Kinzie Hansen puts her stamp to help send OU back to the WCWS
Down to the last strike, history on the line, Oklahoma senior Kinzie Hansen decided the Sooners weren’t done just yet.
And they’re not. OU is going back to Oklahoma City, back to the Women’s College World Series.
Hansen blasted a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to erase a 7-4 deficit. Tiare Jennings put the finishing touches with a home run in the ninth inning, and the Sooners, somehow, found a way for an 8-7 victory against Clemson in Game 2 of the Super Regionals at Marita Hynes Field.
Hansen was down in the count 0-2 against the potential national player of the year in Clemson pitcher Valerie Cagle.
Then, as it’s said, some Sooner Magic and the fastest home run trot in Hansen’s career.
“Alyssa Brito was in my ear telling me ‘she has to beat you three times.’ I knew I was going to get another,” Hansen said. “The Sooners aren’t over until the last strike. We’re not done until the last out is made and is sealed. We were in the huddle saying it’s never over. It’s not done. That was really the approach that I had.
“I heard my teammates yelling right when I hit it, and I just wanted to get home. It felt like a mosh pit. Everybody was just shoving each other. My tongue was bleeding. I’m pretty sure I got punched in the face. It was just chaotic. I knew right then and there – this team is not done in 2023 until we decide we’re done.”
Adding to the Marita Hynes Field legacy
Another day, another incredible moment to punctuate the final days of Marita Hynes Field. The largest crowd ever with 2,127 fans saw OU come back from its biggest deficit of the season (7-4) to earn its 48th victory in a row and move to 56-1 overall.
The Sooners officially have the longest winning streak in softball history, eclipsing the 47-game mark by Arizona in 1996-97.
Perhaps none sweeter than No. 48.
“Words cannot express what that felt like. An emotional roller coaster of highs and lows,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “Momentum. Lack of momentum. But in the end, it was one of the most gritty performances I’ve seen from Jordy. These two (Hansen and Jennings). Look around. Everybody.”
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It didn’t look like any heroics were going to be necessary. Jayda Coleman and Jennings began the top of the first with back-to-back home runs. OU led 4-0 before Clemson stormed back to score three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth.
Extra innings saw Jordy Bahl and Cagle take turns shutting things down until Jennings capped it with a solo shot in the ninth.
“Just coming home, they’re all smiling,” Jennings said. “Getting like a little mosh pit. You’re just kind of getting shoved in the middle. But you could just see the happiness, the sweat that comes into that gritty performance.”
Bahl closed the door, pitching the final three innings to improve to 18-1.
This is the way it’s supposed to be, though. Winning a championship is supposed to be hard, filled with adversity.
And if this is indeed the final game at Marita Hynes Field, what a way to go out.
“So this is one of the biggest memories I’ll walk away with,” Gasso said. “Without question, we left Marita Hynes in good spirit, too.”
Up next
Oklahoma will begin its quest for a third straight national championship by taking on Stanford in the first round of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday at USA Softball Hall Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
