Oklahoma wins 2023 DI softball national championship for third consecutive title
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Top defensive plays from 2023 Women's College World Series
7:35
1:47 am, June 9, 2023
🏆 Oklahoma wins 2023 DI softball national championship
Oklahoma wins the 2023 Women's College World Series title
With a 3-1 win over Florida State in Game 2 of the best-of-3 Women's College World Series Finals, No. 1 Oklahoma secured its third straight national title while extending their record-setting winning streak to 53 games.
In the series-clinching win, Oklahoma trailed briefly after Florida State's Mack Leonard popped a solo home run to give the Noles a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
But the Sooners quickly responded with back-to-back solo homers by Grace Lyons and Rylie Boone to flip the game and take a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. An inning later, Alynah Torres grounded into a fielder's choice that scored another runner and put OU up 3-1 in the sixth inning.
Jordy Bahl wins 2023 WCWS Most Outstanding Player
These two runs were more than enough for Jordy Bahl, who pitched the last three innings just one day after throwing a complete game shutout in the first game of the championship series. Bahl continued her dominant postseason as she did not allow a baserunner across her three innings of work.
With the win, Oklahoma became the first team to three-peat as national champions since 1988-90 when UCLA pulled off the feat. This is the seventh national title in program history and the sixth in the past 10 years for Patty Gasso's Sooners.
Oklahoma's Patty Gasso reacts after winning seventh national title
After giving up a home run in the bottom of the fourth, the Sooners open up the fifth inning with back-to-back homers by Grace Lyons and Rylie Boone to take a 2-1 lead.
— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball)
Mack Leonard pulled a two-strike change-up down the right field line and just over the fence for a solo home run that gives FSU a 1-0 lead. This home run was Florida State's first run of the championship series.
At the end of four innings, Florida State leads 1-0.
x 🎥 ESPN / — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
For the second time of the WCWS, Oklahoma's All-American center fielder robs an opponent of a home run. This time, she stole a three-run shot away from Florida State's Kalei Harding.
12:21 am, June 9, 2023
FSU escapes a bases-loaded jam 👀
Three straight hits to start the third inning set up Jayda Coleman and Oklahoma with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Coleman was unable to take advantage of her RBI opportunity, grounding into a fielder's choice that cut down the runner at home. Tiare Jennings, who became the WCWS' all-time RBI leader on Wednesday, stepped in next. Like Coleman, she grounded into a fielder's choice, leaving it up to Haley Lee to break open the scoring for Oklahoma.
Lee hit a shallow pop-fly to left field that was caught calmly by Kaley Mudge, securing the third out of the inning for the Seminoles and allowing ace Kathryn Sandercock to keep her shutout alive.
Heading to the bottom of the third, we remain tied, 0-0.
11:42 pm, June 8, 2023
We are underway in Game 2 of the WCWS finals
After Oklahoma took a 1-0 series lead last night, Florida State must win tonight to extend the series and their season. Here are the starting lineups:
Play like a 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 today.
🔗 x
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball)
Our crew🍢
— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball)
12:44 pm, June 8, 2023
The 2023 NCAA DI softball championship series continues today
5️⃣2️⃣ wins in a row for the Sooners! 😱
Highlights from ’s Game 1 win over Florida State.
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
The series continues after No. 1 Oklahoma took Game 1 of the 2023 softball championship. In Game 2, No. 3 FSU gets a swing at forcing an if-necessary game or the Sooners could claim their third straight title.
Oklahoma won the first matchup 5-0, logging the Sooners' 52nd win. The win marked the fifth shutout for Oklahoma throughout the tournament and the first shutout loss for the Seminoles.
Here's the full series schedule:
2023 Women's College World Series Championship Series, schedule, TV networks (all times ET)
defeats (3) Florida State, 5-0, in Game 1 of the National Championship Series and is one win away from winning its third straight title. — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
A complete game shutout by Jordy Bahl helped No. 1 Oklahoma earn a 1-0 series lead and extend their record winning streak to 52 games with a 5-0 win over Florida State.
Bahl struck out ten Florida State hitters while allowing just two two hits and one walk across her seven innings of work.
It took the Sooners' offense time to get going, but Oklahoma scored in each of the last three innings it came to the plate, highlighted by a three-run fourth inning.
These two teams will meet again on Thursday night. Oklahoma, now with a 1-0 series lead, will have the opportunity to win the national championship with a win tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
x 🎥 ESPN / — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
Kaley Mudge takes flight in left field to reach over the wall and steal a three-run homerun from Haley Lee. Had Mudge not made this catch, Oklahoma would have taken an 8-0 lead and won the game on a run-rule.
drives in the first run of the game for the Sooners! 💥 x 🎥 ESPN / — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
After three innings of one hit ball, Florida State elected to pull Mack Leonard and bring in Makenna Reid out of the bullpen.
The first batter Reid faced was Kinzie Hansen, who promptly blasted the second pitch she saw to center field for an RBI double that scored pinch-runner Jordy Bahl all the way from first. The next batter. Alyssa Brito, blooped home a single that scored Hansen, giving OU a 2-0 lead.
After a sacrifice bunt to get Brito to second, Reid spiked a throw to first that was not fielded cleanly, allowing Brito to score and extend the Sooners' lead to three.
Jordy Bahl is back out to pitch the fifth inning for Oklahoma. She has struck out six hitters through her first four innings of shutout work.
x 🎥 ESPN / — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
Mack Leonard and Jordy Bahl have both been solid in the circle for their respective sides. Each pitcher has two strikeouts and Leonard has yet to allow a hit.
It's a quiet start to the delayed first game of the 2023 championship series. We are tied 0-0 in the third inning.
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
After the first four outs of the game were recorded, game one of the best two-of-three WCWS final has re-entered a weather delay due to lightning in the area. The game is now set to restart at 10:02 p.m. ET
1:01 am, June 8, 2023
🏆 It's gametime in the WCWS finals
No. 1 Oklahoma takes on No. 3 Florida State in the first game of the best-of-three Women's College World Series. First pitch is coming soon on ESPN.
Here are the lineups for game one:
Believe.
— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball)
𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐈
🔗 x
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball)
Hall of Fame Stadium will reopen shortly. — NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball)
Game one of the 2023 DI softball championship series between No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 Florida State has entered a weather delay due to lightning in the area. First pitch is now scheduled for 9:10 ET.
Updates will be added here when available.
8:52 pm, June 7, 2023
The 2023 NCAA DI softball championship series starts today 🤩
Oklahoma and Florida State will meet in Oklahoma City with a national championship on the line for the second time in the past three seasons. Here's what you need to know about each team before the action gets underway on Wednesday.
No. 1 Oklahoma
𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐦��𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭. sets the scene. x
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball)
The top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners set the all-time record for consecutive wins only recently. This mark now stands at 51 as the Sooners have cruised through their first three games of the Women's College World Series.
Oklahoma leads the nation in just about every major statistic. Just to name a few, Oklahoma ranks first in: scoring, on-base percentage, home runs, earned run average and pitching shutouts. They lead most of these categories by a wide margin.
The Sooners have eight players with a .320 batting average or better. Five of these eight have also popped double-digit home runs. In the circle, they have three true aces in the three-headed monster of Jordy Bahl, Nicole May and Alex Storako.
No. 3 Florida State
Bring it on
— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball)
If there is a team built to beat Oklahoma, it might just be Florida State. The Seminoles bring an impressive 58-9 record to the championship series, winning 24 of their last 25 games.
Like Oklahoma, Florida State has talent in the circle. Kathryn Sandercock already has a perfect game this tournament, and has proven herself as one of the nation's premier pitchers this season. Freshman Makenna Reid has also been outstanding for FSU this season, going 13-0 with an ERA less than 1 in her first season in Tallahassee.
Offensively, Florida State is not as dominant as Oklahoma, but the 'Noles still score more than six runs per game.
The pitching staff is Florida State's bread and butter, and will likely be the primary reason they can hang with Oklahoma.
Game one of the championship series starts Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. The team's will play a best two-out-of-three series, with the first team to win two games crowned as the 2023 national champions.
