The Oklahoma Sooners opened the Women’s College World Series with a 2-0 win. The win kept their record-breaking streak intact with a 49th consecutive victory.
Right off the bat, this game had the makings of a pitcher’s duel between Jordy Bahl and Stanford’s NiJaree Canady. In the first inning, both teams put runners on base, but neither team could get anything going. And that would be the theme for much of the afternoon.
The Cardinal were outhitting the Sooners for much of the contest as NiJaree Canady kept the No. 1 offense in the country quiet through four innings. Stanford put multiple runners on base in the first, fourth, and fifth innings but came away empty handed as Jordy Bahl pitched around several difficult situations.
Oklahoma finally found some life in the bottom of the fifth inning. Alynah Torres earned a one-out single. Patty Gasso inserted Avery Hodge to run for Torres. With two outs in the inning, Rylie Boone singled to put runners on first and second. Then Jayda Coleman did what Sooners do and came through in a clutch moment with an RBI single that turned into two runs after an error by the left fielder.
All three base hits in the inning came with two strikes in the count against Canady, who boasts the lowest ERA in the nation.
Several times throughout the game, the Cardinal threatened to score and each time, Jordy Bahl came up with a big strikeout to end the threat. Bahl earned a complete game shutout to move to 19-1 on the season and lower her ERA to 1.03 in 2023.
Bahl collected 11 strikeouts for the win, navigating around seven base runners in the win. Canady was great for Stanford, allowing just two runs on four hits, while collecting seven strikeouts in the contest.
The win sets up a great matchup, as the Sooners will take on the 4th-seeded Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
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