OU, FSU reach WCWS semis
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma claimed its 50th straight win in style.
Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen homered, and No. 1 seed Oklahoma rolled past No. 4 Tennessee 9-0 in five innings on Saturday to advance to the Women’s College World Series semifinals.
The Sooners (58-1) inched closer to a possible third consecutive national title and extended their Division I record for consecutive victories.
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said the Sooners aren’t worried about the record.
“We don’t talk about it,” she said. “We don’t. We really don’t. Because what we want to do is bring a national championship back to the University of Oklahoma and the state of Oklahoma because that will never be taken away from us. You can never take that away. It will live forever.”
Oklahoma played like a team on a mission. Starter Jordy Bahl allowed one hit — a double to Kiki Milloy, the game’s first batter. Bahl went 3⅔ innings, walked one and struck out three to earn the win. Relievers Alex Storako, Kierston Deal and Nicole May did not allow a hit.
“Extremely proud of this team and the way they played pretty flawless, attacking offensively, pitching staff — all of them, on point,” Gasso said.
Tennessee (50-9) will try to bounce back in an elimination game against No. 6 Oklahoma State on Sunday. The Lady Vols will try to forget about being completely dominated by the Sooners, save for a few spectacular plays by Milloy.
“Certainly not the way we wanted to play or expected to play today,” Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. “I’m still very proud of my team and have a lot of confidence in my team. That wasn’t us out there.”
Tennessee chose not to throw Ashley Rogers, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All American. She and No. 2 pitcher Payton Gottshall watched as hard-throwing freshman Karlyn Pickens got the nod.
NO. 3 FLORIDA STATE 3, NO. 7 WASHINGTON 1
In Oklahoma City, Kathryn Sandercock was strong in relief, and No. 3 seed Florida State held on to beat No. 7 Washington to and clinch a spot in the semifinals.
The Seminoles won their first two games, a far cry from their two previous Women’s College World Series appearances. They lost the opener in 2018, then won six straight to win the national title. They lost their opener again in 2021, then rallied to reach the championship series.
Sandercock allowed one run on six hits in 5⅔ innings to claim the win, and now the Seminoles are in what coach Lonni Alameda jokingly called “uncharted territory.” It’s a good spot because Sandercock, a second-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American, now has time to rest.
“It’s really important to keep her legs underneath her,” Alameda said. “We’re going to face really good teams, dogfights from here on out. We have to take care of the bodies as best we can. Earning days off is really big for us. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Devyn Flaherty had two hits and scored twice for the Seminoles (57-9), who will play the winner of Sunday’s Tennessee-Oklahoma State game on Monday.
Washington freshman Ruby Meylan lasted just 1⅓ innings and took the loss. Lindsay Lopez gave up just one run in 4⅔ innings of relief.