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6:30 p.m.
Softball
vs Oklahoma Christian
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Wednesday, June 5
Oklahoma City, Okla.
7:00 PM
University of Oklahoma
8
vs
3
Texas
Sooners Power Past Texas in WCWS Championship Series Opener
June 05, 2024 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – And then there was one.
One more victory remains for Oklahoma to claim an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA softball championship.
The No. 2-seeded Sooners moved a step closer with a methodical 8-3 victory Wednesday night over No. 1-seeded Texas before a sellout crowd of 12,317 at Devon Park in the Women's College World Series.
OU (58-7) can clinch its eighth national crown all-time and its sixth in the last eight seasons with one more victory against the rival Longhorns (55-9) in the best-of-3 championship series.
Game Two is Thursday at 7 p.m. Game Three, if necessary, would be Friday at 7.
The Sooners have now beaten Texas 32 times in their last 35 meetings and are 5-0 against the Longhorns at the WCWS.
After losing two of three games at Austin in the regular season, OU has since followed up with a 5-1 victory in the Big 12 Conference tournament title game and a championship series win.
However, after Wednesday's game, Sooners head coach Patty Gasso and her players were noticeably composed in their postgame interview session.
"You see us here, and we're not over-jubilant because we know there's still a lot of work to do against a very, very good team that has very good pitchers, very good hitters," Gasso said. "We know what's in front of us still, so you don't see us celebrating."
Once again, the Sooners bullied their opponent with the long ball, bashing three home runs for the second consecutive game and adding three doubles in their nine-hit attack.
The onslaught began in the top of the first inning from four-time All-American shortstop Tiare Jennings, who celebrated her birthday with a two-run blast to left-center. It was her 11th career home run at the WCWS, one away from matching Sooner legend Jocelyn Alo's career WCWS record.
After surrendering a first-inning solo home run, OU starting left-hander Kelly Maxwell (23-2) was in command and retained that one-hitter into the sixth inning before the Longhorns scored two unearned runs on an error that was followed by two run-scoring bloop singles to right.
Maxwell went the distance for a third straight start and wound up scattering four hits, walking four and striking out eight. This came on the heels of a 148-pitch performance Tuesday afternoon in a 6-5 comeback victory over Florida in eight innings.
"This is it," said Maxwell, who transferred from Oklahoma State after last season. "This is my last opportunity. I'm just going to do everything I can to keep this team in it. I know that they have my back and I got theirs. Physically, I'm doing good. The (medical) staff here is doing everything they can to keep me going and feeling good."
Catcher Kinzie Hansen spoke highly of her battery mate.
"I'm just super proud of her," said Hansen, "She's been dominating. She's throwing through all quadrants of the zone at all different speeds. She's not letting her foot off the gas."
Texas had reached the championship series by shutting out its three previous opponents by a total score of 15-0. Additionally, UT freshman right-hander Teagan Kavan had gone the distance and allowed just one hit in each of those outings.
That came to an abrupt halt with Jennings' "Birthday Bash." Freshman designated player Ella Parker then doubled off the bottom of the right-field wall for OU's second hit in just three batters.
Texas third baseman Mia Scott narrowed the deficit to 2-1 with a solo shot to right in the bottom of the inning.
Parker opened the third inning with a hard ground-ball single up the middle. Hansen later drilled a towering two-run homer into the left-field bleachers to score Parker and make it 4-1.
OU freshman leftfielder Kasidi Pickering promptly followed Hansen with a solo shot to center to make the score 5-1 and chase Kavan, who surrendered five runs (all earned) with two walks and zero strikeouts in 2.1 innings and 66 pitches.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Hansen slammed a double to left-center. Pickering then dribbled a slow grounder between first and second, which UT second baseman Alyssa Washington tried to flip the ball directly from her glove to first. The toss was high and wide, allowing Hansen to score an unearned run and make the score 6-1.
Alynah Torres, who suffered an injury in the Sooners' WCWS opener, was inserted in the top of the sixth to a thunderous ovation. As fate would have it, she was hit by a pitch and replaced by starting second baseman Avery Hodge, whom Jennings knocked in with a single to left for her third RBI, making the score 7-1.
Third baseman Alyssa Brito closed out the scoring in the seventh with a double to right-center and later scored on a throwing error while trying to be picked off at third by the catcher.
"We're just doing our job out here," Hansen continued, "We've made our adjustments. Our goal isn't to go out there and kind of get in their face and intimidate them like that. Our goal is to hammer them in the way that we know how with Kelly on the mound, our staff doing everything they can and with our lineup making adjustments pitch-by-pitch. We're looking forward to a good game (Thursday)."
Gasso closed the evening highlighting her team's mindset entering a potential clinching game Thursday.
"Well, there's a lot of fans that are for you, and you try to play off of anything that you can," Gasso concluded, "I don't even know really how to explain it except we did it (won the NCAA title) once, they knew how to do it a second time, they knew how to do it a third time (and) they're acting as if they know how to do it a fourth time."
OU is one win away from claiming an NCAA-record fourth straight national championship, meeting Texas Thursday evening in game two of the WCWS Championship Series with a 7 p.m. CT first pitch. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN with Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza and Michele Smith on the call. All games can also be heard via 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity Network with Chris Plank and alumna DJ Sanchez on the call.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter/X and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.
One more victory remains for Oklahoma to claim an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA softball championship.
The No. 2-seeded Sooners moved a step closer with a methodical 8-3 victory Wednesday night over No. 1-seeded Texas before a sellout crowd of 12,317 at Devon Park in the Women's College World Series.
OU (58-7) can clinch its eighth national crown all-time and its sixth in the last eight seasons with one more victory against the rival Longhorns (55-9) in the best-of-3 championship series.
Game Two is Thursday at 7 p.m. Game Three, if necessary, would be Friday at 7.
The Sooners have now beaten Texas 32 times in their last 35 meetings and are 5-0 against the Longhorns at the WCWS.
After losing two of three games at Austin in the regular season, OU has since followed up with a 5-1 victory in the Big 12 Conference tournament title game and a championship series win.
However, after Wednesday's game, Sooners head coach Patty Gasso and her players were noticeably composed in their postgame interview session.
"You see us here, and we're not over-jubilant because we know there's still a lot of work to do against a very, very good team that has very good pitchers, very good hitters," Gasso said. "We know what's in front of us still, so you don't see us celebrating."
Once again, the Sooners bullied their opponent with the long ball, bashing three home runs for the second consecutive game and adding three doubles in their nine-hit attack.
The onslaught began in the top of the first inning from four-time All-American shortstop Tiare Jennings, who celebrated her birthday with a two-run blast to left-center. It was her 11th career home run at the WCWS, one away from matching Sooner legend Jocelyn Alo's career WCWS record.
After surrendering a first-inning solo home run, OU starting left-hander Kelly Maxwell (23-2) was in command and retained that one-hitter into the sixth inning before the Longhorns scored two unearned runs on an error that was followed by two run-scoring bloop singles to right.
Maxwell went the distance for a third straight start and wound up scattering four hits, walking four and striking out eight. This came on the heels of a 148-pitch performance Tuesday afternoon in a 6-5 comeback victory over Florida in eight innings.
"This is it," said Maxwell, who transferred from Oklahoma State after last season. "This is my last opportunity. I'm just going to do everything I can to keep this team in it. I know that they have my back and I got theirs. Physically, I'm doing good. The (medical) staff here is doing everything they can to keep me going and feeling good."
Catcher Kinzie Hansen spoke highly of her battery mate.
"I'm just super proud of her," said Hansen, "She's been dominating. She's throwing through all quadrants of the zone at all different speeds. She's not letting her foot off the gas."
Texas had reached the championship series by shutting out its three previous opponents by a total score of 15-0. Additionally, UT freshman right-hander Teagan Kavan had gone the distance and allowed just one hit in each of those outings.
That came to an abrupt halt with Jennings' "Birthday Bash." Freshman designated player Ella Parker then doubled off the bottom of the right-field wall for OU's second hit in just three batters.
Texas third baseman Mia Scott narrowed the deficit to 2-1 with a solo shot to right in the bottom of the inning.
Parker opened the third inning with a hard ground-ball single up the middle. Hansen later drilled a towering two-run homer into the left-field bleachers to score Parker and make it 4-1.
OU freshman leftfielder Kasidi Pickering promptly followed Hansen with a solo shot to center to make the score 5-1 and chase Kavan, who surrendered five runs (all earned) with two walks and zero strikeouts in 2.1 innings and 66 pitches.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Hansen slammed a double to left-center. Pickering then dribbled a slow grounder between first and second, which UT second baseman Alyssa Washington tried to flip the ball directly from her glove to first. The toss was high and wide, allowing Hansen to score an unearned run and make the score 6-1.
Alynah Torres, who suffered an injury in the Sooners' WCWS opener, was inserted in the top of the sixth to a thunderous ovation. As fate would have it, she was hit by a pitch and replaced by starting second baseman Avery Hodge, whom Jennings knocked in with a single to left for her third RBI, making the score 7-1.
Third baseman Alyssa Brito closed out the scoring in the seventh with a double to right-center and later scored on a throwing error while trying to be picked off at third by the catcher.
"We're just doing our job out here," Hansen continued, "We've made our adjustments. Our goal isn't to go out there and kind of get in their face and intimidate them like that. Our goal is to hammer them in the way that we know how with Kelly on the mound, our staff doing everything they can and with our lineup making adjustments pitch-by-pitch. We're looking forward to a good game (Thursday)."
Gasso closed the evening highlighting her team's mindset entering a potential clinching game Thursday.
"Well, there's a lot of fans that are for you, and you try to play off of anything that you can," Gasso concluded, "I don't even know really how to explain it except we did it (won the NCAA title) once, they knew how to do it a second time, they knew how to do it a third time (and) they're acting as if they know how to do it a fourth time."
Up Next
OU is one win away from claiming an NCAA-record fourth straight national championship, meeting Texas Thursday evening in game two of the WCWS Championship Series with a 7 p.m. CT first pitch. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN with Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza and Michele Smith on the call. All games can also be heard via 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity Network with Chris Plank and alumna DJ Sanchez on the call.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter/X and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
UTL
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C
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INF
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INF
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LHP
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UTL
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UTL
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UTL
/ SoftballSB Highlights: OU 22, East Texas A&M 0
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