Oklahoma and Florida State have represented the two teams in the WCWS Championship series in two of the past seasons. In both instances, it was clear that there wasn’t a ton of separation between the two programs, but the Sooners found ways to win a pair of championships anyway.
On Thursday night in the Norman Super Regional, Oklahoma was clearly the superior team on the field, rolling to an 11-3 run-rule victory over the visiting Seminoles.
It was a complete offensive performance for the Sooners, who went 11-of-23 (.478) at the plate with eight walks and no strikeouts on the evening. Florida State’s pitching staff, which has been its weakness in 2024, just had no answer for the OU bats, which seemed to come to life in a major way.
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Despite palpable struggles at Love’s Field to this point in the season, Oklahoma finally appeared right at home on Thursday evening, and it was the class of legendary seniors who did the damage.
Alyssa Brito was supreme in the victory, blasting a pair of home runs while going 3-of-3 at the plate with three RBI. Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen both got in on the home run action as well, with Jennings’ solo shot breaking a 0-0 tie in the first and Hansen’s two-run homer making it 9-2 in the bottom half of the fourth.
Alynah Torres also added a pair of RBI, while Cydney Sanders and Kasidi Pickering each tacked on a single RBI as well.
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Kelly Maxwell went the distance for Oklahoma in the circle, and while it wasn’t her best night, she found a way to keep softball’s sixth-best scoring offense in check.
In 5.0 IP, Maxwell faced 26 batters and gave up four hits, three earned runs, and walked six batters. She did record three strikeouts on the evening and, after a shaky start, found a way to settle into the game and get control.
Now, the Sooners will try to cap off the series with a clinching victory in Game 2 on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT with the network designation TBA.
