The Sooner bats couldn’t string together enough hits to match FSU’s offensive output.

On Tuesday night, the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (54-4) fell to the 10-seeded Florida State Seminoles (49-11-1), 8-4 in Game 1 of the 2021 Women’s College World Series national championship series.

Freshman Nicole May got the start in the circle for OU on Tuesday, but in just 3.2 innings, the righty surrendered seven runs on seven hits while striking out just three of the 21 ‘Noles she faced. Sophomore Olivia Rains would get the final out in the fourth inning before redshirt senior Shannon Saile came in the rest of the way.

In the top of the third inning, FSU’s Kalei Harding logged a two-run homer to center left to give her team an early 2-0 lead.

Matters only got worse for OU in the top of the fourth when the Seminoles strung together five runs on five hits to extend their lead to a daunting 7-0 advantage.

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Oklahoma finally started its rally attempt with back-to-back home runs from sophomore Kinzie Hansen and senior Nicole Mendes. That would be all for the Sooners in the frame, as they cut into their significant deficit to make it a 7-2 ball game.

Again, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, OU sophomore Mackenzie Donihoo plated two of her teammates with a single to right. Unfortunately for the Sooners, that would be the last time anyone wearing Crimson & Cream would reach home on the night.

As has been the case for the the majority of its time in OKC, Oklahoma now faces elimination and needs to pull off back-to-back wins to claim the program’s fifth national championship under Patty Gasso. First pitch for Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 9 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN, and if necessary, Game 3 is set to be played on Thursday at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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