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When it comes to collegiate softball, the Oklahoma Softball program and its 29-year head coach, Patty Gasso, are perhaps among the best ever. They started their 71-game winning run in 2023, when they finished the regular season with 53 straight victories. The Sooners completed the circle by winning the Women’s College World Series in 2023. They continued to win until Sunday, March 3, 2024, when the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns ended their winning streak with a 7-5 victory. Prior to March 3, Oklahoma had not lost to Baylor in 2023, a fact that has solidified their status as one of the greatest softball programs ever. This loss occurred more than a year ago.
The Cajuns scored runs in the second and fourth innings of their game against the Sooners, who were playing at home in Norman, Oklahoma, but the Sooners responded in the bottom of the fourth. Even though Oklahoma tied the game 4–4 in the eighth, the host team was unable to secure its 19th consecutive victory. The Louisiana Cajuns won 7–5 after putting three runs on the board in extra innings and the Sooners only managing one score in return.
The main cause of Oklahoma’s defeat was defensive mistakes; they made three errors this season, which was a season-high and the most since the 2021 WCWS. With their first home loss since February 2020, Division 1 softball’s greatest win streak came to an end.
Under Gasso’s direction, Oklahoma has dominated the softball globe for the last thirty years, winning seven globe Series while coaching the Sooners. The Sooners consistently finish at the top of Division 1 softball rankings thanks to their all-star roster and long history of producing elite athletes. Nonetheless, Oklahoma is ranked sixth overall in the NCAA as of March 11.
Gasso even made the following statement, according to Sports Illustrated: “We had the spirit of coming back, which was great.”But we lost a lot of time early in the game, whether it was in the form of timely hitting, pitching, or defense. We didn’t deserve to win this game.
Senior infielder Tiare Jennings and utility player Alyssa Brito were Oklahoma’s two main hitters; Gasso spoke highly of Jennings’ extraordinary clutch hitting and ability to drive in runs in crunch time. Sam Roe, a junior catcher/infielder for Louisiana, however, contributed to the team victory with two crucial RBIs and four more Cajuns who continued to hit well.
Grad students Kelly Maxwell and Karlie Keeney of the Sooners nearly split the game’s innings pitched out of the bullpen, with Keeney limiting Louisiana to one earned run and Maxwell recording three. Chloe Riassetto, the sophomore pitcher for the Cajuns, restricted Oklahoma to four earned runs in eight innings of work.
Oklahoma’s mistakes cost them this game, which is unusual for them given the stats indicate that the game was closely contested until the Sooners’ defense collapsed.
Like many other softball fans, Fiona Doiron ’25, a member of the Brandeis softball team, was taken aback by the game’s outcome. But as she accurately pointed out, “Teams that wish to defeat Oklahoma must take advantage of their defensive blunders, which are incredibly rare.”
Even more shocking to me was the fact that Texas was rated #1 and Oklahoma was placed #2 in the NCAA rankings following their defeat. Nevertheless, I believe Oklahoma needed to experience hardship early in the season if they hope to maintain their program’s dominance. Oklahoma has dominated college softball for the past three years, but I believe other teams are gradually catching up. This year will be more competitive, which is good for the sport’s development.
The Sooners will work hard to maintain their winning streak as the season goes on as they have won the last three WCWS. Will their mental mistakes, similar to the ones made in this game, prevent them from carrying on their dynasty, or will their bats keep them alive and their heads in the game? With so many games remaining in the season, it will be interesting to see where these formidable softball teams end up.
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