Tag: NiJaree Canady

Twitter Reacts to Sooners 4-2 win over Stanford to advance to WCWS Championship

The Sooners took the lead on Tiare Jennings two-run double in the top of the ninth and Jordy Bahl closed the door on Stanford to set Social Media on fire.

In the UFC, they say, “styles make fights.” That was certainly on display in the semifinal of the Women’s College World Series.

The Oklahoma Sooners and Stanford Cardinal recreated their pitchers’ duel from Thursday with another spectacular game, highlighting fantastic pitching throughout the extra-inning contest.

In the end, the Oklahoma Sooners came out on top, 4-2, to move on to their fourth consecutive Women’s College World Series championship.

Stanford jumped to an early 2-0 lead on a Kylie Chung two-run home run. Oklahoma picked up a run in the top of the second and third innings to tie it.

After that first inning, when Nicole May struggled to put away hitters when she had two strikes, she was lights out. May retired the side in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings before giving up a hit to lead off the sixth. Patty Gasso went to Jordy Bahl, who still hasn’t allowed a run in the Women’s College World Series.

Neither May or Bahl gave up a free pass in the game.

And that set the stage for another “Sooner Magic” moment.

Grace Lyons led off the top of the ninth with a double and advanced on a Rylie Boone groundout. With two outs, Stanford elected to walk Jayda Coleman to pitch to Tiare Jennings, who was 0-4.

Facing NiJaree Canady on her birthday, Jennings was down 0-2 and then knocked a line drive into the gap in right-center. Lyons and Coleman came around to give Oklahoma the 4-2 lead.

It was another incredibly clutch performance for this team, which always seems to rise to the occasion. It was another amazing win in the 2023 season, their 51st in a row. And now the Oklahoma Sooners are on their way to defend their back-to-back national championships.

No. 1 Oklahoma vs No. 9 Stanford: how to watch, game preview, key players

The Oklahoma Sooners are just one win away from reaching the Women’s College World Series finals. Oklahoma got to this point after a pair of shutouts over Stanford and Tennessee to open the WCWS. Now, they get to face the Cardinal at least one more …

The Oklahoma Sooners are just one win away from reaching the Women’s College World Series finals.

Oklahoma got to this point after a pair of shutouts over Stanford and Tennessee to open the WCWS. Now, they get to face the Cardinal at least one more time on Monday. If the Sooners win, they’ll move on to face the winner of Florida State vs. Tennessee. An Oklahoma loss in game one sets up a winner-take-all scenario tomorrow afternoon.

The Seminoles are in the same “win, and you’re in” boat as the Sooners. If they can take care of business against a game Lady Vols squad, then Oklahoma and Florida State will play a rematch of the 2021 Women’s College World Series finals, which the Sooners won as the first of their back-to-back national championships.

There’s a strong chance that we could see a pitching rematch of Jordy Bahl vs. NiJaree Canady. The two young aces have been fantastic in the postseason, in particular in the Women’s College World Series.

Canady has allowed just one earned run in two starts and Bahl hasn’t allowed a run in the WCWS. If we are graced with another Bahl vs. Canady matchup, they’ll have to be locked in to recreate the magic we saw last Thursday.

To get you ready for the game, here’s a look at how to watch and key players to keep an eye on in this WCWS semifinal matchup.

Jordy Bahl rises to the occasion to carry Sooners to 2-0 win over Stanford

In a classic pitcher’s duel, Jordy Bahl delivered for the Oklahoma Sooners with an incredible complete game shutout performance vs. Stanford.

Watching Oklahoma Softball, one enters a game expecting to see offensive fireworks. In the Sooners’ 2-0 win over Stanford on Thursday, there were certainly fireworks, but in the form of a classic pitcher’s duel.

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] vs. NiJaree Canady brought back memories of Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens or Andy Pettite for John Smoltz in the late 90s and early 2000s.

It was the stuff legends are made of.

Bahl and Canady put together performances that created a drama-filled opener for the two sides in the Women’s College World Series.

Canady, who led the nation in ERA entering the game, held the Sooners scoreless for the first 4.2 innings of work. Even in the fifth inning, when the Sooners broke through, she had Alynah Torres, Rylie Boone, and Jayda Coleman all at two strikes, and each hitter came up with a hit.

It was the Sooners’ clutchness that helped them overcome a fantastic pitching performance from Canady. And it was Bahl’s toughness, resiliency, and strikeout prowess that kept the Cardinal off the board.

Jordy Bahl allowed multiple base runners in three innings but forced Stanford to leave seven runners on base. When things tightened up for the Sooners’ sophomore pitcher, she locked in and struck her way out of several jams.

Or, as Patty Gasso said after the game, “She was just a boss today.”

“She said it herself – she lives for those moments,” Gasso said. “It’s not a lie. It’s real. She loves the pressure, and that’s where she thrives the most.”

In the pressure cooker, Bahl put together an incredible performance. Her 11 strikeouts were the third-highest total in 2023 and the sixth time she’s reached double-digit strikeouts in her collegiate career.

The Oklahoma offense has carried the Sooners for much of the last three seasons. However, in the Sooners Women’s College World Series opener, Jordy Bahl carried the Sooners in an incredible performance to help Oklahoma advance.

“Bahl has done such things throughout her two seasons in Norman, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken for granted,” Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman wrote. “She still has a long way to go and is continuing to add to her legend, but what she did against Stanford is a reminder of just how talented she is. How tough she is, too.”

And the Sooners needed every bit of her toughness and grit to guide them through to a winner’s bracket showdown vs. the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.

Here are some of the best photos from the Sooners’ 2-0 win over Stanford.

Social media reacts to Oklahoma’s 2-0 win over Stanford

Jordy Bahl was clutch and Jayda Coleman came through with the big hit to set social media ablaze after the Sooners 2-0 win over Stanford.

The Oklahoma Sooners are going to get every team’s best, every time out. On Thursday in their Women’s College World Series opener, the Sooners were challenged by one of the best pitchers in softball and passed the test.

NiJaree Canady came into the game leading the nation in ERA, and it took the Sooners until the fifth inning to finally break through with their first and only runs of the game.

But it was the timely, late-inning heroics that have become commonplace for the Sooners that won the day. Jayda Coleman came through with a two-out RBI single that squirted through the left fielder to score another run to give the Sooners all the offense they needed on a day when Jordy Bahl was dealing.

Bahl earned the complete-game shutout, pitching around several situations with multiple runners on with her determination and strikeout prowess. She allowed five hits, one walk, and no runs. She struck out 11 Cardinal to pick up the win and move to 19-1 on the season.

With a record-setting crowd in attendance, the Sooners extended their all-tim win streak record to 49 games and will now play the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at 2 pm CT on ABC.

It was a great game between two fantastic pitchers, but the outcome had Sooner Nation buzzing.

Day 1 of the Women’s College World Series: Matchups and How to Watch

Game times and how to watch day one of the Women’s College World Series.

The Oklahoma Sooners take their next step toward winning their third straight national championship on Thursday when the Women’s College World Series begins day one.

There are several intriguing matchups to watch on Thursday and while the Sooners are the favorites, they’ll face challenges on their side of the bracket from every team.

Led by Ashley Jones, Tennessee is No. 2 in the nation in team ERA, and Stanford’s [autotag]NiJaree Canady[/autotag] leads the nation in ERA. The Volunteers are also No. 2 in the nation in scoring offense. Alabama isn’t a team to sleep on either, with [autotag]Montana Fouts[/autotag] leading the way for the Crimson Tide.

The other side of the bracket doesn’t have to face UCLA, but Florida State and Oklahoma State are playing good ball. Washington and Utah have been battle-tested through the Pac-12.

Thursday’s matchups are just the beginning of the double-elimination bracket. The first-round elimination games will take place on Friday.

Here’s a look at Thursday’s matchups and how to watch.

No 4. Tennessee vs. No. 5 Alabama: 11:00 am CDT on ESPN

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Stanford: 1:30 pm CDT on ESPN

No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Oklahoma State: 6:00 pm CDT on ESPN

No. 7 Washington vs. No. 15 Utah: 8:30 pm CDT on ESPN

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Key players to watch for each team in the Women’s College World Series

As the eight teams descend on Oklahoma City, here are some of the key players to watch in the Women’s College World Series.

This week, the eight teams who qualified for the Women’s College World Series will descend upon Oklahoma City to crown the 2023 national champion. While the Oklahoma Sooners are the favorite to win the title, they’ll be challenged along the way.

Each of the eight teams in the Women’s College World Series is bringing some serious talent with them to USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

While there are certainly a lot of talented players worth mentioning from each team, here’s a look at some of the key players in this year’s WCWS field.