OU Softball: Oklahoma Preparing for 'War' With Duke to Open the WCWS

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s seniors have a chance to make history over the next week.

Five of OU’s 10 seniors in particular — Kinzie Hansen, Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman, Rylie Boone and Nicole May — could go down as the first group of players to ever win four-straight national titles at the highest level of college softball.

The 2-seeded Sooners are led by veterans who have seen it all — records broken, long winning streaks and more success than any class could have ever dreamed of when signing up to play for OU out of high school.

They’re determined to win it all once again, potentially exacting some revenge along the way, but Oklahoma won’t take the field at the Women’s College World Series on Thursday with the weight of the world on its shoulders.

How to Watch 2-seeded Oklahoma vs. 10-seeded Duke:

When: 1:30 p.m.
Where: Devon Park
Channel: ESPN/ESPN+

“We're not here to prove anybody anything,” OU coach Patty Gasso said at WCWS Media Day on Wednesday. “We're going to do the best we can to win it as a team and not to prove to the world there's no doubt we are the best.

“We got to earn this. To get here is difficult. It is difficult. So once we're here, teams have to play their best softball. You've got to go through some great teams to get what you want. Regardless, no matter what, I will still stand behind the statement that this is the best senior class that has ever been in softball.”

For the first time in more than a decade the Sooners (54-6, 22-5 Big 12) lost a conference series (they actually lost two) and OU didn’t capture the Big 12’s regular season crown.

Gasso's team turned a corner in the finale of the Bedlam Series, and they haven't lost since.

Oklahoma could theoretically avenge the series defeats to Texas and Oklahoma State, who are also both in Oklahoma City at the WCWS, but first the Sooners have to take care of business against Duke.

The Blue Devils (52-7, 20-4 ACC) lost to OU in their season-opener 3-0 back on Feb. 8 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

But the two teams who took the field south of the border are playing at an entirely different level than will be on display at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Devon Park, formerly USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

Kelly Maxwell pitched five innings for the Sooners that night in February, holding Duke to one hit while striking out a pair and issuing one walk. Karlie Keeney came on in relief to close out the win.

Tiare Jennings blasted solo home run, Alynah Torres plated another with an RBI-single and Kasidi Pickering closed out the scoring with an RBI-single of her own, with all the damage coming in the third inning.

“It was a very exciting game,” Gasso said. “It was one of our first games of the season. Both teams I know have gotten that much better.

“I think they would see us look different. I think we're going to see them look a little bit different. But it was fun. That game made us better. They were really good on all sides: offense, pitching, defense. I expect more of the same.”

Duke went on to enjoy a phenomenal year.

The Blue Devils are the champions of the ACC, and have a trio of All-Americans.

Second baseman Aminah Vega and outfielder Claire Davidson were both named NFCA First Team All-Americans on Wednesday, and pitcher Jala Wright took home Second Team honors.

Wright has a 1.28 ERA in 153 1/3 innings pitched this year, holding opponents to a .176 batting average, and left-hander Cassidy Curd is right behind her with a 1.29 ERA with a .147 opposing batting average to give the Blue Devils a pair of options to attack OU’s lineup.

Oklahoma shortstop Tiare Jennings delivered one of the Sooners' three runs against Duke with a solo home run in OU's 3-0 win over the Blue Devils in February. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

“It was a very competitive game,” Duke coach Marissa Young said of the season-opener on Wednesday. “Once Cassidy Curd settled in, it was good. A lot of barrels that didn't fall. We walked away from that game really confident and understanding what we needed to do to get better as a team.”

Getting through Duke will be no easy task, but nothing a second win of the year over the Blue Devils will be key to another successful stay at the WCWS.

“It's important to try to get that first game,” Gasso said. But we have been in a position where we've lost our first game and came through the losers' bracket all the way through to meet Florida State (in 2021)… We know what's important, it's to win early. But you have to play well.”

But the Sooners are back on a familiar stage — one they’ve made their own.

Another long season has galvanized Oklahoma, and Gasso’s decorated senior class is ready to lead the Sooners to an eighth national title.

“This year we definitely saw us go through a little bit more adversity than normal on the playing field,” Hansen said, “which now we can look back and say it was pretty fun. Going through that made us all the more better.

“… This is the best arena for college softball... We're going to war out there in between those lines every single day.”