

ESPN / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes / Tickets

CHAMP SERIES BASICS

• Two-time defending national champion Oklahoma makes its fourth straight appearance in the WCWS Championship Series and sixth showing of the last seven seasons. Oklahoma is vying to become just the second program to win three straight national titles, looking to join the 1988-90 UCLA Bruins. An OU title would be the program's fifth in the last seven seasons and seventh all-time.

• The top-seeded Sooners meet No. 3-seed Florida State in a rematch of the 2021 WCWS Champ Series where OU bested FSU in three games.

• On the call will be ESPN's crew of Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and sideline reporter Holly Rowe. Game 1 on Wednesday is set for a 7 p.m. CT start before a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Thursday. Friday's if-necessary Game 3 would begin at 7 p.m. All games can be seen on ESPN and the ESPN app.

• All games can be heard via 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity Network app with Chris Plank and alum DJ Sanchez on the call.

• 2023 marks OU's 11th trip in the last 12 years to OKC. No other program in the country has made as many trips to the WCWS as OU since the 2011 season.

• OU is on an NCAA record 51-game win streak, recently surpassing 1996-97 Arizona's 47-game streak.

RUN TO THE TITLE

• OU has swept through postseason play to the Champ Series, winning the NCAA Norman Regional in three games over Hofstra, Missouri and Cal before beating 16-seed Clemson in two games in Supers.

• At the WCWS, Oklahoma opened with a 2-0 win over nine-seed Stanford, followed by a 9-0 run-rule over No. 4 Tennessee and 4-2 (9 inn.) semifinal victory in a rematch vs. Stanford.

• The Sooners have been powered by a cast of players in OKC, paced by Rylie Boone's .500 batting average and Tiare Jennings' 5 RBI. Jennings, Jayda Coleman and Kinzie Hansen have each hit one home run at the WCWS.

• In the opener, a two-run single from Jayda Coleman proved to be the difference in a pitcher's duel between Stanford's NiJaree Canady (7 K) and OU's Jordy Bahl (11 K). Game 2 vs. Tennessee saw the Sooner bats come out in full force with homers from Jennings and Hansen. OU's semifinal bout vs. Stanford took nine innings to decide before a two-run double from Jennings brought in the winnings runs at the top of the ninth.

• Bahl has been exceptional in OKC, pacing the OU staff with a 3-0 record and 20 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched, allowing no runs and 10 hits.

• The Sooners are outscoring its WCWS competition 15-2 with 21 hits to opponents' 14.

• Jennings has etched her name in the WCWS record books already, tying former teammate Jocelyn Alo's career WCWS RBI record with 28 and has moved into first all-time in WCWS doubles with six. She holds second with 8 career HR in OKC to Alo's 12.

MAYHEM

• Oklahoma has made the NCAA Tournament 29 straight seasons and every year of head coach Patty Gasso's tenure since 1995 (tournament was not played in 2020). The Sooners are tied with Washington for the longest active postseason run.

• Oklahoma has been a national seed for each of the past 16 seasons. This is the fifth time in program history and fourth straight season that the Sooners have been the top-seeded team, also earning the No. 1 spot in 2013, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

• In 2023, OU reaches its 16th WCWS in program history. The Sooners have won four of the past six WCWS crowns.

• With six national titles (2000, '13, '16, '17, '21, '22) Oklahoma trails only UCLA (12) and Arizona (8) for most in NCAA history, and no other team has more than two.

SEASON STORYLINES

• The Sooners went 20-0 in ranked matchups in the regular season, highlighted by wins over then-No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 FSU, sweep of No. 9/8 Texas and No. 6/7 OSU and a midweek win over No.13/12 LSU in Baton Rouge. The Sooners closed the regular season first in the NCAA RPI.

• OU is outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 478-56 on the season, surrendering an average of 0.9 runs/game. The pitching staff has been exceptional, tossing shutouts in 32 of OU's 57 games to lead the country and are one shutout away from the program record (33, 2022).

• The pitching staff has thrown four no-hitters on the season: Junior Nicole May and sophomore Jordy Bahl combined on the staff's first no-hitter of the season on Feb. 18 vs. Army before Alex Storako threw an individual no-no vs. No. 17/16 Kentucky on March 3. Bahl completed a perfect game March 10 vs. SELA and most recently, May and Deal combined to no-hit Kansas on April 29. The staff has thrown seven games where an opponent had just one hit.

• May leads the pitching staff with a 0.82 ERA, while all four pitchers hold ERAs under 1.15, including two in May and Deal (0.78) with earned run averages under 1.00 (Bahl [1.08], Storako [1.13])

• As a team, OU is batting a nation-best .372 with 112 home runs. Five Sooners have double-digit homers and nine have hit six or more home runs, paced by Alyssa Brito's 17. Jennings leads the team with 60 RBIs while eight other Sooners have 30-plus runs batted in.

Lead, Jennings Champ series bound

HISTORY VS. THE NOLES

• OU holds a 9-8 edge over the Seminoles courtesy a 5-4 win in Norman on March 14 of this season in Norman. The Sooners beat FSU in the 2021 WCWS Champ Series in three games for their then-fifth national title, marking the first time the programs have met at the WCWS.

FIVE NAMED NFCA FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

• Five Oklahoma softball student-athletes were named 2023 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americans, the organization announced the honors May 31. Also announced was Grace Lyons as the shortstop recipient for the Division I Rawlings Gold Glove Award, presented by the NFCA.

• Jordy Bahl (P), Alyssa Brito (3B), Jayda Coleman (OF), Kinzie Hansen (C) and Tiare Jennings (2B) were all named to the first team, the most recipients by one school. Brito was a unanimous choice to the first team, one of six in the country.

• It marks the second consecutive season OU has had five First-Team choices, a nation's best, and fourth straight year with at least three First Team honors. Additionally, it's the 10th time in the last 11 seasons that Oklahoma has had at least three representatives on the NFCA's All-America teams.

• Lyons collects OU's first Rawling Gold Glove Award in program history, after the award was introduced to collegiate softball in 2022. Recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, presented by the NFCA, were selected by the NFCA's NCAA Division I All-America Committee.

• Coleman and Jennings collect their third career All-America nods while Bahl and Hansen earn their second and Brito her first honor.

• Bahl, Coleman and Jennings have earned the status every year of their collegiate careers. Hansen collects her first First Team distinction and second career All-America honor after a Second Team accolade in 2021.

COLE WORLD

• Oklahoma centerfielder Jayda Coleman has showcased her versatility for the Sooners since she stepped on campus as a freshman in 2021 and her productivity from the leadoff spot for OU has been pivotal to the Sooners success.

• Coleman has started every game for the Sooners since 2021, 182 straight, and batted leadoff in 101 of those 182, including 65 straight contests and 76 of OU's last 77 games. In those 101 games when Coleman has started in the leadoff position, OU is 99-2.

• The triple threat has shown her power in 2023 with 17 home runs, 15 doubles and a triple, her home run count is T1 on the team, hit (72) count is second, among other team-best categories. For comparison, Coleman hit nine homers as a freshman in 2021 and eight total last season.

• Of Coleman's 34 career home runs, 10 of those have been leadoff blasts. Additionally, five have been in the first OU at-bat of the game.

• The three-time NFCA First Team All-American paces OU in OB% (.543), runs (70), walks (40) and stolen bases (16-17) and is T1 in HR (17), third in doubles (15) and second in hits (72). She ranks in the top 20 nationally in on-base, batting, slugging and runs/game.

BAHLER

• Oklahoma sophomore right-handed pitcher Jordy Bahl has followed up a First Team All-American and National Freshman of the Year season with arguably just as good of a sophomore campaign.

• The Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and Top-10 Finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Bahl has paced OU's nation-leading pitching staff with 179 strikeouts and a 0.97 ERA, allowing opponents to bat just .167. Bahl has a team-best seven individual shutouts in 2023 and has combined on 12. The Papillion, Neb., product has also thrown one perfect game on the year, combined on two no-hitters and made three saves.

• Bahl has taken it to another level this NCAA postseason with an undefeated 6-0 record out of OU's eight wins while allowing just one earned run (2 runs total) for a 0.25 ERA. She's pitched 28 innings and holds 36 strikeouts to just three walks, allowing three extra-base hits with none being home runs.

• The statistical leader of OU's dominant staff, Bahl already holds second in program history for career opponent batting average (.154) and third in K/7 IP (9.65) and ERA (1.09).

• The Papillion, Neb., product has exhibited her athleticism in 2023, batting .406 in 32 at-bats on the year, scoring 11 runs and stealing four bases on five attempts. She's started in the batting order 15 times and been inserted as a pinch runner in six games.

• In the Big 12 championship game win over Texas, she scored two runs, had a hit, a stolen base and picked up the save in the circle, tossing a final three scoreless innings.

TIA TIME

• Oklahoma junior and three-time NFCA First Team All-American Tiare Jennings paced the country in runs batted in her freshman (2021) and sophomore (2022) seasons and sits in the top 15 as a junior with a team-best 65 to go with 17 home runs.

• A three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection, Jennings burst onto the scene in 2021 with a nation-high and NCAA freshman record 92 runs batted in. The RBI total ranked 10^th in NCAA history. She also hit 27 home runs, three shy of the NCAA frosh record, and a single-season program record 25 doubles.

• She followed suit a season ago with an NCAA-best 89 RBIs, two ahead of teammate and NCAA career home run record holder Jocelyn Alo. Jennings hit a career single-season best 29 homers in 2022 and has 17 in 2023.

• Jennings already ranks third in program history with 73 career home runs, 22 shy of Lauren Chamberlain's No. 2-spot in both program and NCAA history, 95.

• The San Pedro, Calif., product sits in the top 10 in school history with 49 doubles, just nine shy of program record holder Sydney Romero's 58.

HOMER HAPPY

• As OU paced the country in home runs each of the past three seasons: NCAA-record 161 in 2021; 155 in 2022; 115 in 2023. OU also ranks first in HR/game (1.92) this season.

• In 2023, the Sooners have homered in 52 of 60 games, including 28 of their last 31 and 30 games with multiple home runs. OU hit single-season high six blasts vs. No. 1/1 UCLA (Feb. 26), No. 17/16 Kentucky (March 3), Iowa State (March 25) and most recently vs. Cal in the regional final. The Sooners have hit two-plus in 30 games, three-plus in 15 games, four-plus in eight contests, five-plus in five and six four times in a game this season.

• Individually, 13 Sooners have already hit a long ball in 2023 out of the 16 active non-pitchers on the roster. Of those 13, 12 have multiple homers, including nine with three-plus and nine with five or more, paced by Coleman, Jennings and Brito's 17 each. Five Sooners have double-digit long balls on the year.

• Brito, Coleman, Hansen, Jennings and Lee all have multi-homer games on the season (Brito, Jennings and Hansen twice).

• Additionally, OU has hit five homers in one inning once this year (vs. Kentucky, 3/3), hit four in an inning three times, three-plus in four, and two-plus in 10.

• The Sooners have hit back-to-back blasts 10 times this season and three consecutive twice.

• 225 of OU's 493 runs on the season have come via home run (45.6%).

Kenzie Hansen

OUT OF THIS WORLD OFFENSE

• Since 2021, Oklahoma has paced the country offensively in several categories. OU led the nation in home runs in 2021 (161) and 2022 (155) and hold the nation's lead with 115 in the 2023 season. Their 2021 mark broke an 11-year NCAA record for single-season home runs.

• In OU's recent span of offensive domination, the team has led the country in batting average for three straight seasons: 2021 – NCAA-record .405; 2022 – .371; 2023 – .368

• Additionally, the team has paced the country in runs, runs per game and slugging each of the past three seasons. The 2021 team's 638 runs, 10.63 runs/game and .778 SLG % all stand as NCAA records.

• In 2023, OU paces the country with:

• 8.21 runs/game

• 1.92 home runs/game

• .368 batting average

• .672 slugging percentage

• .458 on-base percentage

ELITE IN THE CIRCLE

• OU's pitching staff has been equally as dominant as the offense the past three seasons. The staff has led the country in shutouts the last two seasons (23 in 2021, 33 in 2022) and are first in 2023 with 34 in OU's 60 games, setting a program record by surpassing last season's 33.

• The Sooner arms led the country in ERA a season ago with an exceptional 1.05 mark and are on a dominant pace in 2023, ranking first with a 0.98 earned run average.

• The staff has four no-hitters in 2023 and one perfect game. Nicole May and Jordy Bahl combined to no-hit Army on Feb. 18 before Alex Storako threw her second career individual no-no vs. Kentucky on March 3. Bahl completed a perfect contest March 10 vs. SELA and most recently May and Deal combined to no-hit Kansas (4/29). These come a year after the staff had six no-hitters and two perfect games.

• All four of OU's pitchers hold ERA's less than 1.15, led by May's 0.91 average, Bahl's 0.97 and Storako's 1.12.

• The quartet has fanned a combined 445 batters in 2023 to go with 93 walks. Bahl leads the group with 179 K's to May's 130 and Storako's 106. The four have allowed opponents to bat just .164 against them and surrendered 52 earned runs (58 R), an average of 0.9/game. In OU's 26 games that they've allowed a run across, the staff has limited the damage with no opponent scoring more than seven runs in 2023 (done once, next highest is four runs, done three times).

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

• OU currently holds the nation's longest active win streak at 51 games (NCAA DI record).

• OU's 40+ game win streak marks the fourth consecutive season that's been completed where the Sooners have had a 30+ game win streak: 2019 – 41; 2021 – 33; 2022 – 38; 2023 – 51 and counting. The Sooners hold the No. 1, 3, 4 and 5 spots in the NCAA record books for longest winning streak, with this season's streak ranking first.

• Oklahoma has won 174 of its last 182 games (.956 win %) dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 182 games, 103 have been run-rule victories (57%).

• OU has scored in 209 straight games dating back to a 0-1 shutout at the hands of Alabama on June June 2, 2019 at the WCWS.

• Of OU's 20 games against top-25 competition in the regular season, five were run-rule wins. Furthermore, in those 20 ranked victories, the Sooners outscored opponents 147-25.

• OU's defense ranks first in the country with an exceptional .989 fielding percentage, committing just 16 errors on the season. The defense has turned 21 double plays in 2023.

• Oklahoma looks to be the first team in NCAA Division I history to finish a season first in the country in batting average (.368), fielding percentage (.989) and ERA (0.98), ranking first in all three throughout 2023.

• Oklahoma has outhit its opponent in 53 of 60 games on the season, and in the three games they didn't outhit the opposition (at LSU, 4/12; vs. Texas A&M, 2/24), the Sooners won 3-0 and 8-0 in run-rule fashion, respectively. The other five games the hits were tied with OU winning 2-1 over Northwestern, 3-0 over Texas Tech, 4-2 over OSU, 9-2 vs. Clemson and 4-2 over Stanford.

• The Sooners have been dominant across all innings in 2023, but specifically the second inning, outscoring teams 118-3 in the second.

• Oklahoma starts fast, scoring in the first inning in 34 of 60 games, including five of eight postseason contests.

• OU has been an exceptional two-out hitting team in 2023 with 202 of 493 (40.9%) runs coming with a pair of outs. The team is batting .362 with two outs, led by Tiare Jennings' .473 average with two away and 26 RBI.

LOVE'S FIELD SEAT SELECTION PROCESS COMING SOON

• The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department announced last week information on the seat-selection process for Love's Field, OU's new softball stadium that is scheduled to open in spring 2024.

• Starting the week of June 12, three priority groups will have the first opportunity to view and select seats via an interactive online Love's Field map, mirroring the platform used for the home-seat upgrade process for football and men's basketball. All three priority groups will be assigned a time in which they can view available inventory and make selections. The assigned selection time and instructions will be provided via email from updates@go.soonersports.com to the address on the OU Athletics account prior to the start of the selection process.

• Supporters in each group will be ranked via Sooner Points associated with their OU Athletics account. Sooner Points accumulate for OU Athletics lifetime season ticket purchases, seat-related giving history and attendance.

• Click here for more information and to find your group number.

THE TROPHY CLUB

• The Oklahoma softball program has announced the launch of its restructured booster club under a new name, The Trophy Club.

• The Trophy Club replaces the former Diamond Club as the program's premier booster initiative to continue to enhance the student-athlete experience at Oklahoma, both on and off the field.

• Softball fans can join now and take part in exclusive events, including the annual golf tournament, coaches luncheon and more.

For membership details and how donations will be utilized, visit The Trophy Club landing page on SoonerSports.com.

• Gifts to the Trophy Club and Oklahoma softball will be utilized for: resources for the development of our student-athletes, facility upgrades to enhance recruiting and student-athlete experiences and improved quality of travel to increase academic participation by our student-athletes.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.