Oklahoma softball: Pitching, defense may be keys to a Sooner three-peat

First impressions of what makes Oklahoma softball such a dominant force in fashioning a 2023 overall record of 56-1 and leading the field as the top seed in the Women’s College World Series for the third consecutive season is a power-laden lineup that offers no easy outs and can beat you with one swing of the bat.

There is no better hitting lineup, one through nine, in all of NCAA Division I softball. The Sooners rank No. 1 in the country with a team batting average of .372 and 112 home runs. Four Oklahoma staters are hitting over .400 and five starters have at least 12 home runs.

The Sooners have outscored their opponents this season 478 to 56. That tell you two things.

• If you ahttps://twitter.com/NCAASoftball/status/1662964097468583938re going to beat this OU team, you better be able to score at least eight or nine runs because that is what the Sooners are probably going to put up against you.
• With the problem being the Oklahoma pitching staff also ranks No. 1 in the nation and allows less than a run a game.

Oklahoma has already played and beaten five of the seven other teams in this year’s Women’s College World Series field. One of those teams is the Stanford Cardinal, OU’s opening-round opponent on Thursday (1:30 p.m. CT) at ASA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

The Sooners defeated Stanford 10-1 in six innings in the third game of the season back in early February. OU also has defeated Florida State, Utah, Washington and Oklahoma State this season. The Sooners are 7-0 against the other WCWS teams, winning by the combined score of 47-18.

Pitching appears to be the dominant strength of the teams competing in this year’s WCWS. Four of the top-10 pitching staffs in the country, including the Sooners, are represented in Oklahoma City. Tennessee is No. 2, right behind OU, with a staff ERA of 1.48. Stanford is No. 4 (1.55) and Florida State is No. 8 (1.63). Alabama (1.99) and Oklahoma State (2.06) are Nos. 13 and 17, respectively.

The Sooners just got through facing Clemson, which ranks No. 5 in the nation in pitching, in the Super Regionals.

Because of the quality of the pitching on the teams in this year’s WCWS, it is unlikely that the championship will be won on offense alone. In fact, outside of OU, Utah, and Oklahoma State, all of which rank in the top-10 nationally in batting average, none of the other five teams are that explosive offensively.

Everyone is aware of what the Sooners are capable of offensively, but it would appear that the team that the teams that are able to muster the best pitching performances, limit run production and scoring opportunities and don’t beat themselves with mistakes in the field will be in the best position vie for the national title.

Oklahoma leads the nation in both of the latter categories and will need to continue that trend if it is going to get to the WCWS championship series and finish off a three-peat as national champions.