OU softball takes down FSU, going back to Women's College World Series
And the first team to punch its ticket to the Women’s College World Series is… OU. Imagine that. Florida State threw everything it could think of at the Sooners, but eventually, the big hit came.
The big hit, big pitch, the big catch, been the hallmark of the Sooners during the last couple of weeks. OU will get a chance to earn its fourth straight national championship, defeating FSU 4-2 on Friday night in the Super Regional at Love’s Field.
OU has now won 18 straight NCAA Tournament games.
It’s a far cry from where this month started. OU dropped back-to-back games at home vs. Oklahoma State. It kept the Sooners from the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and, most likely, the No. 1 overall seed in the country.
There were whispers of whether or not this team simply had nothing left in the tank. The mental and physical battle of going for four in a row.
However, head coach Patty Gasso saw things swing back around. She felt it, and the team has been different since then.
Another Big 12 championship. Sweeping the Norman Regional. And now eliminating FSU for the third time in the last four seasons.
OU took control in the top of the fifth with a three-run frame. Once again, it was a freshman providing the big lift. Kasidi Pickering went opposite field for a two-run home run.
The Seminoles would not quit, though. Jaysoni Beachum was on her way to her second home run of the night when Jayda Coleman does what Jayda Coleman does. One last home run-stealing grab for the senior.
It was needed, too, because FSU did hit a home run later in the frame.
Gasso stressed how important it was that Kelly Maxwell went the five full innings in Thursday’s 11-3 victory because it gave OU a lot work with.
Kierston Deal started the game, but lived dangerously in allowing one run 2.1 innings. Karlie Keeney came in relief. She wasn’t fooling anyone, but she wasn’t wild, either. She threw 2.2 innings, not walking anybody and earning the win.
That paved the way for Nicole May, and a senior who has absolutely taken her game to that next level. Threw the final two innings to earn the save.
For a team that looked uncharacteristically vulnerable in April and the first week of May, hey, it’s back to what OU knows. It’s back to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series.
Time to attempt to go for back-to-back-to-back-to-back.
Up next
OU knows it’s in OKC. And it knows who it could be playing to begin the WCWS. The Sooners will play the winner of the Missouri-Duke Super Regional sometime Thursday at Devon Park. The Blue Devils took the first game Friday afternoon at Mizzou.
