OU softball stumbles, Gators force 'if' game for WCWS championship series
OKLAHOMA CITY – It doesn’t happen often for OU softball, but it’s happened more than what everybody is accustomed to in 2024.
For whatever reason, there comes a game where the Sooners aren’t clicking. And this time around, Florida was there to capitalize.
The Gators are known for their bats and brought them on their way to a 9-3 victory against OU in the Women’s College World Series semifinals on Monday afternoon at OGE Field at Devon Park.
The Sooners and Gators will meet again Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the championship series. The second game was originally scheduled for Monday, but it was moved because of a three-hour rain delay that changed Monday’s schedule.
Florida scored in each of the first five innings, just making it an incredibly tough uphill climb for OU all afternoon.
Head coach Patty Gasso elected to not go with Kelly Maxwell for the first time in the WCWS. And on this day, Nicole May and Kierston Deal could not get the job done.
May allowed four runs in two innings before Deal came in. Deal allowed a three-run home run and a two-run home run as Florida clearly has found its offense again. UF hit four home runs, including an inside-the-park one in the second inning. Skylar Wallace had two for the Gators.
Florida scored all nine of its runs with two outs.
Looking for a bright spot? OU absolutely started to find its way against Florida ace Keagan Rothrock, though. The Sooners had zero hits in the first three innings but ended up with seven hits.
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Included in that was a two-run home run by Tiare Jennings. OU also threatened with two runners on and zero outs in the sixth but couldn’t get the job done.
The OU fight kept coming in the seventh, even if the runs didn’t. Add it all up? Rothrock was forced to throw 130 pitches.
The loss ends OU’s ridiculous streak of 20 straight wins in NCAA Tournament action, dating back to 2022.
Up next
So we know it will be OU and Florida again. What we don’t know just yet is what time it will be Tuesday. The WCWS changed the Monday schedule to attempt to be fair to all four teams involved.
If Texas beats Stanford on Monday night, the Longhorns are in the championship series. If Stanford wins, the Cardinal and Longhorns will also wait until Tuesday to play their ‘if’ game.
