Oklahoma softball: What Sooners must do to force a deciding WCWS Game 3

For the fifth time in the 2021 Women’s College World Series, the top-seeded Oklahoma softball team is facing elimination.

The Sooners (54-4) have their backs against the wall as they get set to play Game 2 in their best-of-three championship series with Florida State. Although the final score does not totally reflect it, the Seminoles totally dominated Oklahoma in winning the opening game of the championship series on Monday night, 8-4.

What it all  boiled down to is Florida State outhit, outpitched, out-fielded and outcoached Oklahoma. Despite being completely outplayed, the Sooners managed to slowly claw their way back into the game, but after falling behind 7-0 in the fourth inning, their largest deficit of the season, the hole they had dug for themselves was just too steep to climb out of.

As strange as it may sound, Oklahoma actually had opportunities to get back into the game and possibly even win, but they couldn’t come up with the timely hit or defensive play when they needed it. That wasn’t the case for Florida State, which took full advantage of uncharacteristic OU misplays in the field, multi-pitch at bats and base-running errors and also were able to get runners on base in virtually every winning and come up with productive hits when they did.

Believe it or not, Oklahoma was actually in a position to get back into the game

The Sooners actually had the tying run at the plate in the sixth inning after Mackenzie Donihoo’s two-run, two-out double and a Florida State error that allowed Jayda Coleman to reach first base, but pinch-hitter Grace Green grounded out to second base to end the threat.

Oklahoma had a runner thrown out at third base in the second inning, trying to go from first to third on a fly out to deep right field, and then had another thrown out at the plate in the seventh, when Tiare Jennings attempted to score from first on a double by Jocelyn Alo..

Those are base-running blunders the Sooners don’t typically make. And it is also highly uncharacteristic that the team that made the fewest errors in NCAA Division I softball this season would commit three in the same game, which is what they did in Monday’s game against the Seminoles.

You also have to question why Gasso didn’t take freshman starting pitcher Nicole May out of the game earlier instead of allowing her to suffer through the game-winning five-run FSU explosion in the fourth/

So those are the reasons things went the way they did against the Sooner in Game 1. The question now is, what adjustments does Oklahoma need to make to win Game 2 and force a deciding third game on Thursday.

What does OU need to do to survive Game 2 and force a deciding Game 3?

First and foremost, they need to get their record-setting offense going earlier in the game. In their six WCWS games this year, the Sooners have collected a combined 13 hits over the first three innings and have gone hitless in their first three at bats the previous two games.

“I felt like we were waiting for somebody to get a big hit, waiting for something to happen instead of attacking,” said fifth-year senior and team leader Nicole Mendes in her postgame interview session.

“Tomorrow when we play, we come out and we come out attacking,” she added. “We’ll score in the first three innings.”

Oklahoma needs another outstanding pitching performance from senior starter “G” Juarez.  She has three of the Sooners’ four wins in this WCWS. In 17 1/3 innings she has allowed just run and 10 hits, while striking out 25 batters and issuing just three walks. That’s the kind of performance OU needs from her in Tuesday’s Game 2.

The Seminoles like to play small ball and get on base with well-placed bunts and timely line drive hits. Juarez will need to mix up her pitches, hit the corners, attack with her lethal rise ball and keep the FSU hitters off balance.

It goes without question that OU must play better defensively and be smarter running the bases.

When the Sooners fell behind 7-0 after three and a half innings and put themselves in in danger of being run-ruled for the first time in the 2021 season, it is entirely likely they collectively began to press and try too hard. What they need to do in Game 2 is try less and hard a just play their game.

My prediction is, on Tuesday night in WCWS championship series Game 2 we’re going to see the real Oklahoma team, the one that has been ranked No. 1 for all but a couple of weeks this entire season. If we do, Oklahoma will win and the 2021 national championship will come down to a a deciding, winner-take-all game on Wednesday.