Patty Gasso’s group survives and advances to a meeting with the reigning champs.

On Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners (51-3) eliminated the Georgia Bulldogs (34-23) from the 2021 Women’s College World Series with a decisive 8-0 run-rule shutout victory. With the win, OU advances in the elimination bracket for a double-header meeting with the UCLA Bruins.

Against UGA, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Jocelyn Alo set a new program record with her 31st home run of the season. Once again, she proved her status as a generational talent in this sport.

Ace lefty Giselle ‘G’ Juarez got the start in the circle for Oklahoma on Saturday, and in 6.0 innings, the redshirt senior looked dominant as she struck out 10 of the 20 batters she faced while allowing just three hits on 81 total pitches. Freshman Nicole May would spell the veteran for the final two outs of the contest.

With two outs in the top of the second inning, freshman Jayda Coleman got the Sooners’ first hit of game with a single to left. In the following at-bat, sophomore Mackenzie Donihoo put her team on the board with a two-run blast to left. OU would take its 2-0 lead into the bottom of the frame.

With one out in the top of the fourth, senior captain Lynnsie Elam grounded through right for a single, then Coleman returned to the plate and reached on a fielder’s choice. Next, Donihoo hit a hard grounder into left that resulted in Coleman rounding the bases all the way home. Oklahoma took its 3-0 lead into the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the fifth, NFCA Freshman of the Year Tiare Jennings got things started with a four-pitch walk. Later, sophomore Kinzie Hansen let if fly with a two-run bomb of her own, making it a 5-0 advantage for the Sooners.

Donihoo kept her bat hot in the top of the sixth with a lead-off single to left. Later, senior Nicole Mendes crushed a double to right, putting two Sooners in scoring position with one out. Next, Jennings grounded out to second, but in doing so allowed Donihoo to score from third and extend OU’s lead. As for the game winning swing, Jocelyn Alo absolutely smashed a pitch out of orbit to pad her team’s lead by another two runs and put the top seed into run-rule territory. Ultimately, that’s how this elimination game would end up.

Up next, Oklahoma is set to play UCLA tonight in the second elimination game of the day for the Sooners. Strangely enough, this contest is between the top two seeds of the tournament and the favorites to reach the championship series entering the WCWS. Now, only one of these two teams is guaranteed to advance to the semifinals on Sunday, while the other will be sent home. First pitch between OU and the Bruins is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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