Big 12 Sports
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (big12sports.com) – Oklahoma is atop the softball world for the third consecutive season and the seventh time in program history.
No. 1 Oklahoma (61-1) defeated No. 3 Florida State, 3-1, on Thursday night to win the 2023 national championship. The Sooners secured their sixth title of the last decade behind an NCAA record 53-game winning streak to notch the best winning percentage (.984) in NCAA softball history.
Oklahoma joins UCLA (1988-90) as the only other program to win three straight softball titles. OU head coach Patty Gasso clinched her seventh title, second only to Arizona’s Mike Candrea with eight.
Jordy Bahl was named the Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player after becoming the first pitcher since 1994 to throw 24 shutout innings, totaling 24.2 scoreless frames in one of the most dominant WCWS efforts in program history. Four other Sooners – Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen and Rylie Boone – joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
After surrendering the game’s first run to Florida State (58-11), a Mack Leonard fourth-inning home run, the Sooners took control of the title-clinching contest. Cydney Sanders launched her ninth home run of the year to tie the game 1-1 in the top of the ninth. In the next at-bat, redshirt senior captain Grace Lyons launched the go-ahead home run to left field. In the top of the sixth, Alynah Torres drove in pinch-runner Bahl to add an insurance run.
Alex Storako, playing in her final collegiate game, got the start for Gasso’s team. She improved to 18-0 on the season, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing just three hits and one run. With the lead, Bahl was tasked with closing the game out. The sophomore pitcher tossed three no-hit, shutout innings to finish off the Seminoles.
The Sooners finished the season with more wins (61) than runs allowed (59).
