OU softball: Counting down the 2023 moments

OU softball made history this season. Even with all the expectations and pressure, the Sooners came through time and time again.

Oklahoma finished at 61-1 overall and the best winning percentage of all time. The Sooners ended the season on an NCAA-record 53-game winning streak.

And oh yea, OU won its third straight national championship and seventh under head coach Patty Gasso.

Time for the moments. The games, the memories that made 2023 a season no fan will ever forget.

No. 10: Bahl-ing in Baton Rouge

Lost in all the hoopla about the Women’s College World Series being in Oklahoma City are games like this where OU went to Baton Rouge to play at LSU. This was the game where everybody knew Jordy Bahl was about to go next level. Bahl pitched a complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts and 130 pitches in the 3-0 victory.

No. 9: Revenge is sweet

Give it up to Baylor as the Bears are the only team that can say they took down OU (4-3). But when the Big 12 series went to Waco in April, it was another story. A dominant story for the Sooners. OU didn’t allow a run in sweeping the Bears 7-0, 4-0, 2-0.

No. 8: Bruin beatdown

A week after the Baylor loss, OU went to California to play then-No. 1 UCLA. Oh boy. An absolute beatdown of the Bruins, 14-0 in five innings. OU had six home runs (Jayda Coleman, Alyssa Brito, Tiare Jennings, Haley Lee and Kinzie Hansen (2)). The only reason this doesn’t rank higher is, well, UCLA as a No. 2 overall seed didn’t even make it out of its own regional.

No. 7: WCWS in March in Norman

The rare occasion where an elite team came to Norman in the non-conference. Florida State gave OU everything it could handle, a precursor of what would come in the WCWS championship series. The Sooners fought back from an early deficit for a 5-4 victory. Bahl closed the show in relief.

No. 6: Green’s moment; Gasso ‘putting it out there’

The Kansas series wasn’t about the competitive nature of the games. But the emotions that went through Marita Hynes Field when Grace Green hit a three-run home run in a 14-0 victory. Or the following day on the final regular season home game where Gasso got caught up in the moment and wondered whether OU softball should try to play a game at the football stadium. She was just, you know, ‘putting it out there.’

No. 5: Bedlam comeback

The Big 12 regular season title was wrapped up. Oklahoma State was up 2-0 entering the top of the seventh. If ever OU could afford a loss, it was here. Ha. The Sooners scored four, highlighted by Tiare Jennings’ two-run double. Freshman Kierston Deal closed the show in her biggest performance of the season.

No. 4: Setting the single-game record

Gasso has talked about the moment a bunch since it happened. A record crowd of 8,930 for a regular season game between OU and Texas at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium. The start of an incredible three-game set vs. the Horns and an 8-1 victory.

No. 3: Jennings cracks the Canady code

Happy birthday to Tiare Jennings, who found a way to crack the NiJaree Canady code vs. Stanford in the ninth inning of the WCWS semifinals. Jennings was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts before coming through with a two-run double in the top of the ninth for a 4-2 victory.

No. 2: Coleman comes through

This is when you knew there was just something special happening. Texas was up 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh on April 1. Jayda Coleman hit a two-run, opposite field home run to tie it. Later in the inning, it was Kinzie Hansen with the walk-off hit for the 4-3 win. An electric moment.

No. 1b: Sooner Magic one last time at Marita Hynes Field

Take your choice between 1b. and 1a. here. One of the greatest moments at OU in Sooner sports history. Down 7-4 in the top of the seventh in Game 2 of the Super Regional vs. Clemson. Down to the final strike twice only to come through. Two outs, two on, 0-2 count, and Kinzie Hansen showed what Sooner Magic is all about. A three-run home run off Clemson star Valerie Cagle. It felt like a movie script had been written. Tiare Jennings would hit the winning home run in the ninth inning to send out Marita Hynes Field with one more classic contest in the 8-7 victory. Added bonus? Hynes was in attendance, making the drive from New Mexico.

No. 1a: How sweet is a three-peat

It was going to be hard to top the Clemson game. And maybe the championship didn’t, you could argue. But the storylines were ridiculous in the 3-1 clincher. OK, you had Alex Storako getting the surprise start and coming up big. You had a transfer in Cydney Sanders, who had struggled mightily to begin the year, with the tying home run. The captain, Grace Lyons, ends up providing the final home run and etching her name in history. The ridiculous robbing of a three-run home run by Jayda Coleman. And Jordy Bahl closing out the WCWS at 4-0 with a save and not allowing a run. FSU was a worthy challenger, but the Sooners were always up to the task. Back-to-back-to-back – mission accomplished. Freedom.