The first game of the Women's College World Series championship finals turned into the Oklahoma home run derby.
The Sooners set a WCWS record with six home runs to rout rival Texas 16-1 and move one win away from their second consecutive title and sixth overall. The Longhorns, the first unseeded team to make the finals, now have to beat OU twice in a row to win the championship.
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Oklahoma star Jocelyn Alo now has more home runs (five) than outs (four) in the WCWS after hitting two more homers on Wednesday. Alo, the career home run record holder, is 11 for 15 (.733) with 13 RBI in the WCWS. But it wasn't just Alo on Wednesday, as Tiare Jennings also hit two home runs and drove in five runs. The rout also helped OU set WCWS records for runs scored in a series (54) and tie the record for runs in a game.
Texas starting pitcher Hailey Dolcini had been one of only three pitchers to beat the Sooners this year — her complete-game win on April 16 ended up a 4-2 Texas win that halted OU's win streak at 40 in a row.
But on Wednesday, Dolcini failed to escape the first inning as Texas needed three pitchers to get the first three outs. Actually down 1-0 after half an inning, Oklahoma rocketed in front thanks to Alo's two-run blast before Taylon Snow added a three-run homer later in the frame to extend it to 5-1.
Oklahoma used another two-homer inning in the third to reach double digits and go ahead 10-1, with Jennings and Jana Johns plating more runs. The Sooners ended up scoring in every inning to pad the lead.
Now Texas will have to do what it's done all tournament — extend the season with the pressure on. The Longhorns are 6-0 in NCAA tournament elimination games, winning one at Washington in the regional, two at Arkansas in the super regional and three in Oklahoma City in the WCWS.
