Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings fueled Oklahoma’s record-setting offensive burst to help the Sooners move a victory away from successfully defending their Women’s College World Series title.
Alo and Jennings each hit two home runs and top-seeded Oklahoma rolled past unseeded Texas 16-1 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series.
Oklahoma (58-3) set a World Series record with six home runs and matched records for runs and victory margin.
Alo and Jennings each have five home runs in the World Series, surpassing the single-series record of four set by several players, including Alo last year. Alo increased her career Division I homer record to 122, and Jennings drove in six runs to set a record for RBIs in a series with 15.
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The teams will meet again Thursday in Game 2, with Oklahoma in position to win its sixth national title. Texas (47-21-1) need a win to stay alive. The Longhorns have won six elimination games since the start of the NCAA tournament.
Oklahoma escaped a bit of difficulty in the first and controlled the game from there. Hope Trautwein (22-1) gave up just two hits and a run in five innings, and Nicole May allowed just one hit in two shutout innings.
Alo cranked a no-doubt home run into the left field seats in Oklahoma’s half of the first, and Taylon Snow followed shortly afterward with a three-run blast — just her fourth home run of the season — to make it 5-1 heading into the second. Texas used three pitchers in the inning, and ace Hailey Dolcini (24-12) registered just two outs before getting pulled.
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Jana Johns hit a solo shot in the third to make it 7-1 and Jennings hit a three-run blast later in the inning to make it 10-1. Alo and Jennings hit back-to-back homers in the fifth to make it 14-1.
