Jordy Bahl threw three innings of perfect relief, and Oklahoma won their third consecutive Women’s College World Series title and seventh overall, defeating Florida State 3-1 in a two-game sweep.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma saved their best celebration for last.
Jordy Bahl threw three innings of perfect relief, and the Sooners won their third consecutive Women’s College World Series title and seventh overall, defeating Florida State 3-1 on Thursday night for a two-game sweep.
The Sooners finished 61-1 and extended their Division I-record win streak to 53 games. They have won six titles since 2013 after getting their first in 2000, all under coach Patty Gasso.
The Sooners, exuberant and energetic throughout this World Series, stayed true to form. After Bahl struck out Katie Dack swinging to end the game, catcher Kinzie Hansen rushed to Bahl and embraced her in a bear hug as the rest of the Sooners swarmed them and created a massive dogpile that teetered on the ground.
Finishing this championship run was not an easy task against a Florida State program making its third finals appearance in the last five World Series.
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“The message off the bat was eyes are on this circle,” said Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Lyons, who hit a solo home run. “We’re going to keep focusing on what we do every day. Doesn’t matter what the outside has to say. We’re going to do the little things. We’re going to keep running.”
The only debate now is where the Sooners stand in Division I history.
Oklahoma’s only defeat was a 4-3 loss at Baylor on Feb. 19. The Sooners posted a record for highest win percentage and had the fewest losses of any champion. They led the nation in runs per game, earned run average, and batting average — despite losing Division I career home run leader Jocelyn Alo from last year’s team.
UCLA was the only other program to win three straight titles, from 1988-90. But the Bruins lost 19 games in that stretch. Oklahoma dropped only eight during its three-peat.
Florida State lost to Oklahoma in the championship series in 2021, and Seminoles coach Lonni Alameda said the Sooners are even better now.
“Congratulations to OU,” Alameda said. “They’re just firing on all cylinders. It’s pretty awesome. I think people were texting me throughout, like a lot of people don’t like that one team’s winning all the time. We get a little vibe sometimes of, like, ‘Break the machine.’ We gave our best for that, but they’re really good.”
Bahl, the sophomore from Papillion, Nebraska, pitched 24 2/3 scoreless innings in the WCWS and was named its Most Outstanding Player. She went 4-0 and earned the save on Thursday. She became the first pitcher since 1992 to work at least 20 innings at the World Series without allowing a run.
Cydney Sanders and Lyons hit back-to-back homers off Seminoles ace Kathryn Sandercock in the fifth inning. Florida State had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Mack Leonard’s homer off Sooners starter Alex Storako.
Alynah Torres padded the Sooners’ lead with an RBI single in the sixth, and that was plenty of cushion for Bahl, who struck out three and threw 39 pitches, 28 for strikes.
Storako (18-0) worked the first four innings for the Sooners, allowing three hits and getting a sparkling defensive play in the third from center fielder Jayda Coleman, who made a leaping catch at the wall to take away a potential three-run homer from Florida State’s Kalei Harding.
“It’s really exciting to make those plays,” Coleman said. “We practice them all the time. But like I say every single time, the best thing about those plays is watching your teammates react and watching them be so happy for you.”
In the top of the third, the Sooners got a colorful single from Rylie Boone — done so perfectly that the ball stopped on the chalk — to load the bases with no outs. But Sandercock retired the next three batters to get out of the jam.
Sandercock (28-4) pitched a complete game to conclude her career with Florida State (58-11).
“Everything that I’ve worked on in the past five years — showing up today, being able to put that to the test against one of the hardest lineups in college softball — was such a fun challenge,” she said.
Oklahoma will have high expectations again next year. Coleman, Bahl, and Tiare Jennings are National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-Americans who will be back. Jennings and Coleman, juniors who have won national titles every year of their careers, want to ensure that the Sooners become the first program to win four straight.
“I love doing this journey with her,” Coleman said of Jennings. “Hopefully we finish it out with a bang.”
