Oklahoma beats Alabama to book Women's College World Series trip
For the seventh straight season, the Oklahoma softball team has a late-spring trip planned to Oklahoma City.
OU, the national No. 2-seed, booked a seventh straight trip to the Women's College World Series on Saturday, beating Alabama, 13-2. The last time the Sooners failed to make to the WCWS, some of its players were in junior-high school.
An eight-run explosion in the third inning proved more than enough. Oklahoma sent 13 hitters to the plate in the frame. Gabbie Garcia hit a two-run home run while Ailana Agbayani and Isabela Emerling followed with RBI singles. Abigale Dayton plated two more on a single and Ella Parker capped things with a two-run double. Every run came with one out.
Kierston Deal lost her shutout in the bottom half of the inning, but it meant little. She ultimately pitched four innings, giving up two runs, both on solo home runs. Audrey Lowry closed things out in the five-inning run-rule win.
Parker and Nelly McEnroe-Marinas hit solo home runs to bookend OU's four-run fifth inning. In-between, Garcia hit another two-run shot provided enough scoring to force Alabama to respond in the bottom of the inning to avoid an early finish.
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso will coach in her 18th Women's College World Series. She has led OU to eight national championships, including each of the last four.
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