OU Softball: Oklahoma Comes From Behind Against Florida State to Win Third Straight Title
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma are no strangers to making history.
But Thursday night, the Sooners set a new mark as a program.
Fueled by back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning, OU beat Florida State 3-1, clinching the program’s third consecutive national title at Hall of Fame Stadium.
Patty Gasso’s Sooners became only the second program all-time to go back-to-back-to-back, matching UCLA’s run from 1988-1990.
OU closed the year on an NCAA record 53-game winning streak, and Oklahoma’s final overall record of 61-1 bested UCLA’s 54-2 mark from 1992.
One night after Jordy Bahl’s complete game shutout of the Seminoles (58-11), Gasso went with super senior right-hander Alex Storako in the circle.
Storako held FSU in check long enough for Cydney Sanders and Grace Lyons to put the Sooners in front on back-to-back jacks.
Lead in hand, Gasso turned to the best player at the World Series, Bahl, to close out the season.
"It was a matchup that was going to be like Storako, (Nicole) May, maybe Kierston Deal, lefty-lefty matchups," Gasso said after the game. "Try to score. If we can get a lead, bring in Jordy. That was the whole plan.
"Alex has been waiting for this moment. Nicole helped us get here. They all have helped us get here. Alex was kind of the right matchup... There are a lot of dreams that came true tonight. Alex Storako is definitely one of them."
Though it took until the fifth inning for OU to strike, the Sooners almost busted the game open in the third inning.
Rylie Boone’s bunt died on the chalk up the third baseline, loading the bases for Sooner center fielder Jayda Coleman with no outs.
But FSU ace Kathryn Sandercock dug deep.
She induced ground balls from both Coleman and Tiare Jennings, resulting in force outs at home, and then left fielder Kaley Mudge covered a good amount of grass to catch Haley Lee’s line drive, keeping the game scoreless.
Then Florida State flipped the script.
Josie Muffley led the bottom half of the inning off with a walk for the Seminoles, and then Jahni Kerr singled to give FSU a pair of runners with one out.
Third baseman Kalei Harding stepped in, and gave Storako’s first offering a ride.
She belted the ball to deep center, but Coleman jumped, reaching her glove over the wall, to save a three-run bomb.
Storako took advantage of her second chance, getting out of the inning on Michaela Edenfield’s ground ball.
OU’s defense wasn’t able to back Storako up in the fourth inning.
Mack Leonard, who got the start at pitcher for Florida State in Game 1, gave the Seminoles their first lead of the series, golfing a solo bomb far enough beyond the wall that Sooner right fielder Alynah Torres couldn’t make a play.
But champions respond.
After taking two balls to start the fifth inning, Sanders leveled the game, belting a home run to nearly the exact same spot Leonard’s left the ballpark.
Not to be outdone, Lyons sprayed her first home run of the World Series over Mudge’s head in left field, putting the Sooners in front 2-1.
Coleman nearly blasted the third homer of the inning, driving right fielder Hallie Wacaser into the wall to make the out, but the damage was already done.
The game got handed over to Bahl in the fifth inning, and she extended her sensational run.
Having entered the nigh pitching 21 2/3 scoreless innings at the World Series, Bahl keep the Seminoles off the board the rest of the way.
Unflappable through the entire WCWS, Bahl relied on the same mentality in the final game that's helped her dominate all tournament.
"It's just when you go in there, be simple," she said. "Don't give the other team anything, and just let your defense work."
Just as she did on Wednesday night, Bahl took a quick break from her dominant pitching to score a run.
Again, the star pitcher was called upon to pinch-run for Haley Lee after OU’s designated player led the sixth inning off with a single.
Bahl advanced to second off an Alyssa Brito single, and then Sophia Nugent moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt.
Torres put the ball in play to the shortstop, and Brito occupied enough time getting tagged out for Bahl to add an insurance run, extending the lead to 3-1.
Bahl didn’t need any extra insurance, however.
She retired the last nine batters of the game, marching Oklahoma toward its seventh softball title.
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