Oklahoma softball has capped off its historic 2023 season with a third consecutive national championship. The Sooners defeated Florida State 3-1 in Game 2 of the best-of-three Women's College World Series finals. They extended their win streak to 53 games to continue the longest unbeaten stretch in NCAA Division I softball history.
Florida State struck first, as Mack Leonard hit a solo home run off Alex Storako in the fourth inning. Oklahoma would respond in the fifth inning with back-to-back solo shots off Seminoles ace Kathryn Sandercock, who entered the game having allowed only one home run this postseason -- Cydney Sanders and Grace Lyons were the players responsible for homers No. 2 and 3.
Alynah Torres hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to give Oklahoma the 3-1 advantage it would carry into victory.
Storako, who allowed three hits and one run over four innings, got the win for Oklahoma to finish a perfect 18-0 on the season. Jordy Bahl would finish the game in style for the Sooners, as she pitched the last three innings and didn't allow a single hit.
Oklahoma has won seven national championships, only one behind Arizona for second all-time, including five of the last seven. This season has been the most productive title run of them all, as the Sooners went 61-1, with their only loss coming against Baylor on Feb. 19.
The undefeated stretch brought plenty of attention to Oklahoma softball, leading coach Patty Gasso to view this national title as something akin to a breath of relief.
"What you feel right now from us is freedom because it was absolutely suffocating as we're going along," Gasso, who's coached Oklahoma since 1995, said after the game. "The expectations were overwhelming, but they handled it like champions, and that's why we are here right now."
