Tag: Alyssa Brito

No. 1 Oklahoma vs No. 3 Florida State: WCWS championship key players, game preview, prediction

Women’s College World Series Championship preview between No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 Florida State: How to watch, key players and prediction.

After surviving the Women’s College World Series field unscathed, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida State Seminoles meet in the championship series starting Wednesday night.

This year’s championship is a rematch of the 2021 series that the Oklahoma Sooners won after dropping Game 1 of the three-game series. In 2021, Florida State was the No. 10 seed in the tournament and had to overcome an opening day loss in the WCWS, beating third-seeded Alabama twice to get to the finals.

This year, both the Sooners and Seminoles were the highest remaining seeds in the WCWS after UCLA was bounced in the Los Angeles Regional. Neither team suffered a loss in Oklahoma City, setting up a showdown of national powerhouses.

Led by Patty Gasso and Lonni Alameda, the two schools have rich histories. The Sooners have five more championships than Florida State, but the Seminoles have reached the championship series three times in the last six years and won it in 2018.

Here’s a look at the matchup between the No.1 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 3 Florida State Seminoles for the NCAA championship.

Oklahoma advances to WCWS Championship with 4-2 win over Stanford

After trailing 2-0 in the first, Nicole May and Jordy Bahl combined for eight scoreless innings and Tiare Jennings hit the go ahead double in the ninth to send Oklahoma to the WCWS Championship Series.

Oklahoma was tested once again and passed it with flying colors against the Stanford Cardinal, picking up their 51st win in a row, 4-2 in extra innings.

Nicole May and Alana Vawter got the start for their respective sides. Both pitched well before giving way to [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] and NiJaree Canady, who recreated their pitcher’s duel from Thursday, with the Sooners coming out on top once again.

Stanford started fast in the first inning. They had three hits in the inning, highlighted by Kylie Chung’s two-run home run to give Stanford a 2-0 lead right out of the gate. Each of the three hits came with two strikes in the at-bat.

Oklahoma then scored in the second inning thanks to a sac-fly by [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] that brought home [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] to make it 2-1 after two innings. [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] then opened the third inning with a home run that tied it after three innings 2-2. It was Coleman’s 17th home run of the season and is tied for the team lead.

The game was a stalemate the rest of the way as Bahl and Canady put on a pitching clinic. The two underclassmen were fantastic. Even when they gave up a hit, found ways to work around trouble.

In the top of the ninth inning, Oklahoma finally found some separation when, after a leadoff double by [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] and an intentional walk to Coleman, [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] doubled to right field to make it 4-2.

In the bottom of the ninth, Bahl made quick work of the Cardinal, retiring them in order, including two strikeouts.

After allowing two runs on three hits in the first inning, [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] rallied to retire the side in the next four frames against Stanford. It wasn’t until the bottom of the sixth that she allowed the fourth hit of the game. She collected three strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk in what turned out to be a clutch performance.

Bahl threw four innings, allowing four hits and collecting six strikeouts to pick up her 21st win of the tournament.

For Stanford, Vawter allowed four hits and two runs while also having two strikeouts. Canady was the star for the Cardinal. She allowed four hits and two runs on four hits and picked up six strikeouts.

Game 1 of the WCWS Championship will start on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT, and will be broadcast on ESPN. It’s Oklahoma’s fourth straight trip to the Women’s College World Series Championship and

The Sooners will face the winner of No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 4 Tennessee.

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Grace Lyons wins Gold Glove Award and 5 Sooners named NFCA All-Americans

Grace Lyons wins Gold Glove Award and five Sooners named NFCA first-team All-Americans.

The Oklahoma Sooners dominated the national awards in softball with five Sooners named NFCA first-team All-Americans. Additionally, Grace Lyons won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the best defensive player in Division I.

Grace Lyons is a five-year starter at shortstop for the Sooners and has been great in the infield throughout her career. She has started 256 games for the Sooners, all at shortstop, and holds a single-season career-best .975 fielding percentage in 2023. Lyons has helped turn 11 double plays and has committed just three errors during her fifth and final season with Oklahoma.

Lyons collects OU’s first Rawling Gold Glove Award in program history. The award was introduced to collegiate softball in 2022.

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag], [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] were named NFCA first-team All-Americans. Brito was one of six unanimous selections to the first-team.

It’s the second year in a row that Oklahoma’s had five first-team All-Americans and the 10th season out of the last 11 where they’ve had three first-team All-Americans.

The Sooners (56-1) open their seventh straight Women’s College World Series Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT versus No. 9-seed Stanford (45-13). They look to keep their record-breaking 48-game winning streak intact. 

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Oklahoma leads the way with seven D1Softball All-American selections

The Oklahoma Sooners led the way with seven selections, including five on the first-team, in @D1Softball’s All-America teams.

The Oklahoma Sooners dominated the All-American selections from D1Softball, with seven selections, including five first-team selections. Tennessee is the only other team with two first-team selections.

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] were voted to the first team. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] were second-team selections.

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] has been the Sooners’ go-to in tough spots this season. Bahl is 18-1 in 2023 with a 1.08 ERA and is allowing opponents to hit just .164 on the season.

Bahl was joined on the first team by Alabama’s [autotag]Montana Fouts[/autotag], Florida State’s [autotag]Kathryn Sandercock[/autotag], and Tennessee’s [autotag]Ashley Jones[/autotag].

Kinzie Hansen earned her first-team selection after hitting .415 with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs on the season. She’s been fantastic in the postseason for the Sooners, going 9-for-16 (.562) with two home runs and nine RBIs. Hansen’s heroics in game two gave Oklahoma a chance to win the game, break the record for consecutive wins in a row, and advance to the Women’s College World Series for the seventh consecutive season.

Tiare Jennings leads the Sooners with a .436 batting average and 60 RBIs. She’s second on the team with 16 home runs on the season, behind third baseman Alyssa Brito.

Brito is hitting .411 with her team-leading 17 home runs and is just an RBI behind Jennings with 59 RBIs.

Rounding out the first-team selections for the Sooners is center fielder Jayda Coleman. The Sooners’ leadoff hitter is batting .417 and has career highs in home runs. (16) and RBIs (46) while still getting on base at a .500 clip.

Haley Lee earned second-team utility honors by hitting .399 with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs. She’s come through for the Sooners in clutch moments all year. Her grand slam against Clemson on Friday helped break open a 4-2 contest to give the Sooners the win in game one.

Grace Lyons has an argument to be made to be a first-team player as the best shortstop in softball. The Big 12 defensive player of the year didn’t have the numbers she had a year ago at the plate but has still been fantastic, hitting .331 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs.

The Oklahoma Sooners open Women’s College World Series play against No. 9 seed Stanford on Thursday at 1:30 pm CT on ESPN.

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Power hitting paces the Oklahoma Sooners in win over Clemson

In the blink of an eye, the Oklahoma Sooners can put up a big inning like they did against Clemson in their 9-2 win over the Tigers.

One of the intriguing storylines to follow heading into the super regional matchup between Oklahoma and Clemson was how well the Tigers could keep the Sooners’ long ball in check.

Clemson’s pitching staff arrived in Norman allowing just 15 home runs all season long. Oklahoma had hit 104 home runs during the season. Something was going to give.

In game one, it was the Sooners’ power hitting that was the biggest difference in the game.

Even in the first inning, though they didn’t hit a home run, it was shots to the warning track that allowed Oklahoma to get on the board first. A leadoff double by [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] followed by back-to-back warning track sacrifice flies scored Coleman to put the Sooners up 1-0 in the early going.

Clemson had been making noise throughout the first four innings, though they’d yet to get to [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag]. Clemson starter [autotag]Valerie Cagle[/autotag] held Oklahoma to just one hit through three innings and none after Coleman’s leadoff double.

In the bottom of the fourth, [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] hit her third home run in as many games to give the Sooners a more comfortable 4-0 lead. That bomb was just an appetizer to the fifth inning feast Oklahoma would have at the plate.

The Tigers responded in the top of the fifth, finally pushing a couple of runs across the plate on Oklahoma’s ace.

But that seemed to awaken Oklahoma’s lineup in the bottom of the frame. Rylie Boone got the inning started with a bunt single down the first base line, and Coleman and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] followed with back-to-back singles. Then came [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] with the grand slam followed by [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag]’s bomb to give Oklahoma a commanding 9-2 lead.

And just like that, any chance Clemson had at stealing game one from the Sooners was gone.

That’s what the Sooners do. They can score in a hurry and they do so in an emphatic way. Just when Clemson had roared it’s way back into the game in the top of the fifth, the Sooners flipped a switch and shut the lights out on the Tigers.

That’s one of the reasons the Sooners are so hard to beat. They don’t have an easy out in the lineup, and they can erupt out of nowhere and put a big inning together to put games away like they did against Clemson on Friday.

Now the Sooners get set to take on the Tigers in game two to earn another Women’s College World Series berth and set a new record for consecutive wins. But in order to do that, they’ll need to find the same “pass the bat” mentality that’s carried them all year long.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from Saturday’s 9-2 win over Clemson.

 

Oklahoma Sooners win 47th straight game in 9-2 victory over Clemson

The Oklahoma Sooners tied the all-time record for consecutive wins with their 9-2 win over the Clemson Tigers.

Oklahoma shrugged off a slow start to beat Clemson 9-2 in the first game of the Norman Super Regionals. The Sooners tied the all-time NCAA softball winning streak at 47 games in a row, which was previously held by the 1996-97 Arizona Wildcats. The Sooners are now 55-1 on the year.

To start the game, Clemson didn’t do much and only got one hit in the first inning. Haley Lee then helped Oklahoma with a sac-fly that brought in Jayda Coleman to make the score 1-0 after one inning.

In the second, the Sooners took advantage of a Clemson error to extend their lead to 2-0. While Oklahoma was leading, Clemson’s Valerie Cagle was keeping the Sooners’ bats in check for the most part.

In the fourth, Cydney Sanders broke the game wide open. for the Sooners with a two-run home run to make the score 4-0. It was the third straight game with a home run for Sanders, who now has seven on the season.

The game got interesting again in the top of the fifth.

Clemson scored two runs thanks to a double by Caroline Jacobsen that scored McKenzie Clark and Ansley Houston. The Tigers had been getting to Jordy Bahl throughout the contest but finally broke through to give the Sooners a scare.

Staying steady, Oklahoma pulled away for good in the bottom of the fifth. Rylie Boone got the inning going with a leadoff bunt single. Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings followed suit with singles of their own to load the bases. Haley Lee then came to the plate. After working a 3-1 count, Lee went deep to center for a grand slam and an 8-2 lead.

Alyssa Brito provided the exclamation point in the game with her 15th home run of the season to make it 9-2.

The sixth and seventh innings were very quiet with neither team getting a hit the rest of the game.

Jordy Bahl started the game for the Sooners with 5.1 innings pitched. She allowed eight hits, two runs and had six strikeouts. She battled throughout the game, stranding Clemson runners in the first three innings. Bahl moved to 17-1 on the season. Alex Storako provided 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to close the game for Oklahoma.

National Player of the Year finalist, Valerie Cagle, had a strong start to the game. And despite the two runs allowed in the first two innings, she limited the Sooners lineup from making more noise until the fourth and fifth. Cagle pitched four innings and allowed eight runs on seven hits and had two strikeouts in the game.

Oklahoma and Clemson will meet again in the second game of the Norman Super Regional on Saturday at 12 p.m. An Oklahoma win would send the Sooners to the WCWS, while the Tigers need a win to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament.

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Social media reacts to Sooners 9-2 record-tying win over Clemson

The Oklahoma Sooners erupted for five runs in the fifth with a grand slam from Haley Lee and a home run from Alyssa Brito and social media was loving it.

Through the first three innings, Clemson starter and USA Softball National Player of the Year Finalist [autotag]Valerie Cagle[/autotag] held the Oklahoma Sooners to one hit.

Oklahoma manufactured a couple of runs, but nothing was coming easy at the plate. Then Cydney Sanders launched a two-run home run to give Oklahoma breathing room as Clemson threatened in each of the Tigers’ at-bats.

With the 4-0 lead after four, Clemson responded with a pair of runs, taking advantage of a throwing error and using some timely hitting to make it 4-2. That’s when the Sooners bats woke up.

[autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] reached first on a beautiful bunt single followed by base hits from [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag]. Then [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] came to the plate and mashed a grand slam for her 13th home run of the season. And if that wasn’t enough, Alyssa Brito followed Lee with a solo shot of her own for home run No. 15 of the season to make it 9-2.

And in a few swings of the bat, the Sooners went from a team that was facing a serious challenge to cruising to victory.

With the win, the Sooners have tied the all-time record with their 47th consecutive win.

Oklahoma Sooners advance to super regionals with 16-3 win over Cal

The Oklahoma Sooners advance to the super regional round of the NCAA tournament after a 16-3 win over California.

Oklahoma’s offense got going right out of the gate and didn’t look back as they dominated the California Golden Bears 16-3 in five innings. The Sooners hit six home runs in the game, extending their winning streak to 46 games.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] got the scoring going in the first inning when she launched a homer to make it 1-0. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] doubled, and [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] hit a home run to put Oklahoma up 3-0. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] singled, and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] smashed a home run to extend the lead to 5-0. Jocelyn Erickson went back-to-back with Sanders with a solo shot to put the Sooners up 6-0 in the top of the first.

Jennings hit her second home run of the day in the top of the second to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead.

They kept the scoring going in the third inning. Rylie Boone brought in Hansen on an RBI single to make it 8-0 and put Oklahoma in run-rule territory. Coleman doubled to score Grace Lyons on an RBI, which made it 9-0. Jennings drove a double of her own to score Boone and Coleman and put the Sooners well out in front 11-0. Not to be outdone by Tiare Jennings, Alyssa Brito hammered her second home run of the day, a three-run shot to give Oklahoma a 14-0 lead after three.

Cal scored three runs on three hits in the third after loading the bases. Alex Storako wasn’t her sharp self, and Nicole May came in to limit the damage.

In the fourth inning, Grace Lyons hit a sacrifice fly that brought home Alynah Torres to make the score 15-3. Quincee Lilio then singled to right center and to score Jocelyn Erickson to extend the lead 16-3.

May was able to get the shutdown inning in the fourth inning before giving way to Kierston Deal who pitched a scoreless fifth.

Storako allowed five hits and three runs in 2.2 innings pitched. May and Deal combined to throw three innings of perfect ball, keeping the Golden Bears off the base paths once May entered the game.

Tiare Jennings went 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored. Brito was 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs. Haley Lee, Kinzie Hansen, and Jocelyn Erickson each had multi-hit games for the Sooners.

Oklahoma will now welcome Clemson for their three-game series in the super regional after the Tigers beat Auburn in a winner-take-all game Sunday afternoon. The Sooners’ 13 straight super regional appearances is the longest own the longest streak in the nation

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Social media reacts to Oklahoma’s win over California, sweep of Norman Regional

The Oklahoma Sooners launched six home runs to beat the California Golden Bears and social media reacted accordingly.

The Oklahoma Sooners steamrolled through the Norman Regional with an impressive 16-3 win over the California Golden Bears on Sunday afternoon to advance to the super regional round of the NCAA tournament.

Oklahoma mashed six home runs, including a pair each from Tiare Jennings and Alyssa Brito.  It was another incredible performance by the back-to-back defending national championships.

The Sooners outscored Hofstra, Missouri, and California by a score of 38-3, capped off by their dominating performance of the Golden Bears on Sunday. Now they wait for the winner of Clemson vs. Auburn in the Clemson Regional.

Here’s how social media reacted to Oklahoma’s 16-3 win on Sunday.

Oklahoma Sooners take home 7 NFCA All-Region honors

As Oklahoma prepares for the Norman Regional, seven Sooners were selected to the NFCA All-Region first and second team.

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to defend their back-to-back national championships, seven players were named to the NFCA All-Region first and second teams.

That’s a hefty number and one that’s tied for the most in the nation with LSU and Oklahoma State. The Sooners and Tigers led the way with five first-team selections while the Cowgirls had four.

The Sooners could have had a couple more players make the Central All-Region team. Nicole May and Alex Storako would have been worthy considerations as well. They’ve had fantastic seasons. May is second in the nation in ERA and Storako is fourth. Though neither player has thrown more than 100 innings at this point, they’ve been instrumental in the Sooners’ 43-game winning streak.

Here’s a look at the seven players who were named to the NFCA Central All-Region team.