Top-ranked Oklahoma softball captured its second win this season over a top-10 team, defeating No. 6 Florida State 5-4 on Monday in a rematch of the 2021 Women’s College World Series championship series.
The Seminoles completed a weekend series at Oklahoma State and had reached out to OU, according to the Sooner head coach Patty Gasso, to add the Sooners to the schedule for a rare Monday game while they were already in the area.
Florida State entered the weekend with a 20-3 record and ranked No. 5 in the country but left the Sooner state with a 21-6 record after losing two of three at No. 2 Oklahoma State and on Monday to the Sooners.
A single back to the circle by Tiare Jennings with one out in the fourth inning scored Jayda Coleman from third, breaking a 4-4 tie and providing Oklahoma with what proved to be the winning run.
All about 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞.#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/pLwEOqhnaz
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) March 15, 2023
The Sooners (22-1) collected 13 hits off of four Florida State pitchers and left nine runners on base but were only able to manufacture five runs over a full seven innings.
"“It was a fun atmosphere for us, and it felt like a postseason,” said Sooner head coach Patty Gasso in her postgame comments.“It felt like a Super Regional-style game, back and forth, good play, good pitching, clutch hitting, good defense on both sides.”"
All of Florida State’s runs came off of home runs. Jahni Kerr hit a solo pinch-hit home run in the third inning to tie the game at one run apiece and designated hitter Katie Dack hit a three-run blast off of OU starter Alex Storako in the fourth to give the Seminoles a 4-3 lead.
Haley Lee doubled off the center field wall in the OU half of the fourth inning, scoring Rylie Boone from third to tie the game and set the stage for game-winning rally the following inning.
Lee, a transfer from Texas A&M, had two extra base hits in the game. She homered to right field in the third as the Sooners reclaimed the lead at 2-1. It was Lee’s fifth round-tripper of the season. Jennings slugged her fourth home run of the year and the 60th of her career in the same inning to give OU a two-run advantage.
Alyssa Brito continued her hot hitting for the Sooners. She was three for four against Florida State after collecting seven hits in 12 at bats over the weekend, including a pair of two-run homers.
Storako pitched the first four innings and won for the seventh time this season without a loss. The Michigan transfer allowed all four Florida State run on five hits, while striking out six. She had given up only one earned run all season before surrendering four to the Seminoles. Jordy Bahl came on in relief in the fifth inning and shut the door, retiring six of the 10 batters she faced.
Florida State was the highest-ranked opponent to play OU in Norman since a series with No. 2 Texas A&M in 2007.
Oklahoma’s next action will be up the road in Oklahoma City as part of the Omni Hotels Hall of Fame Classic. The Sooners will play five games in three days at USA Softball Hall of Fame complex, starting with Weber State and No. 24 Northwestern on Friday. OU will play a doubleheader with Weber State and No. 22 Auburn on Saturday and a single game against Auburn on Sunday.