Set Number: X164004 TK1
With the regional round in the books, Oklahoma reasserted its status as the favorite to win the 2022 NCAA softball tournament.
The Sooners hammered Texas A&M 20-0 in five innings, the largest margin of victory in the history of the tournament.
Fourteen other teams have joined the reigning national champions in the super regionals, which get underway Thursday.
Super-Regional Matchups
- No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 16 UCF
- No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 9 Northwestern
- No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 12 Duke
- No. 4 Arkansas vs. Texas/No. 13 Washington
- No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. No. 14 Florida
- Stanford vs. Oregon State
- No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Clemson
- Mississippi State vs. Arizona
Full bracket is available at NCAA.com
Oklahoma fended off a late comeback attempt by A&M when the teams met Saturday to preserve a closer than expected win. The Sooners appeared to take that personally as they blitzed the Aggies for nine runs in the first inning when they met again Sunday.
Oklahoma Softball @OU_Softball
????♀️ ???????????????? ????♀️<a href=”https://twitter.com/JohnsJana?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@JohnsJana</a> with the 2-RBI double and it’s 5-0 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sooners?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Sooners</a> in the first! <br><br>???? ESPNEWS <a href=”https://t.co/2Jc5HIsIOs”>pic.twitter.com/2Jc5HIsIOs</a>
Oklahoma Softball @OU_Softball
???? ????????????. ???????????????????????????? ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/78jocelyn_alo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@78jocelyn_alo</a>. 27th of the season. 115 in the career. <br><br>T1 | OU 9, TAMU 0 | ???? ESPNEWS <a href=”https://t.co/H7WFcUGP0p”>pic.twitter.com/H7WFcUGP0p</a>
“You’re looking for somebody to mishit a ball or hit it right to somebody,” A&M coach Jo Evans said of the disastrous inning for her team. “It just didn’t happen. Every ball found a hole.”
That tends to happen when playing the Sooners.
It’s tough to see who can throw OU off course in its quest for another championship. Jocelyn Alo is batting .500 and owns an eye-popping 1.797 OPS, and she leads an offense that’s slugging a Division I-best .728.
One of the top challengers to Oklahoma’s crown is out, too, after second-seeded Florida State suffered two straight defeats to Mississippi State to lose in the regionals.
The Bulldogs shut out the Seminoles 5-0 to set up a winner-take-all rematch.
FSU led 3-1 going into the fifth, only to see Mississippi State put three runs on the board in the top half of the inning thanks to singles by Shea Moreno and Chloe Malau’ulu. Samantha Ricketts’ squad held on to make program history.
NCAA Softball @NCAASoftball
???? ???????????????? ???????????????? ????????. ???? ????<br><br>It was the Dogs’ day in Tallahassee as <a href=”https://twitter.com/HailStateSB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@HailStateSB</a> upset (2) Florida State twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time ever!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToWCWS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RoadToWCWS</a> <a href=”https://t.co/oItJNHaHap”>pic.twitter.com/oItJNHaHap</a>
Stanford provided the day’s second-biggest upset, taking down No. 6 Alabama.
The teams were deadlocked through five innings, with Alana Vawter and Montana Fouts each pitching shutouts.
A two-run double by Aly Kaneshiro put the Cardinal on top in the sixth, and a bases-clearing single by Sydnee Huff in the seventh broke things wide open.
NCAA Softball @NCAASoftball
Stanford was ???????????????????????????? ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/StanfordSball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@StanfordSball</a> scored all of its runs in the final two innings secure the upset of (6) Alabama and a spot in next week’s Super Regionals.<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToWCWS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RoadToWCWS</a> <a href=”https://t.co/9UCu4KaGUD”>pic.twitter.com/9UCu4KaGUD</a>
Alabama simply couldn’t solve Vawter, who only had four strikeouts but allowed just four hits.
Virginia Tech, the No. 3 national seed, was on the ropes in the regionals after losing to Kentucky on Saturday. The Hokies stayed alive with a win over Miami (Ohio) to set up a regional final rematch with the Wildcats.
Tech cruised to a 9-2 victory in the first meeting but encountered more resistance in the high-stakes final. Kentucky led 3-2 in the fifth when Mackenzie Lawter hit a three-run homer to left field.
The Wildcats plated a run in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to extend their time in the tournament.
The super regionals will conclude May 29 and set the stage for the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
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