COLUMN: How the Bottom of the Lineup Separates Oklahoma From the WCWS Field
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma has turned the bottom of its lineup into a lethal weapon.
Seven of the 15 runs the top-ranked Sooners have scored at the 2023 Women’s College World Series have come from the bottom three hitters in the order.
Alynah Torres, Grace Lyons and Rylie Boone have started all three of OU’s games at the bottom of the lineup, and in every game they’ve delivered.
The Sooner trio, including a one at-bat cameo from Avery Hodge as a pinch-hitter in Thursday’s opener against Stanford, have combined to go 9-for-21 (.429) at the plate, drawing three walks and three RBIs.
OU’s depth means opposing pitchers can’t take a single at-bat off. If one pitch misses a location, even against the Sooners’ 8-hole hitter, it could turn into a hard-hit ball that sparks an Oklahoma avalanche.
“You look at the people in their lineup,” Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said after losing to OU 9-0 on Saturday. “I mean, great player after great player. Everybody in there has won a lot of awards, whether it's been at Oklahoma or somewhere else before they got here.
“… They're good, really good ball players… There's no break there.”
Torres set the tone in OU’s first WCWS game.
The veteran utility player stepped in and delivered a one-out single against Stanford on Thursday, which paired with a Boone single, turned into Oklahoma’s only two runs in the contest.
“It was her first World Series,” OU coach Patty Gasso said of Torres after that game, “and she's been waiting her lifetime for this. “And she had two really good at-bats and one that helped us score.”
Torres hasn’t been a one-hit wonder for college softball’s Beatles either.
Oklahoma left fielder Alynah Torres has delivered for the Sooners at the Women's College World Series.
BRYAN TERRY / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK
In Oklahoma’s three games at the World Series, Torres is hitting 3-for-7 with an RBI.
At the very bottom of the lineup, Boone has been even better.
The Sooner left fielder is batting 4-of-8, including a pair of RBIs against the Volunteers.
Everything play Boone makes is paired with an eruption of emotion, too.
After Torres got aboard against Stanford on Thursday, Boone singled to move Hodge, the pinch-runner, up to second.
Before Boone even reached first base safely, she had leapt up, encouraging her teammates in the dugout to keep the pressure on.
“Every time Boone gets on, I know we're going to start rolling,” Oklahoma leadoff hitter Jayda Coleman said Thursday. “Every time she jumps up… I'm like here we go. She is a party starter.
“I don't think people talk about her enough. I don't think she gets enough recognition. She is one of the hardest working people that I know. She's a great teammate. She's literally always in the dugout yelling in our ears, always got our back… She knows how to flip that lineup around.”
Even Lyons, who hadn’t logged a hit in the World Series until the ninth inning of Monday’s 4-2 win over Stanford, has found other ways to contribute offensively.
OU’s captain is 1-for-5, drawing three walks and crossing home plate three times.
Teams don’t win 51-straight games like the Sooners without strong performances from all over the field.
The top of Oklahoma's lineup brings the power and will make any pitcher quake in the circle.
But it's the contributions from the bottom that separate the Sooners from the rest of softball's elite.
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