It was a battle on Sunday afternoon but Oklahoma came out on top and will now have the chance to advance to the championship round of the Women’s College World Series. All they have to do is beat James Madison one more time which absolutely won’t be as easy as it sounds.
Freshman of the Year Tiare Jennings sent a shot over the wall at centerfield as the game’s leadoff batter to give Oklahoma a lead it wouldn’t relinquish until JMU evened the score in the bottom of the fourth. The Sooners would eventually build a 3-0 lead, plating Grace Lyons in the second and Mackenzie Donihoo in the fourth. However, with one swing of the bat James Madison’s Sara Jubas evened it up a 3-3.
Jubas took Shannon Saile deep for the second time at the Women’s College World Series and this time it would chase Oklahoma’s senior pitcher out of the circle. Saile was replaced by Nicole May who, backed by outstanding defensive efforts behind her, kept the Dukes off the board for the remainder of the game.
May picked up her 15th win of the season after throwing 3.1 innings in which she gave up just two hits, allowed no runs and struck out six JMU batters, including the final out of the game.
Jennings was Oklahoma’s offensive star on the day. She followed up her leadoff home run with an RBI double, to break the 3-3 tie, in the top of the seventh inning. She would then score herself as Kinzie Hansen went yard to center field with a two-run homer that seemed to be a backbreaker for James Madison.
Oklahoma and James Madison will play their final game against each other tonight at 6:00.
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