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OU Softball: Oklahoma One Win Away From Four-Peat With Dominant Win Over Texas

The Sooners jumped on Texas early and Kelly Maxwell didn't let up in the circle for OU to take Game 1 of the WCWS Championship Series.

Ryan Chapman

BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

OKLAHOMA CITY — Advantage, Oklahoma. 

The Sooners hammered three home runs on Wednesday, wrestling control of the Championship Series from Texas at the Women’s College World Series. 

OU’s firepower was matched by another stellar showing from Kelly Maxwell in the circle, and Oklahoma topped Texas 8-3 at Devon Park on Wednesday. 

"Just a very good, well-played game by the Sooners," OU coach Patty Gasso said after the game. "Everything was working, offense. I love how we scored right out of the gate. Kelly was masterful all game."

The Sooners are now just one win away from the first four-peat in Division I softball history. 

Tiare Jennings opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Kinzie Hansen and Kasidi Pickering went back-to-back in the third to put the Sooners up 5-1.

Maxwell wasn’t going to surrender the lead from there. 

Starting in her first ever Championship Series, the left hander struck out eight Texas batters while battling through four walks and allowing four hits. 

" I'm just super proud of her," Hansen said. "... Kelly has always been a phenomenal pitcher, but I feel like she's taken it to the next level just in her mental state of mind.

"The battery between a pitcher and a catcher is something that I love most about my job. Being able to watch her development, not only from the time I've been playing her, but just in this year alone, our connection that we've built, just the friendship, has been pretty amazing.

"It's been paying off. So I'm just super proud of her. She's been dominating. She's throwing through all quadrants of the zone at all different speeds. She's not letting her foot off the gas. I'm just super proud."

Maxwell pitched eight innings against Florida on Tuesday, but Gasso didn't hesitate to start her in Game 1 against Texas.

"She's never been this far, and when now you're in the Championship Series, adrenaline took over for her," Gasso said. "... I asked her if she wanted the ball. She looked at me like, 'Duh.' I'm like, 'OK, we're good.'

"It's fun to watch her live in that space right now. She's having a blast. She's pushing herself internally to places I don't think she's ever been before. It's beautiful to see really."

The Longhorns may have won the regular season series against OU, but Texas hasn’t beaten Oklahoma in the Sooner State since April 18, 2014, more than a decade.

If that trend holds on Thursday, Gasso will lift her eighth national title. 

Final Box Score
Final Box Score / OU Stats

Texas pulled a run back courtesy of Mia Scott’s solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Longhorns needed Big 12 Player of the Year Reese Atwood to deliver in the third inning. 

Maxwell allowed a pair of one-out walks, but rebounded to strike out Viviana Martinez to bring Atwood up with two down. 

Oklahoma associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha called time to meet with her pitcher in the circle before the battle between Maxwell and Atwood began. 

It didn’t last long. 

Atwood dribbled the second pitch back to Maxwell, and the graduate transfer cooly turned and fired to first baseman Cydney Sanders to end the inning. 

Maxwell threw 148 pitches on Tuesday in OU’s elimination game against Florida. She threw 119 against the Longhorns.

She allowed four hits against Florida, though three of those left the yard. Through the final four innings, all the Gators could muster was an infield single. 

Scott’s solo effort in the first inning was the only hit Texas put on the board until Stewart’s RBI single in the sixth. 

Hansen’s two-out double turned into another OU run in the fifth inning when Alyssa Washington overthrew Katie Stewart at first. 

The ball spilled into the dugout, allowing Hansen to stroll home after rounding third with her arms outstretched, beckoning for more noise from the sea of 12,317 mostly crimson-clad patrons in the stands. 

Jennings added her third RBI of the night with a two-out single in the sixth to extend the OU lead to 7-1. 

Sanders committed an error at first to allow Martinez to reach third base to start the sixth inning, but Atwood again couldn’t figure out Maxwell as she popped up.

But singles from Stewart and Joley Mitchell cut the deficit to 7-3.

Maxwell’s 110th pitch of the night ended in a swing-and-miss by Texas pinch-hitter Victoria Hunter to strand a pair of runners and end the sixth. 

"This is it. This is my last opportunity," Maxwell said of fighting through the fatigue. "I'm just going to do everything I can to keep this team in it. I know that they have my back and I got theirs."

Oklahoma added some insurance in the seventh when Atwood overthrew third trying to gun down Alyssa Brito, allowing the Sooner third baseman to trot home. 

Maxwell added another pair of strikeouts for good measure in the seventh, closing out the win.

Jennings, Hansen and Ella Parker both finished 2-for-4 at the plate.

Oklahoma can become the first team ever to win a fourth straight national title on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Devon Park.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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