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Oklahoma softball: What fans need to know about OU-Stanford in WCWS

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings (23) celebrates a home run in the first inning during a college softball game between the California Golden Bears and the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Norman Regional of NCAA softball tournament at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Sunday, May, 21, 2023.
Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings (23) celebrates a home run in the first inning during a college softball game between the California Golden Bears and the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Norman Regional of NCAA softball tournament at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Sunday, May, 21, 2023. /
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The Oklahoma softball team and Stanford played earlier this season as part of the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, California, on the opening weekend of the 2023 season.

The No. 1-ranked Sooners prevailed in the earlier game this season, winning 10-1 in six innings. That was the sixth meeting between the two schools in softball, with the all-time series now knotted at three games apiece.

The Sooners (56-1) and Cardinal (45-13) meet again on Thursday in the opening round of the 2023 Women’s College World Series. Stanford, like the Sooners, is undefeated in the NCAA postseason. The Cardinal defeated Florida twice to win the Stanford Regional and then eliminated Duke in the Super Regional last weekend.

Stanford’s key weapon all season has been freshman pitcher NiJaree Canady, who the Sooners will face in the second game of the WCWS on Thursday (1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN). As good as the Oklahoma pitching has been all season, the Sooners will be going up against the No. 1 pitcher in college softball this season based on ERA. Canady is 16-1 in 22 starts and owns a nation-best 0.48 ERA. The hard-throwing right-hander has only given up one home run all season, which is of note given Sooners lead the nation with 112 long balls this season.

The OU offense, the best in college softball this season, is going to have its work cut out for it. Stanford has allowed as many runs this postseason (9) as Canady has given up in her 29 appearances this season. The Stanford ace did not pitch against the Sooners in OU’s win earlier this season.

Canady’s opponent in the circle is expected to be Sooner sophomore Jordy Bahl with an 18-1 record and a 1.08 ERA, sixth-best in Division I softball.

While Oklahoma is a prolific power-hitting team, Stanford is quite the opposite. The Cardinal have only 24 home runs in 58 games this season. They prefer to play small ball, manufacture base runners and move them around the bases. Another freshman standout, infielder River Mahler, is the team’s leading hitter with a .367 batting average. Catcher Aly Kaneshiro leads the Cardinal with seven home runs and 40 RBI. One of her seven dingers was against Oklahoma in early February.

The Sooners continue to lead Division I softball in hitting, pitching and fielding and is in excellent position to become the first team at the Division I level to lead the nation in all three team categories in the same season.

Oklahoma comes into its opening-round WCWS game against Stanford riding an NCAA-record 48 game winning streak. Baylor is the only team to defeat the Sooners this season, posting a 4-3 victory over OU on Feb. 19.

How the two teams matchup statistically (with NCAA ranking in parentheses):

OU                          Stanford

Batting average                                      .372 (1)                   .285 (73)

Scoring                                                     8.39 (1)                   4.60 (99)

Home runs                                              112 (1)                       24 (199)

On-base percentage                           .462 (1)                     .353 (121)

Slugging percentage                           .683 (1)                     .402 (119)

ERA                                                         1.00 (1)                    1.55 (5)

Fielding percentage                             .988 (1)                    .978 (11)

Winning percentage                            .982                          .776

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