WCWS preview: Oklahoma's bid for history against Florida State
Clarification: The Oklahoma loss to Baylor was not an official Big 12 game.
Only two teams remain in the Women’s College World Series, with the best-of-three final set to get underway Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
Even if you have just a casual familiarity with college softball, it won’t surprise you that one of the finalists is Oklahoma. The Sooners seek their third consecutive title and their sixth championship since 2013 and seventh overall. This year, Patty Gasso’s squad has been tougher than ever to beat, entering the championship series on a record 51-game winning streak. The Sooners will take on Florida State, which is no stranger to the Oklahoma City spotlight either. The Seminoles, coached by Lonni Alameda, claimed the program’s first title in 2018 and fell to the Sooners in three games in the 2021 final series.
How to watch the WCWS championship series
The championship series can be seen in its entirety in prime time on ESPN. Game 1 Wednesday will be at 8 p.m. ET, with Thursday’s game 2 starting at 7:30. Game 3, if necessary, will be Friday at 8.
Oklahoma's record winning streak
On Feb. 19, the Sooners lost 4-3 to Baylor in a game outside the official Big 12 schedule. They haven’t lost since. Their current 51-game run is a record for the sport, surpassing the previous mark of 47 set by Arizona spanning the 1996 and 1997 seasons. They have a way to go to match the 111-game mark established by Connecticut in women’s basketball, the longest winning streak in Division I team sports, but they’ve surpassed the football record of 47 set at their own school.
Not every game in Oklahoma’s streak was a cakewalk, of course. Win No. 48 in a row, the one that broke the record, came about in storybook fashion against Clemson in the Super Regional round. Trailing 7-4 and down to their last strike in the seventh, Kinzie Hansen blasted a three-run homer to tie it and force extra innings. The Sooners pushed a run across in the ninth and held on for an 8-7 win to extend the streak and avoid a third and decisive game with the Tigers. Monday’s win against Stanford was also a close call that required extras, but OU dug out of an early 2-0 deficit and again prevailed in the ninth.
Oklahoma going for place in WCWS history
The top-seeded and two-time defending champion Sooners enter the final series with a 59-1 overall record. They could become the second Division I softball team to win three championships in a row. UCLA is the only team to accomplish the feat from 1988-90.
The bulk of the pitching duties for Oklahoma are handled by Jordy Bahl and Nicole May, who have combined for 309 strikeouts over 245 innings pitched. Alex Storako rounds out a talented rotation that leads the nation with a 0.98 ERA.
On the rare occasions when one of the hurlers is struggling in the circle, the Sooners are more than capable of mashing their way back into games. They are No. 1 in the nation with 115 home runs, led by the trio of Alyssa Brito, Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings with 17 apiece. But they’re just as capable of playing smallball, leading the nation with a .368 team batting average and 8.2 runs per game.
Florida State has eyes set on prize
The third-seeded Seminoles (58-9) are not without star power themselves. FSU’s pitching ace is Kathryn Sandercock, who has 28 wins on the season and tossed a perfect game against South Carolina in the regionals. FSU isn’t nearly as prolific as the Sooners with the long ball but hits a respectable .308 as a team. Catcher Michaela Edenfield leads the ‘Noles with 13 homers and 56 RBI.
After winning the ACC regular-season title and conference tournament, they beat Georgia in the super regionals and have posted wins against Oklahoma State, Washington and Tennessee in Oklahoma City.
History between the teams
The two teams are not strangers to each other. As mentioned, they faced off in the 2021 championship series and a significant part of both teams participated, including Coleman, Jennings and May for Oklahoma and Sandercock, Josie Muffley and Kalei Harding for Florida State.
The Seminoles won the first game of the series 8-4 after scoring the first six runs of the contest. The Sooners responded with victories of 6-2 and 5-1 to capture their first title since 2017 and fifth overall.
The two sides also played earlier this season with Oklahoma beating Florida State 5-4 at home in a game Sanderock started for the Seminoles and Bahl came in to finish for the Sooners.
Another tie between the programs is Florida State coach Lonni Alameda, who played for Oklahoma. She finished her playing career in 1992 and was part of a turnaround of the program's fortunes prior to Gasso coaching her first season in 1995.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WCWS preview: Oklahoma- Florida State scores, schedule, dates, TV time
