OU softball blitzes Alabama, back to Women's College World Series
Inevitable is the word as OU softball is headed back to Devon Park, back to Oklahoma City, back to the Women’s College World Series.
Nine seasons in a row.
The Sooners used an eight-run blitz in the top of the third against Alabama to leave zero doubt about whether this young team could rise to the occasion.
OU cruised to the 13-2 run-rule (five innings) victory against Alabama in Game 2 of the Norman Super Regional on Saturday afternoon at Love’s Field to punch its WCWS ticket again.
The Sooners never publicly said it, but there were the rumblings that OU wanted a second crack at Alabama. The Crimson Tide took two of three from OU in the regular season in Tuscaloosa. Head coach Patty Gasso wanted to show how different her team is now compared to then.
Postseason is a different animal. And the postseason in Norman is something Bama had never experienced or any trip to Norman, for that matter. For the fifth postseason game in a row, OU jumped out on top and never looked back.
Because what we learned is you can be young or a fresh face and still be ready for this type of moment.
Abby Dayton gave OU a 1-0 lead in the second before the floodgates opened in the third. Gabbie Garcia hit a two-run rocket home run for her 19th of the season. Added No. 20 later in the game.
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Dayton drove in two more. Ella Parker had a two-run double. The party was on.
After Alabama had cut the margin to 9-2 on a pair of solo shots, Parker delivered a towering bomb of her own in the fifth. Garcia added even more insurance with her second two-run home run of the game. Captain Nelly McEnroe-Marinas added one of her own in a four-run fifth.
So we’ll never truly answer the No. 2 pitcher question. Kierston Deal worked out of some issues in the initial two innings. It was 9-0, obviously, when she took the circle again for the third.
Deal threw four innings, allowing the two home runs, walking two and striking out. Freshman Audrey Lowry closed it out in the fifth.
Up next
No. 2-seeded OU (50-7) will play either Tennessee or Nebraska in the first round of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday in OKC. If it’s the Vols, seventh-seeded UT took two of three from OU in Norman earlier this season. If it’s the Huskers, well, it’s going to because Jordy Bahl was so dang special. A two-time champion at OU, Bahl has been just as good since moving back home for Nebraska. OU, of course, will now be gunning for its fifth straight national championship.
