Women's College World Series: Oklahoma sweeps Florida State, completes historic three-peat

All year, Oklahoma was chasing history. Winners of the last two Women’s College World Series, the Sooners needed one more to do something that hasn’t been done in 30 years: win three championships in a row.

Thursday night, the 1988-90 UCLA Bruins got some company.

Oklahoma, after trailing 1-0 in Game 2 of the WCWS championship series, came away with the 3-1 victory over Florida State to seal the three-peat. Only those three UCLA teams had accomplished the feat before Patty Gasso and the Sooners did so with their 53rd consecutive victory, extending an NCAA record set earlier in the tournament.

Oklahoma has battled adversity before in the WCWS. Against Florida State, the Sooners had to do so again. Mack Leonard got the Seminoles on the board first in the fourth inning with a solo home run, just her third hit of the NCAA Tournament. With All-ACC ace pitcher Kathryn Sandercock in the circle for FSU, it didn’t look like it’d be an easy road for Oklahoma to rally back and make history.

Someone forgot to tell the Sooners they were facing an All-American.

The fifth inning started with back-to-back home runs from Cydney Sanders and Grace Lyons — putting Oklahoma on top 2-1 in the blink of an eye. That score held until the sixth inning when the Sooners got some insurance via an Alynah Torres fielder’s choice made it 3-1.

After the two home runs in the fourth, though, Gasso pulled starting pitcher Alex Storako and brought in her ace. Sophomore Jordy Bahl, who got the victory in Game 1 Wednesday night, came in to keep Florida State at bay and help Oklahoma pull it off.

She did her job, throwing three scoreless innings to get the save. And for Oklahoma, an impressive run ended in spectacular fashion.

All told, Bahl — the 2022 NFCA National Freshman of the Year a season ago — finished the WCWS, with a 4-0 record, no earned runs and 33 strikeouts across, 24.2 innings. As a result, she won the WCWS Most Outstanding Player award. She was integral in delivering the seventh title under Gasso’s leadership and Oklahoma’s sixth since 2013.

The Sooners end the season with just one loss — a February loss to Baylor. They didn’t drop another game the rest of the way, finishing the year with 53 consecutive victories to finish with a 61-1 overall record.

It’s only fitting Oklahoma completed the three-peat against Florida State, whom the Sooners beat in the 2021 Women’s College World Series to start this historic run.