OU Advances to WCWS Finals

The Oklahoma Sooners were backed against the wall when they began the Women’s College World Series with a shocking loss to James Madison, an unseeded team.

But just as they have all season, No. 1 Oklahoma responded to that adversity with resolve and triumph.

The Sooners advanced to the Women’s College World Series finals on Monday after they defeated James Madison 7-1, their second victory over the Dukes in two days. JMU scared the Sooners by leading off the game with a home run, taking a 1-0 lead after just one pitch.

But that’s all the Dukes would manage off OU pitcher Giselle Juarez all day.

Juarez allowed just three hits the rest of the game, striking out 11 Dukes in the complete-game victory.

Sharing the circle, though, was JMU pitcher Odicci Alexander. Alexander became the story of the tournament when she carved up the top-ranked Sooners for an unexpected win on Thursday night. She became an outright star the following day, when an incredible defensive play at home plate helped Alexander and the Dukes beat the Oklahoma State Cowgirls for their second straight tournament win.

That victory put the Dukes just one win away from the WCWS finals. Unfortunately, JMU had to go through the Sooners again – and as they have all season, OU answered a loss with a shellacking.

OU’s run through the losers’ bracket began on Saturday with a casual, 8-0 run-rule victory over Georgia, one of the three teams that had defeated Oklahoma this season. That game also belonged to Juarez, who tossed 5.1 innings and allowed just three hits while striking out 10.

Late Saturday night, Oklahoma bested UCLA by a 10-3 margin to keep its season alive. Juarez tossed another five relief innings for OU in that contest.

After that game, and just before midnight, Oklahoma State faced down Florida State in another elimination game. But the Cowgirls dropped the late-night contest, advancing FSU and sending the Cowgirls home.

OU needed two Sunday wins over James Madison to advance to the championship series. They defeated Alexander and JMU, 6-3, to set up a do-or-die semifinal game.

But after Saturday’s late-night fiasco, which was caused by a weather delay, the NCAA moved both “if necessary” games to Monday after more bad weather delayed the Sunday schedule again.

That’s when Oklahoma punched its ticket to the finals with another win over JMU, while Florida State took down Alabama on its side of the bracket.

The first game of the championship series was on Tuesday night; OU lost 8-4. The series continues on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. first pitch from Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.