Oklahoma, which won its fifth national title in the past nine World Series, was historically dominant. The numbers tell part of the story.
Oklahoma lost three games this season, including one to then-No. 18 Texas in mid-April and another to a top-10 Oklahoma State team a month later in the Big 12 title game. The latter, a 4-3 defeat, represented one of the team’s lowest scoring outputs this season, and it marked the first time the Sooners had not won the regular season and tournament titles since 2012.“This team is not happy with the defeat,” Gasso said after the loss.
Oklahoma responded once regionals began, crushing its next six opponents by a 113-11 margin — sans a 7-3 defeat to UCLA in the first game of the semifinal, which, on the brink of elimination, the Sooners avenged with a 15-0 drubbing of the Bruins later that day.Alo has been a prolific record reviser during this year’s College World Series. Entering Thursday’s game, she held at least five WCWS records — or shared them with Jennings.
With stars such as Alo and Jennings, who led Division I in RBI this year , Oklahoma’s firepower was a well-known commodity before this season. If there was a question as to whether the team could repeat, it centered on its pitching after the program returned just one of its primary pitchers . But Gasso reloaded with Bahl, who was named an all-American this season, and Hope Trautwein, a North Texas transfer who last year recorded the first all-strikeout perfect game in NCAA Division I history. All three rank in the nation’s top 10 in ERA, led by Trautwein , Bahl and May . For May’s part, she earned the 20-0 win against Texas A&M on May 22, which sent the Sooners to the super regional and was the largest margin of victory in NCAA tournament history.