Game 1 of Women's College World Series final between Oklahoma and Florida State delayed

The first game of the 2023 College World Series final has been delayed in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma and Florida State softball teams have announced.

USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium’s video board displayed a message nearly an hour ahead of the first scheduled pitch stating that “severe weather is approaching.” The weather would hit less than 45 minutes away from the start, leading to the untimely delay for game one.

“Lightning in the area means a delay for Game 1 between Oklahoma and FSU … They’re evacuating the fans,” the Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach wrote on Twitter.

When the game begins, it will be broadcasted on ESPN and ESPN+.

Jordy Bahl shares her secret to finding success

Patty Gasso sent Jordy Bahl to the mound to begin the sixth inning for Oklahoma tied at two against Stanford with one goal — to send the Sooners to the title game.

Four innings of scoreless pitching from OU’s ace later, and Oklahoma is back in the Women’s College World Series for the fourth consecutive year. Now, Bahl is just two victories away from being a two-time national champion.

“Really for me, it’s just being present and staying simple,” Bahl said about her performance following the win. The second I try to do too much with any one of my pitches, I start overthrowing, and then things really go downhill from there.

“Honestly, just trying to keep everything simple, and like Grace said, like they have my back, I have their back. So I know that they’re in every pitch, so I need to be in every pitch, and they deserve that from me. So just trying to stay where I know I can have success.”

After Bahl took over in the sixth inning, she went on to pitch 4.0 innings of scoreless softball. She allowed four hits but threw six K’s in the victory which improved her record to 21-1 on the season. Bahl took over for starter Nicole May, who finished Monday’s outing pitching 5.0 innings against 19 total batters. She allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out three Cardinal batters before Bahl took over.

Oklahoma had to work from behind to begin the matchup after a two-run home run to left field from Stanford DP Kylie Chung in the first inning. The Sooners battled back with dueling runs in the second and third innings, including a solo homer from CF Jayda Coleman, to tie the game. 

It took over five innings for another run to score in the top of the ninth. OU second baseman Tiare Jennings was the hero of the game, knocking in two runs with a double to right center before the Sooners shut Stanford down in the bottom of the ninth.