OU catches Stanford & Vawter & then defeats Canady 4-2 in 9 Inn

[OUBeliever56A]

In what may become a legendary game down the road, the Oklahoma Sooners were able to stand back up after a 1st inning blow delivered by Stanford and eventually deliverd the final and biggest blow to win the game over Stanford 4-1 in 9 innings. The game had every bit of drama and intrigue a great game usually has. An upset to start with, followed by a comeback and then a good hard fought game with a sensational ending. Instant classic!

First off, give every bit of credit to the Stanford Cardinal. They have a group of very good players that carry other solid players and have made it the Semi-Finals of the WCWS when not too many people thought they could do so. The pitching combination of Canady and Vawter is very good. Maybe as good as any pitching duo in the country. The duo is also so different from each other which heightens their usage together. Stanford has a good catcher/hitter, a underrated player at 3B and RF, a quality CF, a pretty good SS and those two pitchers. That is enough for them to be T3rd in the country after tonight's game or games between FSU and Tenn. Many congrats to them, they earned their respect and we should give it to them.

For Oklahoma, THEY just believe so much. Their Eyes are Up all the time. THEY believe in each other in every situation. THEY never stop believing that they will win. Some how, some way, they will end up on top. Because THEY have put in the work. Because THEY never took a shortcut and THEY know it. THEY understand it. THEY have worked on it since August.

The game opened with a quick one, two, three inning by Oklahoma in the top of the first facing Vawter. Stanford was ready though in the bottom of the inning. Nicole May was 'stuck' on 2 strike counts in the first. The Stanford CF singled on a 1-2 count. The second hitter flew out to deep down the LF line with a 0-2 count that Rylie Boone made a nice play on for the out. The third hitter grounded to 3B for an out with a 1-2 count with the runner moving to 2B. (I simply do not remember if this was a bunt or not, but I do not think it was.) On a pitch too close to the strike zone, Stanford's cleanup hitter hit a 2-run HR on an 0-2 count. If you wanted to hear the WCWS as quiet as it ever can be, record that moment and play it back. But maybe the Stanford crowd made enough to disprove my comment. The fifth hitter added another hit with a single on another 0-2 pitch. May found her two strike pitch against the next hitter as she got a strikeout to end the inning. A rough inning for May for sure. But not an inning that buried OU in this game.

May then settled in and recorded 13 straight outs against Stanford through the 5th inning with two more strikeouts and 0 walks and HB. I think there was only one ball that was hit well in that stretch of innings on a line drive to RC that Coleman easily made the catch. That was a big key in the game. May shut down Stanford and kept the game in contact until she gave up a single to open the bottom of the 6th. We cannot forget how well May recovered in this game.

After May allowed that single in the 6th, Jordy Bahl entered the game and immediately gave up a single to put runners on first and second. If you have watched Bahl pitch the last half of the season, you knew that Bahl had Stanford right where she wanted them. The next hitter hit the ball back to Bahl, who smartly fielded the ball and threw to 3B to get the lead runner. She made the play look easy. I bet 90% of pitchers not pitching for OU takes that ball to 1B. Not Jordy Bahl. She got the next hitter to loop a ball off the end of the bat that Grace Lyons tracked down for out #2 and almost a third as she turned quickly to throw to second base. Bahl recorded her first strikeout to end the inning. Bahl allowed a single in the 7th and two singles in the 8th inning but each time she worked out of the inning looking like she was not even fazed with another strikeout in the 7th and two more in the 8th. In the 9th, after some big time drama and the potential game winning runs scored by Oklahoma, Bahl added two more Ks and a lazy fly ball to LF to end the game. Bahl recorded 12 outs in the last four innings with 6 being strikeouts with 0 walks and 0 HB. Bahl picked up the WIN for her 21st win of the season. May added a quality start to her resume as well. OU just continues to pitch very well in 2023.

On offense, the Sooners found themselves trailing 2-0 after the first. OU went to work in the 2nd inning and got a walk from Alyssa Brito, a single by Kinzie Hansen to RF and a second walk to Lyons to load the bases. Alynah Torres plated a run (Brito) with a SFLY to plate a run to cut in to the Stanford lead before the inning ended.

In the third, Jayda Coleman found a pitch she liked on a 0-1 count from Vawter and hit the softball over the RC fence for a solo HR to tie the score at 2-2 on her 17th HR of the season.

The Sooners threatened again in the 4th when Hansen singled to RF with one out before Lyons was hit with a pitch on the left knee to put runners on 1st and 2nd. The inning died though when the Stanford 3B fielded a ground ball and stepped on 3B before throwing to 1B for a double play. I was always taught to know what you are going to do with the ball when it is hit to you, every play, every batter. The Stanford 3B did just that.

Boone opened the 5th with a single. Stanford countered at that point by removing Vawter and bringing in the heralded freshman, Canady, to pitch. Despite a wild pitch that allowed Boone to move to 2B as Canady got three outs to end the inning.

After barely nicking Brito with an inside pitch to open the 6th, Canady struck out the side impressively.

The Sooners nicked Canady a bit in the 7th as Torres hit an 0-2 pitch to LF, almost out of the park and just beyond a leaping Stanford LF for a double. She seemed to signal to the bench a message, "See, she is a human", just like the corner man for Rocky in his fight in Russia in Rocky #4 I think. Hodge pinch ran for Torres. With Boone at the plate their were many plays to choose from. Do you fake bunt and pull the 3B in with Hodge seeing if she can outrun the SS to third for a steal? Do you ask Boone to bunt to the right of Canady and see if she can field her position and move Hodge to third with no outs or one out? Does Boone swing away? Well, no one thought about, well, a popped up bunt over the charging 3B for a single. But that is what happened. Hodge had to stay at 2B though. After the Boone at bat, Canady slammed the door shut on OU, as she got Coleman to fly out, got Jennings on a K (TJs second of the game) and another fly ball to LF by a pinch-hitting Erickson.

In the bottom of the 8th, the Sooners put the ball in play 3 times but did not get a hit. To not have a strikeout in the inning felt like a victory of some sort.

In the top of the 9th of a game full of intrigue, the Captain, G3, Grace Lyons, doubled to down the LF line that one-hopped the wall on an 0-1 pitch. I remember the first time that Drago went down to his knees against Rocky. I think Canady had to get up also. After two ground outs by Torres (back in the game to hit) and Boone OU had Lyons on 3rd as she moved to 3B on Boone's grounder to SS. Stanford had two outs, Lyons on 3B with Coleman and Jennings due up. OU was in nearly the same situation in the 7th as both JC and TJ made outs. This time the Stanford pitching coach went to the circle to talk to Canady. That produced a decision. Stanford decided to walk Coleman to pitch to Jennings. Really? No, I mean REALLY? Have they ever watched Jennings in the late innings get the big hit to rescue the Sooners from defeat. There are quite a few games that can be viewed. After the catcher stood up four times and signaled for a pitch out, Coleman jogged down to 1B with a walk. Jennings on her 21st birthday, stepped to the plate with a hitless 0 for 3 day in the books.

Strike 1 on a swing and miss. Foul ball on pitch two. Foul ball on pitch three. On an 0-2 count, instead of using Canady's speedy rise ball until Jennings misses it, Stanford decided to throw a curve to Jennings. The pitch was up enough just above the knees on the outside edge of the plate. Jennings hit the ball on a line drive to RC that got to the wall on a couple of hops between the two Stanford fielders. (Somewhere Orme of Baylor and I think it was Maxwell of OSU were smiling as they thought, "There are three of us in this club that could not get Jennings out one last time".)

Jennings' double plated Lyons from 3B and Coleman from 1B to make the score 4-2. As Sooner softball fans everywhere were screaming their approval they also thought, "Who walks anyone to pitch to Jennings with the game on the line?" Who? On the hit, Jennings passed Alo for the all-time RBI lead in the WCWS. I wish I knew what the number is, but I do not.

The rest of the softball world that are not OU softball fans must have been just shaking their heads, throwing things or accusing the Sooners of all kinds of dastardly deeds.

It mattered not that Brito struck out to end the inning with OU now leading 4-2 in a very hard fought game. Very hard fought.

Bahl closed it out as we expected in 1, 2, 3 fashion as I noted about. The Sooners advance to the WCWS Finals to face either Florida State or Tennessee. The Sooners have now won 51 straight games and are 59-1 on the season. The season has been amazing so far. It has been outstanding in almost every way.

The Sooners will be rested and ready on Wednesday night. The game or games tonight will determine the Sooners opponent in the Finals. I think that the Sooners full arsenal of players and pitchers are ready to go for the Finals. They have every reason to be confident and ready. BUT, they will not take anything for granted. They understand that there is still work to be done in preparation and to restore their bodies for the final push in the Finals.

I can't wait to see how the 2023 Sooners finish this season. No hype, no fear. Just go out and play and play the way that you can. It will happen as it will happen. Just keep BELIEVING in EACH OTHER! You have everything you need. And there is a fan base behind you that will believe in you as well. The entirety of of every game.

Boomer Sooner!

[BudaSooner]

OU may or may not continue their record-breaking streak as they open their best-of-3 series with Florida State, but I really find it hard to conceive that FSU can take 2 of the 3 games.
As in so many games, so much depends upon the "breaks" of the game.
Sandercock is the Seminoles Ace pitcher, close to Jordy in quality. She will give us lots of problems, no doubt.

But do the 'Noles' other pitchers match up equally well with Nicole and Storako? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Game #1 will almost certainly be a matchup between Jordy and Sandercock, and the winner of the 1st game will receive a big boost in confidence, it may even be pivotal in who wins the Championship.

Right now, I am feeling about 75% confident that the Sooners 3 peat!

[OU Guy]

I ran into this, pretty amazing since we faced the other 2