Oklahoma softball cruises into WCWS semifinals

Oklahoma softball was up against a familiar foe on Saturday afternoon in Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

The Texas Longhorns had defeated the Sooners in the final game of a three-game set; back on April 16, which ended a 40-game winning streak and dealt the Sooners their first loss of the season.

It was a 4-2 loss in what had been a pitcher’s duel of not just a game but a series between National Freshman of the Year Jordy Bahl, and Texas’ ace pitcher Hailey Dolcini. Dolcini pitched games one and three of that series and held National Player of the Year Jocelyn Alo, and First-Team All American Tiare Jennings hitless in the two earlier contests in Austin.

Oklahoma learned quite a lot from that loss and the regular-season series with its longtime rivals and used it to fuel the Sooners’ 7-2 victory on Saturday afternoon in the winners’ bracket of the Women’s College World Series. Saturday’s OU-Texas softball showdown also marked the first WCWS game ever broadcast on ABC TV.

"“We learned a lot from this game, in many ways. We learned a lot from this entire series, in ways that will make us better.“To be realistic, we weren’t going to go undefeated through the season. It was just a matter of time. We got outplayed, and that’s exactly why we have our first loss.They earned it. They played well, their pitcher was fantastic, and they did everything right. That’s what it came down too. We take this back to Norman and we refine and we get better. That’s what you do with losses.”-Patty Gasso after the loss to the Longhorns"

The script was flipped this time around as Tiare Jennings and Jocelyn Alo powered Oklahoma offensively against Texas in Saturday’s showdown at the WCWS. The OU pair, who hit second and third in the batting order, combined to go five for seven at the plate with five RBIs and a home run for each.

"“The good thing is they didn’t know us today, We came in a whole different team than we were in Austin. That’s something we had an advantage of. We knew that we were different, that’s why we did what we did today.”– Tiare Jennings in the post-game"

The idea that this record-breaking team could possibly continue to improve is a truly terrifying thought for the other programs around the country, but Jennings is on to something. This Sooner team has improved and has upped its game so far in the WCWS.

Even with the availability of star pitcher Jordy Bahl in question, Hope Trautwein, the senior transfer from North Texas, has steadied the ship in the circle for Oklahoma. She has permitted merely five runs all post-season as the Sooner’s bell cow.

"“I thought she was stellar, fantastic. Looking at her numbers, I’m seeing them for the first time really: One strikeout. Our defense, she fed our defense. Our defense played great. She doesn’t have to try to overthrow to get strikeouts because our defense is great. I thought she had good command.I thought she did a great job. I think Hope is kind of on fire right now. She’s really found her comfort zone. I think the matchup was better for us with Hope. But we had a plan to bring all kinds of different looks at different times, including Jordy. Everybody was all hands on deck. But Hope is just never making me feel it’s time. It was getting close later in the game, but never made me feel ready to do that.”-Patty Gasso when asked about Hope Trautwein in the post-game press conference"

For Oklahoma softball, they must simply stay the course. The finish line is in sight. Oklahoma will play the winner of UCLA and Florida on Monday. Oklahoma is in the WCWS championship series with a single win, whereas their opponent will have to defeat them twice in a row in order to advance.

If things continue to trend the same way, Oklahoma softball may be in a position to get revenge on its other rival, Oklahoma State, who is cleanly into the semifinals themselves.