Setting records is pretty much what this Oklahoma Softball team does. From home runs, to win streaks, to run-rule victories, the Sooners have been no strangers to the record books this season. That’s why it wasn’t a surprise to OU fans that their squad would make history at the Women’s College World Series as well. Two days after knocking UCLA out of the tournament, by a score of 15-0, to set a record for largest win in the WCWS, the Sooners smashed Texas 16-1 to record the largest margin of victory in the championship series.
Oklahoma’s lineup belted six home runs against Texas pitchers setting a new WCWS record. Taylon Snow and Jana Johns each hit one dinger while Tiare Jennings and Jocelyn Alo each went yard twice. The 16 runs scored bring Oklahoma to a total of 50 runs scored at the Women’s College World Series. It just makes sense that it was all done in front of a record setting crowd of 12,234 fans in attendance.
Patty Gasso sent a total of thirteen different batters to the plate on Wednesday night and eight of them contributed to a total of 16 team hits. Jennings led the way for the Sooners going four-of-five from the plate with three runs scored and five RBI. The duo of Alo and Jennings (they bat back to back in Oklahoma’s lineup) went a combined seven-of-eight from the plate with eight runs scored and eight RBI.
Texas coach Mike White put four different pitchers in the circle to try and thwart Oklahoma’s offensive barrage but in the end the Sooners just seemed to be taking batting practice. Hailey Dolcini was on the hook for the loss. The Longhorn starter didn’t even make it out of the first inning and surrendered five runs. This is the second game in a row against OU where Texas pitchers had no answers for Oklahoma’s lineup and that certainly doesn’t paint a pretty picture as the championship series moves forward into game two on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma pitcher Hope Trautwein picked up her twenty-second win of the season (22-1) by throwing five innings in which she allowed just one run on two hits. Nicole May pitched the sixth and seventh innings to close out the game. The sophomore hurler allowed just one hit while keeping the Longhorn run total at one.
Oklahoma and Texas will play game two of the championship series with first pitch set for 6:38 p.m. CT. The Sooners just need one more win to take home the championship while Texas must now find a way to beat OU twice in order to win.
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