The University of Oklahoma’s softball team won its third consecutive national championship in Oklahoma City on Thursday night, beating the Florida State Seminoles, 3-1.
The Sooners won the best-of-three series in two games to win their 53rd game in a row and finish the season 61-1, setting the Division I record for winning percentage in a single season (.984) and earning the program’s seventh national title and sixth since 2013.
“I’m really just proud of this team for how we have stuck together this year,” pitcher Jordy Bahl told the media after the win. “I think not a lot of other people would fully understand what it’s like to go through just the day-to-day from off-season during the summer to August, everything up until now. Everyone just sees what’s put on the field on game day. There’s a lot. I’m just proud of how we’ve stuck together through pressure [and] adversity, and just have ultimately been one strong, cohesive unit…”
Florida State threatened to score early, putting two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the third, but Oklahoma’s Jayda Coleman jumped at the centerfield wall to take a potential three-run home run away from Kalei Harding and keep the game scoreless.
“It’s really exciting to make those plays,” Coleman told the media postgame. “I practice them all the time. But like I say every single time, the best thing out of those plays is watching your teammates react and watching them just be so happy for you. They know how hard we work. I know how hard they work. So when things like those plays come into play on this big stage, it’s so joyful to watch.”
The Seminoles eventually jumped in front on a solo home run by first baseman Mack Leonard in the bottom of the fourth inning, but that would be their final hit of the game as Alex Storako and Bahl combined to retire the last 11 Florida State batters of the game, including a strikeout of Katie Dack to end the season.
Oklahoma took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back home runs off Kathryn Sandercock from first baseman Cydney Sanders and shortstop Grace Lyons in the fifth, and outfielder Alynah Torres added an RBI single to extend the margin in the sixth.
“That’s what’s so great about our team,” Coleman explained. “Anyone in the lineup [or] someone could come off the bench and hit a home run to give us the lead.”
Sandercock pitched all seven innings for the Seminoles and finished the year with a 28-4 record and a 1.12 ERA.
Bahl, who also pitched seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts while allowing only two hits in Game 1 of the series, was named the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the Women’s College World Series.
“Jordy likes that kind of pressure at practice,” Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso said of her star pitcher postgame. “So I’m always giving her, ‘Okay, bases are loaded, one out, you’re up by two.’ I’m always giving situations because I think she just really loves to simulate that.”
“When you’re here, when she’s here, this is her playground,” Gasso added. “This is her heaven right here, at the World Series where it’s real and it’s someone else that we’re competing against.”
Oklahoma becomes the second Division I softball team to win three straight national titles, joining the 1988-1990 UCLA teams. The Bruins have won seven more titles since that run.