OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Oklahoma's Division I-record 20-game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament ended Monday when Florida, trailing by three home runs, stunned the Sooners 9-3 in the Women's College World Series semifinals. .
Because Oklahoma entered the game undefeated in bracket play and the Gators suffered a loss in the double-elimination format (10-0 to Texas on Saturday), the Sooners remain alive in their quest for a fourth consecutive national title. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday in a winner-take-all rematch.
First it rained, forcing a three-hour delay, then it poured down on the Sooners. Florida rookie phenom Keagan Rothrock, who leads the nation in wins (33-8), shut down the Sooners' bats, keeping them hitless until the fourth inning. Once they got the bats going, they couldn't capitalize in key situations and couldn't stop the Gators' offense.
“Tough game for us,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “Florida hit the ball really well today. You have to give them credit. We left 10 runners in scoring position, so that's tough when you look at the scores… We didn't play well enough to win this game in every way. “It wasn't just throwing. It was in every way.”
The Sooners have been so dominant for so long that the six-run loss was Oklahoma's second-biggest loss in 74 WCWS games, trailing only a 13-run loss to UCLA in the 2019 championship series. Gasso's first loss to a former Sooners assistant (Florida coach Tim Walton worked for her from 1999 to 2002), ending an 0-52 streak.
The Gators hit OU starter Nicole May hard, collecting six hits and four earned runs in two innings. May is 62-6 in her OU career, but three of those losses came in the WCWS, where she is 1-3 with a 6.21 ERA and 7 home runs allowed in 23 innings.
Three of those long balls came on Monday, including Kendra Falby's inside-the-park home run in the second inning, just the third in WCWS history.
“I think that's the fastest I've ever seen her run, honestly,” said teammate Skylar Wallace, who hit two home runs, her first multi-homer game of the season.
Rothrock was able to hold steady even though the Sooners began to lose their lead. Even when they did get runners on base, Rothrock was able to get out of trouble time and time again.
“There's an opportunity in those games for most average freshmen to get nervous,” Walton said. “He found a way to get another gear and get better.”
The good news for the Sooners is that they forced Rothrock to throw 130 pitches, to get a good look at Tuesday's likely starter.
“She's a horse,” Gasso said. “She's really doing a great job for that program. As a freshman, [it’s] really very impressive.”
OU, meanwhile, has Kelly Maxwell (21-2) rested for Tuesday's elimination game. He pitched a gem of a 1-0 shutout with 11 strikeouts against UCLA on Saturday.
The Sooners are confident they will bounce back. A winning streak ended, but OU's quest for a fourth consecutive national championship remains intact.
“The Sooners play better after they hit us in the mouth,” receiver Kinzie Hansen said. “That's what I've learned this season.”
