Notebook: Oklahoma's Jordy Bahl closes the show
With Oklahoma teetering for one of the first times this season, there was no question who could get it back on track.
The Sooners were going to need some offensive help. But if it’s pitching? Then it’s time for Jordy Bahl to be who she is.
The Sooners were going to need some offensive help. But if it’s pitching? Then it’s time for Jordy Bahl to be who she is.
The sophomore pitched the final three innings to secure OU’s spot in the Women’s College World Series with an 8-7 (9 innings) victory vs. Clemson on Saturday afternoon.
After Clemson had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to lead 7-4 after five innings, Gasso wanted to bring in Bahl for the seventh. Needed some help, first, but she knew Bahl had that look.
“She was at another level. A whole other level. And we all knew it,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “And that was a good, good feeling. She knew we needed her, and she wanted the ball.
“It was two minutes on the clock – they’re counting it down. We usually go out at about a minute. Two minutes, she’s standing on the mound. I’m like bring her back, no. Just let her stay. Let her do whatever she needs to do. She was locked in. I felt really, really confident when she came out.”
Hansen electrified Marita Hynes Field with a three-run home run in the top of the seventh, and Bahl went to work.
“There’s certain games where I go out there with Jordy where I know that I don’t really have to say anything,” Hansen said. “I knew when her walk-out started playing, that rock n’ roll song, and she looks at me and she swings her arm, it’s just the look that she gets and I’m just like, ‘All right, let’s rock and roll.’ It’s just the vibe that you get.”
Bahl allowed one hit in three innings with three strikeouts to improve to 18-1. After Tiare Jennings’ home run gave Oklahoma the 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth, Bahl came through one more time.
Oklahoma Takeaways
*Gasso is always hoping her birthday doesn’t fall on the weekend because she knows she’s hoping the Sooners are still vying for a national championship.
Didn’t work out that way this time around. The team and the crowd sang to Gasso before the game, celebrating her 61st birthday.
Then the game is something she’ll never ever forget.
And the present from the team? It means a little something to her, too.
“The team got me a wonderful gift card,” Gasso said. “I love IHOP, like French toast and coffee at IHOP. I go with my husband every once in a while. So they got me an IHOP, and I was pretty excited about it.”
*The anatomy of a comeback. A three-run home run needs a little help. Oklahoma got that from the approach at the plate by Rylie Boone and Haley Lee in the top of the seventh.
Both of them fought off strong pitches from Clemson’s Valerie Cagle to earn base hits. Lee was up with two outs and down to her final strike as well. That all set the stage for Hansen, down 0-2, to tie the game and send the 2,127 fans in attendance in a frenzy.
Quotable
“I’m in the moment. It might not look like it. But this is how I live in the moment. When you all leave, I’ll probably lay out in the middle of the outfield and cry my eyes out… everyone here to witness this is something I’ll never forget. It hasn’t even sunk in. It’ll take a little time for me to really understand it, but you could not have scripted this. It’s divine intervention. In my mind, that’s how it works.” – Gasso on this weekend’s emotions
