Lonni Alameda discusses Mack Leonard's performance against Oklahoma in Game 1 of WCWS

The Florida State Seminoles are in a battle with the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2023 Women’s College World Series. The Seminoles are trying to do something very few teams have come close to accomplishing this year, somehow slow the dominance of the Sooner softball machine. On Wednesday night in Game 1 of the 2023 WCWS, Florida State head coach Lonni Alameda discussed Mack Leonard’s early performance against the Sooners.

Lonni Alameda discussed Mack Leonard’s performance

“We’ll see if some adjustments are happening. I think she’s getting the ball down in the zone, mixing speeds a little bit. That’s the big thing for her. She’s relaxed. This is a big moment for a lot of these pitchers to be in. Kat [Sandercock’s] got the most experience, but these guys are starting to build it. I’m really proud of her. This is awesome. This is why she came here, this is what she wanted. I’m super proud of her,” Alameda said on Wednesday evening.

Through three innings of work, Leonard allowed just one hit, one earned run, and fired two strikeouts.

Then Alameda discussed the FSU offense putting pressure on the Sooner defense. “It goes back to the scrappiness of us. They’ve got great pitching, so that kind of helps with the defensive part of it. But this is a different game. It’s the championship series, everyone’s feeling it a little bit, great crowd. It’s just about one pitch right now,” the FSU head coach said.

The Sooners and Seminoles were tied through three scoreless innings. But Oklahoma managed to put three runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, forcing the Seminoles to make a pitching change. It wouldn’t make much of a difference, as Oklahoma went on to win Game 1, 5-0. The Sooners easily could have won the game 8-0, but Florida State’s Kaley Mudge made a remarkable snag at the wall to rob Oklahoma of a three-run home run.

Alameda and the Seminoles found out what everybody else already knows from the past few seasons: the Oklahoma softball machine is downright unstoppable. The Sooners won their 52nd straight game on Wednesday night. They are also just one win away from their third consecutive national crown.

Jordy Bahl fired 10 strikeouts and only allowed two hits for the Sooners. She pitched her second shutout of the Women’s College World Series. The Florida State batters simply couldn’t get much going on Wednesday night.

Game 2 of the WCWS is set for Thursday night at 7:30 PM EST. That one will be nationally televised on ESPN. Game 3 (if necessary) would be on Friday night at 8:00 PM EST.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.