Horns can’t stop Sooners’ 2nd title in row
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jocelyn Alo doesn’t mince words, and the Sooners’ ever-candid slugger wasn’t going to hold back in the wake of top-seeded Oklahoma routing Texas in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series finals Wednesday night.
“We’re going to come out, and we’re going to dominate,” Alo said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on that mound, it doesn’t matter what name across their chest that they’re wearing.”
Texas was hellbent on preventing that Thursday in Game 2 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium. And for a while, the Longhorns managed to stop Oklahoma from erupting.
But as Texas and the rest of the nation learned this season, it’s only a matter of time. The Sooners’ offensive outburst arrived a little later than usual Thursday, but it arrived all the same.
Trailing the Longhorns 2-0 through three innings, Oklahoma (59-3) charged back to defeat unseeded Texas 10-5 to claim the program’s second straight NCAA national title and sixth overall. The win capped arguably the greatest college softball season of all time, and it came at the expense of their oldest rival, to boot.
“This is hats off, a great team,” Texas coach Mike White said of Oklahoma. “They’re supposed to win. They have all the studs, right? They’re a destination. And this here is the scrappy bunch of young women who stood up against Oklahoma and gave them a damn good game today, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Credit Texas for coming out with more fire in Game 2.
While Game 1 devolved into an Oklahoma home run derby in the very first inning, Texas had a better handle on the Sooners to begin the rematch.
Sophomore starter Estelle Czech kept the Sooners off the scoreboard for three innings, limiting them to three hits one day after they put up 10 runs on nine hits through three. And Texas scored two first-inning runs on a pair of sacrifice flies from shortstop Alyssa Washington and catcher Mary Iakopo, putting the Sooners down heading into the second frame for just the second time all season.
“Their lefty, Czech, was really, really good and moving in and out and mixing speeds on us,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “It was something we hadn’t seen in a while. We knew it was going to take us a little bit of
time, but really what created momentum was our defense.”
But the Longhorns (47-22-1) will lament the missed opportunities and the miscues. They’ll wonder how center fielder Jayda Coleman can fly — she made two leaping grabs at the wall — whether Alo is human, whether anything could’ve changed the outcome.
There were chances to both prevent runs and tack them on, and while Oklahoma’s ascent to the throne carried an air of inevitability all season long there’s no telling how the game’s tenor might have changed if Coleman hadn’t reached over the wall and robbed Courtney Day of a two-run home run in the first
inning, or if a costly fourth-inning error didn’t allow the Sooners to tie the game up at 2-2.
“It’s a game of inches,” White said. “I told Courtney one more Wheatie might have done it.”
By the fifth inning, after Texas had let too many chances fizzle and vanish, Oklahoma was back to its old self, back to dominating.
Outfielder Alyssa Brito laced an RBI double down the rightfield line to put the Sooners ahead for the first time, 3-2. Then catcher Kinzie Hanson blasted a three-run home run just inside the left-field foul pole to double OU’S run total and chase Czech (13-2) from the game after 4 2/3 innings.
Oklahoma added four more runs in the sixth courtesy of second baseman Tiare Jennings’ RBI sacrifice fly and shortstop Grace Lyons’ 3-run home run. And against the combined efforts of Big 12 pitcher of the year Jordy Bahl (22-1) and sophomore Nicole May, that was too deep a hole to climb out of.
Texas, which posted 18 comefrom-behind victories this season, kept fighting until the very end, cutting into the lead on freshman Mia Scott’s 3-run home run with 2 outs in the seventh. But that was its last gasp.
Still, the Longhorns can hold their heads high after this run. And seniors Iakopo, Janae Jefferson — the former Nimitz star who’s jersey should one day be retired — and Hailey Dolcini, among others, should take a bow as they leave this program in a good place and in capable hands.
This was the first unseeded team and first Texas team to reach the WCWS finals. It won six NCAA tournament elimination games before Thursday’s loss and set a new WCWS for double plays turned.
And with freshmen Sophia Simpson and Day and sophomores WCWS All-tournament team sophomores Czech, Courtney Day, and Bella Dayton all coming back, Texas firmly believes it can pose a legitimate threat to Oklahoma’s dynasty.
“You can’t practice this,” White said. “You’ve got to get here to experience and know what it’s like. You can tell them all you want, but until you get out there and do it, it’s hard.
“We have that experience. Now, can they spread it? Can they spread the word that Texas is a real place to come play softball and it’s a great university? We need to start spreading the word about it: Texas softball is for real.”