6/6/2023 other sports Edit

FSU softball set to take on historic Oklahoma team in WCWS Championship

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

For the third time in as many trips to Oklahoma City, the Florida State softball team has advanced to the Women's College World Series Championship Series.

And for the second straight time, the Seminoles will be taking on the mighty Oklahoma Sooners with a national title on the line. The three-game series starts Wednesday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

In 2021, FSU won the first game of the WCWS Championship Series against the Sooners before OU charged back to win the final two and deny FSU a second national championship in four years.

That OU team was also the No. 1 overall seed and was excellent, finishing the season with a 56-4 record.

This year's OU team has taken its success to another level. The Sooners (59-1) enter the championship series on an NCAA-record 51-game win streak, with their sole loss this season coming back on Feb. 19 vs. Baylor.

The No. 3 Seminoles (58-9) are also entering the championship series on a hot streak. They have won 24 of their last 25 and 33 of their last 35 games entering Wednesday.

FSU is surely capable of beating the Sooners, who have won three of their last four games by two or fewer runs and two of those three in extra-inning games. But it seems clear that it will take a heroic performance from the Seminoles to put an end to this incredible Oklahoma run as the Sooners go for a third straight national championship.

Scouting Oklahoma

It doesn't take much time looking at Oklahoma's season statistics to see why the Sooners enter the championship series on a historic win streak.

They lead the country in batting average (.368), home runs (115), runs per game (8.22), earned run average (0.98) and fielding percentage (.988).

At the plate, the OU lineup has four regular starters hitting .400 or better this season and five players with 13 or more home runs this season.

It starts at the very top with a pair of National Player of the Year top-10 finalists in center fielder Jayda Coleman and second baseman Tiare Jennings.

Coleman hits .419 in the leadoff spot with a .543 on-base percentage, 17 home runs, 15 doubles, 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts and 70 runs scored (tied for fourth-most nationally) this season. Jennings has a team-high .426 batting average with 17 home runs, 16 doubles, 65 RBI (tied for sixth nationally) and just 12 strikeouts in 176 at-bats.

The weapons extend far beyond these top two hitters. There's third baseman Alyssa Brito (.400, 17 home runs, 59 RBI), catcher Kinzie Hanson (.412, 13 home runs, 55 RBI), designated player Haley Lee (.378, 14 home runs, 51 RBI) and others. All that to say, OU's lineup is exceptionally deep and will be a stiff test for FSU's talented pitching staff.

Considering what arms Oklahoma has in the circle, things won't be any easier for the FSU offense. The Sooners have three pitchers who have 99-plus innings this season and all three of them have ERAs of 1.12 or lower. The two pitchers who have thrown more than 100 innings have ERAs below 1.00.

Sophomore Jordy Bahl, a top-10 finalist for National Player of the Year in each of her first two seasons with the Sooners, leads the way for Oklahoma with a 0.97 ERA (fifth nationally) over a team-high 137.1 innings this season.

Over three WCWS appearances this year, Bahl has allowed no runs on 10 hits over 14.2 innings, walking just two batters and striking out 20. Over six NCAA Tournament appearances, Bahl has allowed one earned run in 28 innings.

The Sooners' secondary pitcher is junior righty Nicole May. May has a better ERA than Bahl this season (0.91, second nationally) over 107.2 innings. However, she's been a bit more susceptible than Bahl over her last few outings. Clemson tagged May for four earned runs over 4.1 innings in the super regional round and Stanford plated two runs on four hits off her in five innings in the semifinals on Monday.

OU's third pitcher, Michigan transfer Alex Storako has a 1.12 ERA over 99.2 innings. However, she has thrown just 0.2 innings over Oklahoma's three WCWS games so far, meaning FSU is likely to see far more of the other two arms.

In the field, the Sooners are sensational, committing just 16 errors in 60 games this season. No Oklahoma defender has committed more than three errors.

Additionally, teams have not tried to steal bases on the Sooners very often this season, Opponents are just 8 of 12 trying to run on OU and Hanson this season. That should make for an interesting contrast of styles as FSU has stolen seven bases in three WCWS games and 18 bases in nine NCAA Tournament games.