The Oklahoma Sooners moved on to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series with a thrilling 1-0 win over the UCLA Bruins. [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] threw a game for the ages, with 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings.
[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] provided the only offense the Sooners needed with a solo home run in the third inning. It was her 23rd of the season and fourth of the NCAA Tournament. In a game where the Sooners were able to get runners on base but couldn’t cash in, Jennings’ home run was just what the doctor ordered.
UCLA’s defense took away hits from [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] that likely would have gone for extra bases and scored runs. Instead, the Bruins kept the Sooners from pulling away.
But it didn’t matter as Maxwell was masterful throughout the game. Even when she did get in a little bit of trouble, she found a way to work out of the inning. She’d been great for the Sooners in 2024 but took her game to another level in the win over the Bruins.
“Kelly decided to throw one of the best games of her life today,” Gasso said. “There was no way we would be pulling her after the job she was doing.”
Maxwell was absolutely phenomenal in the win, stifling a UCLA offense that was red-hot coming into the game. The Sooners are now one win away from the championship series.
Here’s a look back at the Oklahoma Sooners win over UCLA in our latest photo gallery from the [autotag]Women’s College World Series[/autotag].