Oklahoma softball: Sooners bow out of Women’s College World Series
By Chip Rouse
The Oklahoma softball run in this year’s Women’s College World Series ended the same way it began: with a shutout by the Washington Huskies.
No. 5-seeded Washington blanked the Sooners for a second consecutive time in the WCWS, shutting out No. 4 Oklahoma 3-0 on Sunday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Prior to this year, Oklahoma had been shut out only once in 43 WCWS games.
Washington used lockdown pitching and exceptional defense, two strengths that also reside with the Sooners, but it was the Huskies who excelled in both areas this week.
Washington freshman pitcher Gabbie Plain shut down the high-scoring OU offense on four hits in Thursday’s opening round, and on Sunday, junior right-hander Taran Alvelo had her turn putting away the Sooner hitters. Alvelo allowed seven Oklahoma hits, six of which were singles, while striking out six and issuing no walks, in a complete-game victory, her 23rd of the season to go with four losses.
OU freshman Jocelyn Alo, whose two home runs in a pair of elimination-game victories on Saturday earned the Sooners a rematch with the Huskies, delivered two of Oklahoma’s seven hits off of Alvelo.
Senior Paige Lowary started Sunday’s game for the Sooners, but was pulled in the top of the third after 38 pitches to 10 batters. Lowary was touched for three hits and a run in the opening inning, but was able to work out of a jam and limit the damage to one run..
Senior Paige Parker, who pitched two complete-game victories and 180 pitches on Saturday, came on in relief of Lowary and finished out the final four innings.
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Julia Deponte was the big bat in Washington’s second WCWS victory over the Sooners. She was three for three at the plate, including a fifth-inning solo home run that put the Huskies up 3-0.
So Oklahoma’s bid for a third consecutive softball national championship came to an end with Sunday’s loss. The Sooners finished the season with a 57-5 record and a .919 winning percentage, the second best softball season in program history.
The Sooners won’t be hoisting the championship trophy this season, but they own WCWS titles in three of the last six seasons.
Oklahoma led the nation in scoring this season, averaging close to seven runs a game. In four games in the 2018 WCWS. the Sooners scored a total of just four runs. Their team batting average coming into this year’s World Series was .321, but they averaged just .220 in the WCWS and were shut out twice.
There are six seniors on this Oklahoma softball team whose college careers came to a close in this game. In the past four years, the seniors on this team (Parker, Lowary, center fielder Nicole Pendley, catcher Lea Wodach, shortstop Kelsey Arnold and reserve Hannah Sparks) won 224 games and lost 31 times. Included in those 224 wins were four Big 12 regular-season championships, three trips to the WCWS and two national titles.
That is a legacy worth celebrating. Thank you Sooner softball seniors, for all the memories and a trophy case full of championship hardware.