Gators fall, Sooners repeat as champs
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shay Knighten hit a three-run double in the second inning and Oklahoma defended its NCAA softball title with a 5-4 win over Florida on Tuesday night.
Knighten, who hit a threerun homer in the 17th inning to help win Game 1 on Monday, was selected the World Series’ Most Outstanding Player.
The Sooners (61-9) took both games from Florida in the best-of-three series to earn their third NCAA title in five years.
Freshman Mariah Lopez (18-1) got the win in relief of Paige Parker. Paige Lowary stepped in and retired Florida in order in the seventh.
Florida pitcher Kelly Barnhill, USA Softball’s National Collegiate Player of the Year, did not play. Florida coach Tim Walton went with No. 3 pitcher Alesia Ocasio (8-2), and she got the loss. Delaney Gourley was solid in relief for the Gators (58-10).
Oklahoma had just one senior in its lineup and has no senior pitchers.
Knighten’s three-run homer off Kelly Barnhill in the top of the 17th inning gave the Sooners a 7-5 victory in Monday night’s Game 1.
Oklahoma left the bases loaded in the 15th and 16th innings before Knighten put the Sooners in control.
“I was just looking to find a pitch in the zone that I could hit hard,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for really a particular pitch. It was just something — I knew she was throwing hard, so it’s just get there, just get there, and if it was in the zone, I was going to swing.”
The matchup was the longest championship series game in NCAA history. It lasted 51/2 hours, and all four pitchers threw more than 100 pitches.
“Epic, epic battle,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “This is one of the greatest games I think in College World Series history, I would guess.”