The WIN 3-1, A 61-1 Record, THE 3-Peat – A Season to Remember!

[OUBeliever56A]

In many ways the final game was a fitting end to the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 season. The 5th-year Senior, Alex Storako got the start, and THE WIN for the game. The 5th-year Senior, Grace Lyons, the Captain, picked up the Game-Winning Hit with a back-to-back HR in the 5th inning. Jordy Bahl, the generational pitcher got the Save and pitched as she completed a nearly flawless WCWS Tourney to be the Outstanding Player of the WCWS. The 3-1 win was a bit uncomfortable at times, but in the end, it felt just right.

When the Sooners loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the 3rd, OU had a chance to break the game open. But Kat Sandercock played her role perfectly with her defense and FSU got out of the inning. Momentum to FSU

In the bottom of the 3rd, Florida State put two runners on base with Harding at the plate. Harding hit another deep ball to CF. Coleman quickly got to the wall, timed her jump perfectly and made a game-changing catch for the 2nd out in the inning AND kept the runners from moving up a base. It was reminiscent of Coleman’s catch in last year’s WCWS Finals against Texas. (And a couple more in her career.) Harding just stood a little past 1B looking at CF with wonderment in her eyes. In Game #1, Coleman played a double of the wall with a perfect throw to second base to throw out Harding trying to get that double. She must feel snakebit by Jayda Coleman. When the next hitter grounded out, the momentum was back on OU’s side of the field.

In the bottom of the 4th, Mack Leonard’s bat ran into a changeup from Storako that resulted in an odd-one handed swing finish for a HR to RF. Florida State suddenly led 1-0 over the favored Sooners. Storako ended the inning with a K and a fly out to LF.

As the Sooners so often do, the response was immediate. Cydney Sanders found a 2-0 pitch and drove the ball deep to RF that reached the stands beyond the blue WCWS Fence. Game Tied at 1-1. Grace Lyons, fresh off her near-HR in the top of the 3rd that ended up being a single, followed Sanders with her own HR to LF to put Oklahoma ahead, for good. I wish I had known that at the time. OU led 2-1 quickly in the 5th.

That was enough, Jordy Bahl entered the circle for Sooners in the bottom of the 5th to finish it. 3 batters face, 3 batters out in the bottom of the 5th with two long at bats for the first two outs.

Two singles by Lee and Brito, followed by a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt by Sophia Nugent and a final infield single allowed a pinch running Bahl (for Lee) to score from 3rd to make the score 3-1 Oklahoma in the top of the 6th.

Bahl sat down FSU in the bottom of the 6th in order on only 9 pitches. OU went down in order in the top of the 7th against a still strong, pitching well Kat Sandercock.

Jordy Bahl finished in fine form as she sat the Seminoles down for the third inning in a row, this tie with two Ks including the final out of the game. Bahl picked up 3 Ks in her 3 innings she pitched. She was perfect in the final game of the year.

The celebration immediately started! The 3-PEAT was complete, the record of 61-1 for the 2023 season was complete. The winning streak grew to 53 games. The Sooners have probably completed the finest season in D1 Softball history and tied a 33-year-old record of UCLA the last time, the only other time, that there was a 3-peat in 1988, 1989 and 1990. (The UCLA three-year W-L record was 163-19. The Sooners 3-year record is 176-8.)

I am in awe of the effort that the three teams have expended to make it happen over the last three years. Coming off the COVID-shortened season of 2020 with a 20-4 record, there were many questions about the Sooners. What a success story this has become. With a never-before-seen powerful offense led by Jocelyn Alo, a shaky pitching staff until Gee Juarez became the stopper against FSU in 2021 and that same offense in 2022 with a trio of strong pitchers (Trautwein, May and Bah) In 2022, the Sooners completed back-to-back Championships.

To attempt the 3-Peat, the Sooners faced a unique challenge for 2023. The Sooners watched Alo, Elam, Snow, Johns and Trautwein ride off into the sunset. To replace Alo alone, would be a great feat. You just do not replace the greatest hitter ever in D1 Softball. The Sooners had 4 talented freshmen arriving in Noman in August, then suddenly the weekend after the WCWS in 2022, the news of Alex Storako broke. The All-American from Michigan was a Sooner. She was slated to replace Trautwein. Then Alynah Torres, the All-Pac-12 SS, became a Sooner. She could replace Johns at 3B we thought. Then there was Cydney Sanders, All-Freshman 1st Team 1B, became a Sooner. It was thought that she could help to replace the power of Alo. Finally, the Haley Lee transfer was announced. The talented All-American would give the Sooners tremendous depth and power potential for 2023.

The key was to meld these 8 new transfers and freshman with the 12 returning players and make it work. Caoch Gasso talks alot about this process. There were only three positions open with several players vying for that playing time. How would the freshman fit into the playing puzzle? From what has been shared, it was difficult in the beginning. By the time Fall Ball rolled around with the Battle Series being played, the talent on the team was evident in most every way. If anything, the pitching was a bit concerning, but the offense they were facing in the Sooner hitters, could have been the reason.

The Sooners somehow jelled. Probably the strong faith and belief in ‘just get out of the boat’ mentality helped. No, there is no probably involved. IT HELPED. The leadership of Grace Lyons and Grace Green (the ‘mom’ of the players) were instrumental. The non-selfishness of the transfers to find a role and be very happy about it helped. The patient freshman finding playing time helped. The talent of the Hansen and Coleman class helped. The desire to just make it work and to put in the work helped. The phrases of ‘Iron Sharpens Iron’, ‘our circle’, already written’, ‘eyes up’, ’20 verses everyone’ seemed to give the players and team focus and vision. It seems it became more about the journey and things outside of softball than what was happening on the field at times. While the players and coaches put in the work, they also put in the effort to not be consumed by the process. Pretty amazing that these young women and their leadership can be so disciplined and so mature.

The 2023 season started. What? Hansen is going to the doctor? She had an appendectomy? A hurdle had been thrown in the way. That Lee transfer looked even better at that point. But the first weekend without Hansen was a good start in California with wins over top teams. The record grew to 8-0 with Baylor next on a cool day for a non-conference game in Waco. The ‘if-only’ game as I call it. “What-if’ one pitch was different. One walk not given, one ground ball not played into a single, one more hit have happened for OU, one or two of those 9 runners left on base. But in the end, it made a huge difference. The team responded in many unseen ways. Every one of them for the best.

There were close calls in the next 53 games, the Liberty extra-inning game, the Washington game, the FSU game in March in Norman, the Northwestern game, the 4-3 Texas game, the Clemson 2nd game, the two Stanford games and the last FSU game.

There were huge wins. The early Washington win, the UCLA blowout, the 2-games over Auburn, the LSU road trip, the Baylor 13-0 weekend on the road, the Texas 17-5 sweep with the 9000-ish fans in OKC, the 17-6 sweep of OSU in Stillwater and the Regional won by 38-5, the Supers won 17-9 and the WCWS won by 23-3.

It all adds up to 61-1 and history. I am glad they get to rest now. It has been a long season. It has been a great season.

In closing, once again, the sooners scored 500 runs, 501 to be correct. 1,718 runs over their last 184 games. A rate of 9.34 runs per game. In 2023, the pitchers and defense gave up only 59 runs in 62 games. There were only 65 runs allowed in 2022. In 2021, the Sooners allowed 117 runs. 241 runs in 184 games over the 3 years. That is a rate of 1.31 runs allowed per game. During the 3-PEAT, the Sooners have won 176 games by an average of 8 runs a game!

Just think about that - the Sooners have averaged winning by a 'run-rule' victory over 3 full seasons!

Boomer Sooner! Boomer Sooner! Boomer Sooner!
(one for each season)

[AllSooner]

In many ways the final game was a fitting end to the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 season.

56.....you saved the best for last, heh?

[waddy's ghost]

2023 Sooner softball is the NCAA best ever team and for me this was a dream season come true marred only by that 4-3 Baylor loss. i don't think we will ever see a team get this close to perfection .

[KJinSkiatook]

Bravo 56, bravo. Well done recap of the season.