No. 1 Oklahoma comes through late to defeat James Madison 6-3, move to one win away from WCWS final

No. 1 Oklahoma softball came through late to knock off James Madison 6-3 and force a rematch with the Dukes tonight for a spot in WCWS final.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball continued play at the 2021 Women’s College World Series on Sunday with a grudge match against James Madison in the semifinal round after the Dukes upset the Sooners in the opening round on Thursday.

With James Madison being 2-0 in the WCWS and the Sooners 2-1, Patty Gasso’s club entered the day needing to beat the Dukes twice to advance to the best-of-three championship series beginning Monday night.

Getting the start in the circle for Oklahoma was senior Shannon Saile who worked her way out of danger in the first few innings before running into problems in the fourth. Freshman Nicole May (15-1) would record the final ten outs of the game to finish things.

Fans at Hall of Fame Stadium wouldn’t have to wait long to see some offense, as the Sooners struck on the very first batter of the day on a solo home run from second baseman Tiare Jennings. She also took James Madison’s star pitcher Odicci Alexander deep in the first meeting on Thursday.

Oklahoma would then extend that lead in the following inning with a sacrifice fly off the bat of third baseman Jana Johns that brought shortstop Grace Lyons in to score from third base. The Sooners held an early 2-0 edge after an inning and a half.

That would remain the score until the fourth inning when right fielder Nicole Mendes would triple on a ball that was misplayed in center – allowing left fielder Mackenzie Donihoo to come all the way around from first to score. Oklahoma led 3-0 midway through the fourth.

The Dukes would then get on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning plating three runs to tie the game on a three-run shot from shortstop Sara Jubas. Oklahoma starting pitcher Shannon Saile had managed to escape danger in each of the first three innings – but she was finally burned with runners on in the fourth. The game was all even at 3-3 heading to the fifth.

Just like in the first game, the game would remain knotted at 3-3 into the seventh inning. But, this time, it would be the Sooners who would come through with the big swing.

After a bunt single to leadoff the inning by the pinch-hitting Rylie Boone, Jennings would continue her monstrous WCWS with an RBI double into the right center gap to put Oklahoma ahead 4-3.

Then, catcher Kinzie Hansen, who had narrowly missed home runs twice earlier in the game, connected on a mammoth two-run blast to push the Sooners lead out even further to 6-3.

May then finished the job in the bottom half of the inning to wrap up a stellar Oklahoma win to move to 53-3 on the year and once again keep the Sooners WCWS title dreams alive for another game. She was fantastic out of the bullpen in this one, continually giving her team a chance to win all the way up until they finally broke through.

This is yet another tremendous win for Gasso and the Sooners, responding late in a game that felt eerily similar to their first collision with the Dukes on Thursday. This team never stops battling, and they are now a win away from the best-of-three championship series.

Oklahoma and James Madison will run it back for a third time later this evening at approximately 6:00 p.m. CT at Hall of Fame Stadium.