OKLAHOMA CITY — Jayda Coleman delivered a walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning to give Oklahoma a 6-5 win over Florida on Tuesday in the Women’s College World Series semifinal.
Coleman belted Keagan Rothrock’s 2-1 pitch over the left field wall to send the Sooners to the WCWS Championship Series against Texas.
Oklahoma (57-7) will take on Texas in the best-of-three series beginning Wednesday. The Sooners are going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive title.
Florida (54-15) jumped ahead 2-0 and then 4-2, thanks to a pair of two-run home runs in the first two innings off Kelly Maxwell. Jocelyn Erickson went yard in the first inning, and Ariel Kowalewski homered in the second after Oklahoma’s Ella Parker hit a tying two-run shot in the bottom of the first.
The Gators made it 5-2 on Reagan Walsh’s homer in the third before Maxwell settled in and gave the Sooners’ offense room to work.
Oklahoma added two in the fourth on Cydney Sanders’ home run and then tied it in the sixth on Parker’s RBI single.
Maxwell went the distance for the Sooners, yielding four hits, striking out eight and walking five.
There was a scary collision in the fifth between Parker and Florida shortstop Skylar Wallace.
Parker was trying for second on a hit to right-center, with Wallace stepping in front of her just before the ball arrived. Wallace was called for obstruction, though the collision knocked the ball loose anyway.
Both players stayed on the ground for several minutes before Parker walked off the field under her own power and Wallace recovered and remained in the game.
–Field Level Media