Tag: Grace Lyons

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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Oklahoma Sooners beat Hofstra Pride 11-0

Oklahoma dominates Hofstra 11-0 in the Norman Regional. Kinzie Hansen went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Nicole May held the Pride to one hit over four innings of work.

Oklahoma softball started its national title defense in run-rule fashion with an 11-0 win over the Hofstra Pride.

Jayda Coleman reached first on an error, and Tiare Jennings smashed a double to the wall to move Coleman to third. Haley Lee beat out an infield single to drive Coleman in to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

In the bottom of the second, Grace Lyons made it 3-0 with her eighth home run of the season, a two-run bomb to score Kinzie Hansen.

With one out in the third, Lee and Alyssa Brito reached with back-to-back singles before Hansen cleared the bases with a double to make it 5-0.

In the fourth inning, Oklahoma put the game in run-rule territory, plating six in the inning and sending 11 Sooners to the plate to make it 11-0. Jayda Coleman hit her team-leading 15th home run of the season to kickstart the scoring in the frame. Cydney Sanders drew a walk, and Lee reached base for the third time in the game with a walk of her own. Jocelyn Erickson, pinch-running for Sanders, scored on a single by Brito, and Hansen added another pair of RBIs with a single to center to make it 10-0.

Oklahoma got their final run of the game when super senior Grace Green reached on an error, which allowed Hansen to score from second to make it 11-0.

Nicole May dominated from the circle, throwing four innings of one-hit ball. May didn’t walk a batter and struck out five to pick up her 17th win of the season and lower her ERA to 0.58 on the season. Alex Storako closed out the win with

Oklahoma now gets ready for Missouri, who beat California 5-1 in game two of the regional. Leadoff hitter Jenna Laird went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored. Alex Honnold provided the big blast with a three-run home run out of the two-hole

The Sooners and the Tigers will face off at 2 p.m. CT.

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Norman Regional schedule and weekend primer: Oklahoma vs. California set for Sunday afternoon

Norman Regional Softball 2023 Schedule, weekend preview. Can anyone dethrone a loaded Oklahoma team in the regional?

Oklahoma continued their hot start to the NCAA tournament with an 11-0 win over Missouri. The Sooners kept their former Big 12 foe and future SEC league mate at bay with some stellar pitching from Jordy Bahl.

The bats didn’t take long to come to life as Oklahoma scored in the first and the third to jump out to an early 5-0 lead.

Missouri didn’t have an answer, striking out seven times and reaching base twice.

California defeated the Missouri Tigers to advance to Sunday’s matchup with Oklahoma.

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.

Sooners depth shines in 6-1 win over the Texas Longhorns

The Oklahoma Sooners depth stepped up when the top of the order was held in check by the Texas Longhorns, and that was the difference in their Big 12 title win over the Texas Longhorns.

Some days, the opposition just gets the better of your best players. That’s sort of what happened on Saturday in Oklahoma City when the Oklahoma Sooners took on the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 title game.

Texas held [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] to an 0-12 day combined. The difference in the 6-1 win was the play of Haley Lee, Kinzie Hansen, Rylie Boone, Nicole May, and Jordy Bahl.

So when I say “sort of,” what I mean is the Sooners have a lot of “best players.”

Their lineup is littered with some of the best players in the country. Players that would be the best player on 99% of teams in the country. And Oklahoma needed them to come through.

Haley Lee got the scoring going with a home run and scored a few innings later. Hansen, Boone, and Brito had RBIs as well. Bahl showed off her skills in the circle, at the plate, and on the base paths helping keep the Texas bats at bay and scoring a pair of runs with elite baserunning.

We know of Bahl’s pitching ability, but because she’s an exceptional athlete, she impacts the game in every facet.

And that’s why Oklahoma is so difficult to beat. Texas held Coleman and Jennings to zero hits. They are two of the best players in the nation and National Player of the Year Finalists. And it didn’t matter because Patty Gasso has assembled a roster that can beat you up and down the order.

Hansen’s been one of the best players on the roster this year. Her ability at the plate has given Oklahoma another hitter that can change a game with one swing of the bat. Her work behind the player has been instrumental in helping the Sooners nation-best team ERA.

Rylie Boone could be the leadoff hitter for 99% of teams across the country, and she helps set the table for Coleman and Jennings at the back of the order. Her hitting ability and speed threaten teams every time she comes to the plate.

And then there’s Alyssa Brito, a Big 12 all-conference team snub. She’s continued to be a big-time player for the Sooners and came through in a big moment with her RBI double.

Haley Lee hadn’t had a multi-hit game since April 8 and with her two-hit performance against Texas, she’s now had a pair of hits in back-to-back games for the first time since March 10.

The Oklahoma Sooners are an incredibly difficult team to beat because they have a dangerous lineup 1-9, and their bench can come through in a pinch as well. It matters that they have some of the best players in the game, but it also matters that this team has the best depth in the game.

And it’s that depth that’s going to help them in their pursuit of a third-straight national title.

Oklahoma Sooners off to roaring postseason start with 9-0 win over Iowa State

Oklahoma’s offense erupted for nine runs in the first three innings and Alex Storako, Kierston Deal, and Jordy Bahl combined to allow 1 hit in the Sooners 9-0 win over Iowa State.

It didn’t take long for the Oklahoma Sooners to announce their presence in the Big 12 championships with a 9-0 run-rule win over the Iowa State Cyclones.

[autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] made quick work of the Cyclones in the top of the first with a 1-2-3 inning, forcing a trio of groundouts to retire the side.

Then the Sooners’ bats opened strongly with a leadoff double from [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], who advanced to third on a wild pitch. [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] walked and stole second, and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] walked to load the bases.

[autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag]’ RBI single made it 1-0. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] grounded into a fielder’s choice forcing Jennings out at home. Then [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] came through with a two-run double to make it 3-0. Lee attempted to score from first and was initially ruled safe at the plate, but replay review overturned the call.

Storako avoided trouble in the second when she issued back-to-back walks to open the frame by retiring the next three batters, including a pair of strikeouts to keep the Cyclones off the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the second, [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] walked with one out. After a Coleman fly out to left, Boone advanced to second on a passed ball. Jennings drove Boone in to make it 4-0, and Sanders drew her second walk of the day. That’s when the captain put the game out of reach.

With two on and two out, Grace Lyons took the first pitch from Ellie Spelhaug to deep right center for a three-run home run to make the score 7-0.

Oklahoma kept the scoring going in the bottom of the third to put the game in run-rule territory when Jayda Coleman launched her team-leading 14th home run of the season to make it 9-0.

Coleman ended the day 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Lyons was 2-for-2 with four RBIs and a pair of runs scored.

Storako threw three innings, allowing no hits and two walks. She recorded three strikeouts before giving way to [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag]. Deal, a true freshman, threw 1.1 innings, allowing one hit, before Jordy Bahl closed out the win with a pair of strikeouts in 0.2 innings.

The Oklahoma Sooners (50-1) have won 42 in a row. Oklahoma awaits the winner of the Texas Longhorns and Kansas Jayhawks in the other semifinal game. The Sooners swept both opponents in Big 12 play.

Texas reached the semifinal overcoming a four-run deficit against Texas Tech and the Jayhawks beat the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in a game that required two days to play due to inclement weather.

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Oklahoma Softball dominates All-Big 12 Honors

Oklahoma Softball dominates the All-Big 12 postseason awards. They had won four individual awards and had eight all-Big 12 team selections.

The Big 12 released its regular season awards and the Oklahoma Sooners cleaned up.

Oklahoma dominated the individual honors, earning four awards, while Texas Tech and Baylor were up next with one a piece.

Oklahoma junior, Jayda Coleman, won the biggest award, Big 12 Player of the Year, which marks the first time one school has won the award in four consecutive years. Jordy Bahl won Big 12 Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore after co-winning the award just last season.

Grace Lyons also won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, which is the first time a player has won the award three years in a row. Patty Gasso was named Co-Coach of the Year in the Big 12, sharing the award with Baylor’s Glenn Moore. It’s Gasso’s 11th consecutive season winning the award.

Kailey Wyckoff is the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year.

Oklahoma also leads All-Big 12 selections at seven named to the first team and eight total across both teams.

Sooners pitching staff leads the way in Oklahoma’s Bedlam sweep

Oklahoma’s pitching staff came up big in the Bedlam sweep, allowing just six runs to a top 20 scoring offense in Oklahoma State.

With the regular season over, the Oklahoma Sooners finished No. 1 in scoring and ERA in 2023. An incredible feat for the most balanced and best team in college softball. We’re used to the Sooners offense being something special, but this year, Oklahoma’s pitching rotation has carried its fair share of the load as well.

Oklahoma State came into the series with the No. 8 team batting average and the No. 17 scoring offense, and the Sooners effectively shut them down.

In the series sweep, the Sooners’ pitching staff showed out. They allowed just six runs on the weekend against a top-20 scoring offense and just one home run. In the three games, Patty Gasso went four deep, utilizing Jordy Bahl, Nicole May, Alex Storako, and true freshman Kierston Deal.

The starters threw 19.2 of a possible 21 innings, and Deal provided 1.1 innings of work in Oklahoma’s come-from-behind win on Saturday evening. We’ve known what Oklahoma’s three primary starters were capable of, but Deal’s performance against the Cowgirls provided a glimpse of just how dangerous the Sooners’ pitching staff will be in tournament play.

When most teams will shorten their rotation of pitchers, the Oklahoma Sooners will be able to utilize four to great effect in Big 12 and NCAA tournament play.

This week, Oklahoma will play at most two games. That gives Gasso plenty of options along the way as they seek a Big 12 tournament title. When they get into regionals, super regionals, and the Women’s College World Series, nobody is set up as well as the Oklahoma Sooners because of their deep pitching staff.

For the Sooners to win their third-consecutive national championship, they’ll need the pitching staff to continue to be as good as they’ve been all season long. With a deep trio of starting pitchers and an effective true freshman that can provide a spot start or a relief appearance, Oklahoma will be incredibly difficult to beat in May and June.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s sweep of Oklahoma State in Bedlam.