Jun. 3—For five straight innings to start Monday’s Women’s College World Series, Oklahoma was able to pull within one out of keeping Florida from scoring any runs, but the Gators just wouldn’t go away.By the time the Sooners finally made it out of an inning unscathed they trailed by six runs. The Gators hit four home runs, including an inside-thepark home run to hand the Sooners their biggest defeat since the 2020 season.Florida’s 9-3 win forces an elimination game on Tuesday at 1 p.m.“I don’t think this was our best game by any means,” OU head coach Patty Gasso said. “The beauty of this is that we get another opportunity to make it right.”The Sooners gave ace pitcher Kelly Maxwell a game off after earning starts in their first two WCWS games. Gasso gave the ball to senior Nicole May, but the Gators had her number early on.They had two hits and a walk to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Then, she put the first two batters down in order in the second before Kendra Falby hit a fly ball to shallow left field.Rylie Boone dove to make the play, but the ball got by her and rolled all the way to the corner of the outfield. Falby easily beat the throw for an inside-the-park home run.It was the first sign that the Sooners might really be in trouble, but three pitches into the next at-bat, Skylar Wallace officially put the defending champs on upset alert. Wallace swung on a 1-1 pitch high in the zone that soared over the wall in right field to put the Gators up 3-0.Needing a response, the Sooners’ offense went down in order in the third.The Gators led off the bottom of the inning with back to back singles to force the Sooners to bring Kierston Deal in the circle. Deal allowed one run to score, but no more.They led 4-0 before the Sooners registered their first hit on a single by freshman Ella Parker. Kinzie Hansen hit a single later in the inning to allow Parker to score the Sooners’ first run.“I think we made good adjustments towards the end,” Tiare Jennings said. “By that time, I think it was too late.”In the bottom of the inning, Deal had one runner on base with two outs, but walked Jocelyn Erickson in a full count. The ...
