Oklahoma softball: FSU has OU’s number in WCWS championship Game 1
By Chip Rouse
Top-seeded Oklahoma softball needs to reconsider wearing its all-white home uniforms in the Women’s College World Series.
I would highly doubt we will see those uniforms again in this WCWS.
The Sooners have worn their all-white uniforms twice in the 2021 WCWS and lost both games. The other time they wore those uniforms was in the 4-3 loss to James Madison in the opening round.
A five-run fifth inning by Florida State (49-11-1) that followed a two-run second inning was all the Seminoles needed to go one-up in the best of three championship series against the No, 1-seeded Sooners (54-4).
Florida State defeated Oklahoma 8-4 and now needs just one win to finish off their second national championship, and in remarkable fashion. The Seminoles have won five consecutive elimination games in this year’s WCWS after losing their opening game 4-0 to UCLA.
OU has allowed as many as eight runs in a game just once this season.
For the second-straight start, OU freshman Nicole May struggled against an opportunistic Florida State offense. She gave up a two-run home run to Seminole No. 9 hitter Kalei Harding in the third inning and then ran into all kinds of trouble in the fourth.
The Seminoles exploded for five runs on four hits a walk and a hit batter and took a 7-0 advantage that put Oklahoma in serious jeopardy of being run-ruled for the first time this season. The seven-run deficit was the largest the Sooners have faced all season.
May, who had gotten the start with the idea of saving seniors Shannon Saile for games two and three in the series, if necessary, was not able to make it out of the damaging fourth inning. Her night was finished after 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and three bases on balls.
After going hitless for the first three innings, the Oklahoma offense finally got untracked after two were out in the fourth inning. Catcher Kinzie Hansen and senior right fielder Nicole Mendes hit back-to-back, bases-empty home runs to cut the deficit to 7-2, but even at that point, the feeling was that this just wasn’t going to be Oklahoma’s night.
Oklahoma threatened again in the sixth, when a two-out single by Mackenzie Donihoo scored pinch-runner Rylie Boone and Nicole Mendes to cut the Florida State lead to 7-4. Jayda Coleman reached first base on an error, but pinch-hitter Grace Green struck out with two on to end the threat.
Florida State added a run in the top of the seventh when shortstop Josie Muffley was ruled safe at the plate on an obstruction call against Sooner catcher Hansen.
The Sooners posed a minor threat in the bottom half of the seventh when Tiare Jennings singled to center, followed by a one-out double to the right-center gap. But Jennings was thrown out at the plate on a laser relay throw by second baseman Sydney Sherrill. Hansen popped up to second base to end the game and send Oklahoma to their fifth elimination game in the 2021 WCWS.
Oklahoma hit the ball hard, but most of the night it was right at a Florida State defender.
The Seminoles went with junior No. 3 starter Danielle Watson to start the game. She stymied the Oklahoma power bats over 5 2/3 innings, giving up all four OU runs on four hits, striking out five and allowing no walks. Kathryn Sandercock finished up for the Noles, recording the final four outs and allowing no runs on four hits.
Freshman Olivia Rains came on in relief of the starter May and got the final out of the damaging fourth inning. The Sooners went with senior Shannon Saile after that. Saile went the final three innings for the Sooners. She yielded the seventh inning run and two hits over the three innings, but she also threw 58 pitches.
The Oklahoma pitchers could not get the Seminoles’ Harding out. She’s a .295 hitter on the season, but ended up this night going three-for-four at the plate with a home run, a double and a single, scoring three times and driving in four.
Oklahoma now needs to put this game behind them, regroup and come out fighting like they did in the previous four elimination games in this WCWS. The Sooners must win on Wednesday night or Florida State will claim the 2021 national championship.
The statistics are against the Sooners, however. The winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the WCWS 80 percent of the time,
Senior Giselle Juarez will probably get the start in Game 2 on Wednesday. Juarez has recorded three of Oklahoma’s four WCWS wins, with wins over UCLA, Georgia and in Monday’s semifinal victory over upstart James Madison.
If the Sooners win on Wednesday, it will force a deciding third game on Thursday afternoon.