Photo courtesy Oklahoma Softball
Jayda Coleman has provided a multitude of memorable moments in the Women’s College World Series during her tenure with Oklahoma and she added another on Tuesday at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park.
Coleman belted a walk-off home run leading off the bottom of the eighth inning lifting the Sooners to a 6-5 win over Florida to send OU to the Championship Finals against Texas beginning Wednesday.
The chase for a fourth consecutive national championship has been anything but easy for the Sooners as they have experienced bumps along the way. Uncharacteristic losses to Louisiana and BYU during the regular season coupled with series losses to Texas and Oklahoma State left many doubting the Sooners ability to return to Oklahoma City, much less win another national title.
And for much of the day on Tuesday it looked like the Sooners season would come to an end as a galvanized Florida team was laying waste to the OU pitching staff.
On Monday, Florida belted four home runs and notched 10 hits on the way to a dominating 9-3 victory. And the Gators picked right up where they left off on Tuesday.
Jocelyn Erickson blasted a two-run home run in the top of the first inning staking the Gators to an early lead. After Oklahoma tied the game at 2-2 on an Ella Parker home run in the bottom of the first, the Gators continued their assault against Kelly Maxwell.
Photo courtesy Florida Softball
Ariel Kowalewski belted a two-run home run in the top of the second inning to push the Gators lead to 4-2 and Raegan Walsh homered in the top of the third inning to increase the lead to 5-2.
But then Maxwell settled in and the Sooners began chipping away at the lead against Florida freshman Keegan Rothrock.
Maxwell was key for the Sooners as she limited Florida to one hit and no runs over the final five innings giving the OU offense time to rally.
Photo courtesy Oklahoma Softball
Cydney Sanders trimmed the Florida lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning when she hit a towering home run to center giving the Sooners life.
And the Sooners came all the way back in the sixth inning. Avery Hodge hit a one-out double to start the rally, but Rothrock retired Coleman on a fly ball to left to record the second out of the inning.
The Gators chose to pitch to Parker after issuing a four-pitch walk to Tiare Jennings. That strategy back fired as the freshman lined a single to center chasing home Hodge and tying the game at 5-5.
Maxwell retired the Gators in order in both the seventh and eighth innings to set the stage for Coleman to end things with the dramatic home run.
The Sooners will attempt to become the first team in NCAA Division I softball history to win four consecutive national championships against the top-seeded Longhorns.
The best of three series will commence on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT.
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