Oklahoma beat Florida in dramatic fashion on Tuesday to punch its ticket to the Women's College World Series finals. Center fielder Jayda Coleman blasted a solo home run in the eighth inning, and the Sooners completed a comeback from 5-2 down to walk off with a 6-5 win. OKLAHOMA WALK-OFF HR TO ADVANCE TO THE #WCWS FINALS @OU_Softball pic.
twitter.com/2KmbEYt2yB The WCWS finals start Wednesday (8 p.m.
ET, ESPN), and Oklahoma plays longtime rival Texas in the teams' final head-to-head meeting as Big 12 members. The two schools will remain conference rivals after the season, albeit in the SEC. The Sooners and Longhorns are set to join the conference on July 1.
The Oklahoma-Texas rivalry has been the bedrock of the Big 12 since its 1996-97 expansion, and the winner will give the conference a nice parting gift with another NCAA championship. Oklahoma aims to become the first program in NCAA history to four-peat as Women's College World Series champion. Manager Patty Gasso is seeking her eighth national title at Oklahoma, which would put her in a tie for most all-time (Sharron Backus, Mike Candrea).
The Sooners claim 43 national championships in all sports, and their athletics website notes, "Oklahoma currently boasts a streak of ten consecutive years with at least one national championship (not including the COVID-shorted 2019-20 season)." Texas lost to Oklahoma in the 2022 finals and is seeking its first softball championship. The Longhorns have been on a hot streak in women's spo.
