OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jocelyn Alo set Oklahoma’s single-season home run record and helped the Sooners beat Georgia 8-0 in six innings in a Women’s College World Series elimination game on Saturday.
Alo, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, hit her 31st homer in the sixth, a two-run drive into the bleachers in center field. Lauren Chamberlain hit 30 homers in 2012 and 2013, and Alo hit 30 in 2018.
Giselle “G” Juarez struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings for the top-seeded Sooners (51-3), who advanced to play No. 2 seed UCLA in an elimination game Saturday night. UCLA defeated Oklahoma in the 2019 championship series.
The Sooners dropped into the losers’ bracket after they were upset by unseeded James Madison on Thursday. They feel they are back on track.
“I would say that we were ourselves today,” left fielder Mackenzie Donihoo said. “We didn’t try too hard. We just went out there and played our game and when we play our game, I feel like we’re unstoppable.”
Donihoo put Oklahoma in front with her seventh homer in the second, a two-run shot to left that brought the familiar “Boomer Sooner” song from the speakers.
Donihoo contributed again in the fourth. She singled, and Jayda Coleman scored on a throwing error to give the Sooners a 3-0 lead. Kinzie Hansen’s two-run shot to center in the fifth made it 5-0.
Georgia (34-23) had runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth before Juarez struck out Savana Sikes swinging to end the threat.
Mary Wilson Avant got the loss for Georgia. She permitted four earned runs and six hits in five innings.
Oklahoma won its first 33 games this season before losing at Georgia.
“Very uncomfortable coming into this game because I knew what it was like playing against them,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “They are scary. They can swing and they can hit it out at any time. They are very rally-oriented.”
Georgia lost seven straight late in the season, then rallied and won five straight in regional and super regional play to qualify for the World Series.
“We had a great season and we learned a lot throughout the season,” Georgia first baseman Lacey Fincher said. “We had our ups and downs and through our downs, we just took away what was good — what did we learn from in that game or what did we learn from in that practice? And we just kept growing and kept trusting each other and kept trusting our process. I just think this team is gritty.”
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