College softball world left stunned as powerhouse OU suffers unthinkable upset

It was like if Santa Claus didn't deliver presents on Christmas Eve. Or if taxes weren't due in April. The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners, winners of four of the last five national titles, lost to Long Beach State 6-4 at the Mary Nutter Classic on Saturday at Cathedral City, California, in what was certainly one of the most surprising upsets in college softball history.

The Sooners being outside of the top 3 and already with a loss to Arizona to be at 11-1 was considered low by OU's standards under Patty Gasso. But not just beating, but hammering an 8-4 Long Beach State out of the Big West, still seemed like a guarantee. OU had just run-ruled No. 14 Duke 11-1 the day before on the same field.

Long Beach State upsets Oklahoma Sooners in Mary Nutter Classic

Long Beach State struck first with a run in the bottom of the second, then added another the next inning to take a 2-0 lead as Lindsey Cowans shut down the most powerful offense in the country to that point. OU finally got on the board in the top of the fourth when Allyssa Parker hit a solo shot before Lexi McDaniel doubled in Kai Minor to even the count.

Usually, a ball going over the fence and runs going across the plate would open the floodgates for the Sooners and a run-rule would likely be on the way, even after starting behind. But those few hours were unlike any other of the Gasso era.

Neither team scored again as OU left ladies on the bases until Long Beach State put up four runs in the sixth to get ahead again, 6-2. A run was singled in before Lina Apodaca hit a three-run homer off OU ace Audrey Lowry, who replaced Sydney Berzon in the third.

Even then, as things usually go for the Sooners, it still didn't seem like an upset was actually going to happen. Arizona State had OU against the wall in the season opener before freshman catcher Kendall Wells hit a two-run bomb in the sixth in her college debut to ultimately start the Sooners at 1-0.

It looked like the same ole' story would unfold when Wells homered again as the first batter of the seventh inning. Minor then singled in Parker with two outs to put runners on first and second with last season's home-run leader Gabbie Garcia at the plate. But Garcia struck out for the inconceivable to be reality.

In the end, the Sooners stranded 10 runners on base, and the untimely hitting led to the biggest college softball upset of our time. OU recovered soon after with a 7-5 win over Cal, but the viral upset overshadowed everything else going on in the college softball world as fans from any team couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the result.