Kinzie Hansen

Redshirt senior catcher Kinzie Hansen during the NCAA WCWS semifinal game against Florida on June 3.

 Bob Nguyen/OU Daily

OKLAHOMA CITY — It was not the day for Oklahoma to advance to another Women’s College World Series final.

Due to four home runs by Florida, the Gators powered past the Sooners 9-3. With the results on Monday, the Sooners and Gators will play in an elimination game on Tuesday.

In what was considered a risky move by head coach Patty Gasso, she sent senior Nicole May to the circle to try and send the Gators home. 

May hadn’t made a start since May 19 against Oregon and came into Monday with the highest earned run average on the OU pitching staff. 

Graduate left-hander Kelly Maxwell had been superb this postseason, and her last outing against UCLA was her best performance in a Sooner uniform. Against the Bruins, Maxwell tossed a complete game shutout and only gave up two hits while striking out 11.

“I have to show the staff I believe in them,” Gasso said after the loss. “Kelly cannot take us all the way. I’ve got to get them on the mound.”

The game started out rough for the Sooners, as Florida got off to a hot start by jumping on May for three runs before the third inning. 

In the second, Florida center fielder Kendra Falby got out of an 0 for 20 slump by hitting an inside-the-park home run, after the ball got past Rylie Boone, who tried to make a diving catch. Skylar Wallace then smoked a home run into the bleachers to make it back-to-back home runs for the Gators. 

After May had allowed back-to-back hits to lead off the third, Gasso turned to left-hander Kierston Deal.

Deal would only allow one of the inherited baserunners to score, as May would only complete two full innings and would allow six hits, four runs and one walk in 55 pitches.

Senior catcher Kinzie Hansen would get a run back for the Sooners in the fourth, as she drove in Kasidi Pickering on an RBI single. Hansen’s base hit was just one of three hits with runners on base and two hits with runners in scoring position.

“We got runners in scoring position, but we couldn’t capitalize,” senior infielder Tiare Jennings said. “We got on base, we hit the ball hard and things didn’t go our way.”

Jennings would come alive in the fifth, as she hit her second home run in as many games to cut the deficit to 7-3, after Deal had allowed a three-run homer in the fourth.

It was Jennings’ 97th of her career and 10th at the Women’s College World Series. Jennings ranks second all-time on the home run list at the WCWS, only trailing Jocelyn Alo’s 12 home runs.

Despite the Sooners doing all they can to get back in the game, the Gators bats proved to be too much in the loss. 

Wallace would add on to her home run total in the fifth, when she hit a line drive two-run home run over the head of senior outfielder Jayda Coleman to bring the Gators lead back to six. The NFCA second team All-American would hit her second off Deal, who allowed five runs and two home runs in 3.2 innings of work. 

“This offense is unreal,” Wallace said after the win. “We take a lot of pride in our swings, so we’re never who we are as hitters.”

With the loss, the Sooners’ 20-game postseason winning streak is snapped. It is the first time since 2021 that they’ve lost in the Women’s College World Series. 

It is also the first time the Sooners have lost at least seven games in a season for the first time since 2017, where they defeated the Gators to win a national championship.

“The Sooners play best after we get punched in the mouth,” Hansen said. “That’s what I’ve learned this season.”

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