Oklahoma softball, Hope Trautwein, grand slams bury Northwestern in WCWS

The defending champion Oklahoma softball team is back in the Women’s College World Series, and they’re letting everybody know it.

The Sooners are turning heads already, crushing an outstanding Northwestern team 13-2 to open the WCWS, even surpassing my prediction of 9-1.

OU starting pitcher Hope Trautwein got her first experience in the WCWS. Patty Gasso and the Oklahoma softball team overmatched the Wildcats after Northwestern had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

The win improved Oklahoma’s record to 55-2, which is currently the best record of all time, winning one more than the 1992 UCLA Bruins, who went 54-2 and won the national championship. Oklahoma is favored to do the same.

There is still work to do, however. A season ago, the Sooners shocked the college softball world, losing their opening WCWS game, and needed to play through the loser’s bracket to get to the championship series. Coach Patty Gasso had no intention of doing that this time around. Nor did the players as they set a new program record for runs in a WCWS game at 13.

"“We want to take the private jet straight to our destination,” Gasso stated after being asked about not having to go the “scenic route”.“Anybody will tell you the first game is really the biggest because it sets you up. We get a day off, and we get to refuel and rest."

The game was scoreless through the first two innings. In the third inning, Northwestern All-American Rachel Lewis hit a solo home run to put Northwestern up 1-0. This marked the first time the Sooners had trailed in this postseason.

That did not last long, however, as the Sooners quickly answered to tie the game up at the bottom of the frame. However, as Oklahoma blew things wide open, loading the bases in the bottom of the inning for Tiare Jennings, who sent a no-doubter over the center-field fence for a grand slam. It was th firste grand slam in program history at the WCWS.

At the end of three, Patty’s crew had a 6-1 lead. They never looked back. OU poured it on the ‘Cats as Jana Johns added to the total with a grand slam of her own in the fourth inning to extend the Sooners advantage to 13-1 lead. Johns also set a program record for the most RBIs in a WCWS contest with five.

Trautwein fanned seven batters in her WCWS debut and gave up a single hit.

This Oklahoma softball team is built differently, even from some of the great teams that have come before them. This team has won by run rule in 39 games this year, a national record. In the postseason, OU has outscored its opponents 65-5. The Sooners did this without their ace pitcher Jordy Bahl, the National Freshman of the Year and a First-Team All-America. She was able to finally pitch in a game after missing a month with an injury to her arm. Bahl relieved Trautwein to get the final out.

The Sooners will take on their arch-rival Texas on Saturday night. The game will be televised on ABC. The Longhorns defeated Oklahoma earlier this season 4-2. However, OU did take the series. Still, despite some previous success, it remains difficult to believe any team can defeat Oklahoma in Hall of Fame stadium.

The gap between Oklahoma and the field is enormous. The Sooners boast five All-Americans on their roster. Their number nine hitter in the lineup, Jana Johns, hits .332 and has 12 home runs. There are no holes to attack in their power-laden lineup.

It’s not just hitting that makes the Sooners so formidable, though. They have the best pitching staff ERA in the country with Trautwein, Bahl, and Nicole May. Most teams are fortunate to have one true ace; Oklahoma has three of them.

Grace Lyons may be the best shortstop ever to play the game of softball, Gasso said earlier this season. If not for Jocelyn Alo, the NCAA home-run queen, Tiare Jennings would be the best power hitter in the country. Gasso describes what it’s like for opponents having to face Alo and Jennings back-to-back:

This Oklahoma team, pending a wild upset, is not likely to drop a game in this World Series. To this point, it feels like a formality to hold this tournament. Northwestern is a fantastic softball team; the No. 9-seeded Wildcats boast one of the best lineups in the country. They are an excellent defensive team and a well-balanced offensive team. Oklahoma thoroughly dominated them.

The 2022 Oklahoma softball team is the best Patty Gasso has ever coached, and this team isn’t done yet.