OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma. – Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso knew exactly what talent her top-ranked, record-breaking team would face in the opener of the Women’s College World Series.
“When I saw our match, I was like, ‘Okay. Oh no. Let’s go. Let’s fire up the machine, let’s grease it up and make sure it (our offensive firepower) works. They can throw so hard,” Gasso said, forcing a laugh after the Sooners won 2-0 over No. 9-seeded Stanford on Thursday afternoon at the USA Softball Complex.
As we walked in, there was no mistaking the stunning stats of NiJaree Canady, Cardinal’s real life freshman pitcher.
A 6-foot-tall right-hander from Topeka, Kan., Canada, with a 16-1 record and a microscopic ERA of 0.48, competed with an astounding 193 strikeouts in just 116.1 innings. She had allowed just eight earned runs and 19 walks in 29 appearances.
Top seed OU countered with the strongest offense in the country and an impressive pitching force of his own, two-time First Team All-American right-hander sophomore Jordy Bahl.
As a result, the third largest crowd (12,379) in WCWS history was treated to an old-fashioned pitching duel.
Bahl scattered five hits, knocked out 11 and walked one in her full game shutout. It was Bahl’s eleventh double-digit strikeout game of her career and her first of the postseason.
“Fortunately, Jordy was absolutely in top form,” said Gasso. “She was just a boss today. It was really fun to see, especially when she didn’t get the opportunity she wanted last year (due to missing out through injury) and just made the best of it from day one.”
Canady countered by allowing four hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts and a walk in 5.0 innings. Incredibly, the Sooners’ two runs were a season-high against Canady, who was eliminated after 99 pitches.
“She’s turned into one of the toughest rookies I’ve ever seen,” Gasso said of Canady. “I feel like we have a really tough, difficult duel ahead of us. Your pitching team is really good. You are very disciplined. Stanford is simply very well trained, and I can feel that quickly. They do a lot of things really well.
OU hit both runs on first-team All-American Jayda Coleman’s two-out at the end of the fifth inning with Avery Hodge at second base and Rylie Boone at first base. Hodge ran towards Alynah Torres, who had sent a single down the middle.
Hodge was in third place and would have scored even if Stanford left fielder Elle Eck had made a clean save for Coleman. Boone ran home for the second run while Eck chased the ball that went past her.
“I’m just glad we kept fighting and just kept grinning,” said Coleman, who opened the game with a single to center and closed 2 for 3 and the game’s only RBI.
“I think she saw a good throw and hit it, honestly,” Canady said of Coleman’s winner. “All I can do is throw every pitch the best I can. Yes, I think she just saw the pitch.”
Canady’s fastball was all game in the ’70s with a top speed of 75 mph.
“She really came out on top (in the count),” said Coleman. “She got strikes. I think we realized we had to tackle those shots in the zone. For some reason we felt we had to attack them, but as the innings went on we became a little more disciplined.”
OU led the nation in batting average (.372), scoring (8.39 runs per game), home runs (1.92 per game), slugging percentage (.683), and on-base percentage (.462). .
“Nothing they do surprises me at all,” Gasso said of her team’s ability to conquer Canada. “They are always ready. You always talk. You want to win. You want to be great. They love making it together. So nothing about this team surprises me.”
“I can tell you there is absolutely no overconfidence because this field of teams is packed and anyone who knows softball knows that.”
The Sooners (57-1) meet No. 4 seed Tennessee (50-8) in a winning game at 2pm CT Saturday. The Volunteers defeated Alabama 10-5 in Thursday’s opening game.
Gasso said that being tested hard in the opening round would be an advantage for the Sooners as the tournament progressed.
“I do think that a fight at the beginning – and I think that maybe we had one of the toughest duels at the beginning of this World Series – will pay off because of the fight, the fight that they had all day,” Gasso said .
“It hurts a bit,” Stanford coach Jessica Allister said afterwards. “We think we had our chances but we’re really, really proud of this group and really proud of the women to my right.”
NOTES & NUMBERS
• The win extends OU’s NCAA-record winning streak (57-1) to 49 games.
• The performance of 11 strikeouts was the first double-digit K-value of Bahl’s postseason career. It was her fourth 10-plus strikeout game of 2023 and the tenth of her career.
• The singles shutout was Bahl’s seventh win of the season and OU’s 33rd program record in 2023, matching the mark set by the 2022 squad.
• OU recorded six goals against Canady, the country’s ERA leader, and scored the most runs conceded by the country’s leader in 2023.
• The win was OU’s tenth WCWS opening win (10-6 all-time).
NEXT
Oklahoma meets four-seeded Tennessee (50-8) at 2:00 p.m. CT Saturday. The game will be shown to a nationwide audience on ABC, starring Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Holly Rowe. The game is OU’s third game to be televised on ABC in the last three years, the most of any softball program in the country.
All games can be heard on 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity Network app, with Chris Plank and DJ Sanchez providing the action.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.