Oklahoma softball run-rules Duke in opening round of Women’s College World Series
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Oklahoma run-ruled Duke 9-1 in 6 innings on Thursday afternoon, securing its spot in the winner’s bracket at the Women’s College World Series.
The Sooners fell behind 1-0 early in the game, but that deficit didn’t last long. Oklahoma scored 4 runs in the 3rd inning on a pair of 2-run homers from Kinzie Hansen and Alynah Torres.
From there, Oklahoma cruised to an opening-round victory. It tacked on 3 more runs in the 4th inning and 2 more in the 6th to finish off a mercy-rule win. Alyssa Brito delivered the walk-off hit — a 2-run single with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th.
Here’s video of Brito’s game-sealing hit:
@alyss_33 called .#ChampionshipMindset | #WCWS pic.twitter.com/Cvi5kFXy4e
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 30, 2024
Kelly Maxwell got the start in the circle for Oklahoma, but struggled to find the zone. She was able to limit the damage to just 1 run, but was lifted with 2 outs in the 4th inning after Duke loaded the bases. Maxwell threw 67 total pitches, but only 32 of them for strikes. She gave up 1 hit (a solo home run) and walked 4 in 3.2 innings of work.
Kierston Deal did an excellent job in relief of Maxwell. Deal was able to get OU out of a bases-loaded jam in the 4th and then allowed just 2 hits over 2.2 frames.
Now in the winner’s bracket, Oklahoma will face UCLA in the next round of the Women’s College World Series on Saturday. The Bruins defeated Alabama 4-1 earlier in the day on Thursday.
With this win, Oklahoma moved from -170 to -185 to win the Women’s College World Series according to the latest odds at FanDuel. The Sooners are looking to win their 4th consecutive WCWS title.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
