OKC bound: Sooners sweep FSU, advance to Women's College World Series

NORMAN — After Oklahoma's 11-3 win over Florida State in Game 1 on Friday, OU coach Patty Gasso knew things wouldn't be quite so easy on Saturday.

If the Sooners were going to complete the sweep and punch their ticket to the Women's College World Series, the Seminoles were going to make them earn it. That proved to be the case, as the two teams were tied as just 1-1 heading into the fifth inning.

The fifth inning, however, changed things.

Jayda Coleman started things with a leadoff single before advancing to third base on an Ella Parker single. Coleman than scored on a wild pitch to give the Sooners the lead.

But the biggest momentum changer came from Kasidi Pickering. With two outs on the board, and Parker on second, the true freshman ripped a two-run home run to left field to push the Sooners' lead to three runs.

Florida State didn't go away easily. Kalei Harding responded with a home run in the bottom of the frame to cut into the lead.

It wasn't easy, but it was plays like Pickering's that proved to be the difference. The Sooners rode that momentum to a 4-2 victory, finishing the sweep of the Seminoles.

But most importantly, the win punches the Sooners' ticket to the WCWS for the eighth-consecutive season as they inch closer to a fourth-straight national championship.

"Proud, prideful day for the Sooners," OU coach Patty Gasso said. "... The Sooners really have been trending upwards. I liked the tight games. I think it's really good for us. I'm really proud of this group tonight."

While the offense made enough plays, the pitching staff did just enough to limit Florida State's offense.

With Kelly Maxwell sitting out for a potential if-necessary game on Sunday, the Sooners went with a platoon approach. Kierston Deal got the start before handing the ball to Karlie Keeney in the third inning.

Those two did just enough to limit the Seminoles' offense before Nicole May came in to close things out. The Seminoles, which averaged 7.5 runs per game coming into the weekend, scored just five total runs against the Sooners across the two games.

"Really, really happy with our pitching staff," Gasso said. "I love what they did and how they handed the torch to each other, with (Deal) and then Karlie Keeney got some really big outs. They really had the right mindset. They had a boss mindset.

"I'm telling you, when you hold a team like Florida State to two runs, that's winning because they are incredible swingers, they are just really good hitters."

Here's a few other notes from the game:

— Coleman added yet another entry onto her list of spectacular grabs in the outfield.

With the Sooners leading 4-1 in the fifth and the Seminoles attempting to rally, Jaysoni Beachum sent one off of Karlie Keeney straight to centerfield. The ball was headed over the fence, until Coleman got a hold of it.

Jennings, who famously robbed a home run in last year's WCWS final against the Seminoles, struggled when asked to rank her all-time highlight plays.

"That's tough. I like all my robbed home runs, I'm not even gonna lie," Coleman said. "But I will have to say, I had 110% trust in Hannah Coor, because she was the one that was telling me how much space I had until the wall because I didn't even look back at the wall at all. So having 100% trust in your left fielder or your right fielder is key to making those plays and that was a reason why I was able to make that play."

— Not to be outdone by Coleman, Cydney Sanders made her own highlight play on a foul ball in the sixth inning.

— The Sooners' first run came in the second inning. With Parker on first base and Tiare Jennings on third, Gasso called for Parker to steal second base, and that allowed Jennings to advance home on the throw.

Parker was tagged before reaching second, but it gave OU an early lead.

"We were looking to score somehow and Ella did a really nice job of creating the rundown," Gasso said. "You create the chase with the second baseman and then you have to get her to stop, turn her body and try to throw to home plate, which is very difficult. So we gave up an out, but we gained a run and that was fine with us. You've got to get the second baseman in a full sprint or trying to reach out and the further she goes towards first, the harder the angle is to turn, so we were just waiting for that and Ella did a really good job of that making that happen."

— There was a confusing moment in the fifth inning, when pinch runner Maya Bland appeared to try to steal her way to third base despite the Seminoles being ready for it. Bland stopped and turned back before being eventually called out at second.

But the Sooners challenged the play looking for an obstruction call, and after review Bland was ruled safe.

"She was trying to be aggressive," Gasso said. "She saw that the pitcher walked out of the circle and no one was at third. so she started to take off and just trying to be aggressive, trying to do something big for the team. When she went back there was --- actually, I couldn't, I was kind of blocked. I couldn't see exactly but JT saw that there was possible obstruction. So we went and called for it."

— The full Women's College World Series slate will be revealed either Sunday night or Monday morning.

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