Bahl’s 5-hitter leads No. 1 seed Oklahoma past Stanford 2-0 in Women’s College World Series opener
By CLIFF BRUNT
AP Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jordy Bahl made the most of an opportunity she missed last year.
The sophomore threw a five-hitter with 11 strikeouts to help two-time defending national champion Oklahoma defeat Stanford 2-0 Thursday in its Women’s College World Series opener.
Bahl was Oklahoma’s ace last season, but an arm injury late in the season left her with a reduced role at the World Series. This year, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-American was healthy and ready to go.
“Jordy was absolutely on her game,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “She was just a boss today. It was really fun to watch that, especially not getting the opportunity she wanted last year and just making the most of it from day one.”
Bahl outlasted Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady, the nation’s leader in ERA and the NFCA freshman of the year. Canady gave up just four hits and one earned run in five innings while regularly throwing 75 mph against an Oklahoma team that leads the nation in scoring and batting average.
“We knew what we were running into in the way of NiJa, and she has become one of the hardest-throwing, ball-moving freshmen I’ve ever seen,” Gasso said. “So I feel like we got a really tough, tough matchup. Their pitching staff is really good.”
Jayda Coleman’s RBI single in the fifth provided all the offense Oklahoma needed.
No. 1 seed Oklahoma (57-1) extended its Division I-record win streak to 49 games and advanced to play No. 4 seed Tennessee (50-8) on Saturday. The winner reaches the semifinals in the double-elimination bracket.
No. 9 seed Stanford (45-14) will play No. 5 seed Alabama (45-21) in an elimination game on Friday.
Oklahoma’s Haley Lee sent a Canady pitch to the warning track in the fourth, but Stanford left fielder Ellee Eck snagged the hard shot to end the inning.
Stanford got two on with one out in the fifth against Bahl but could not score.
“Those are honestly the situations you kind of like to be in as a pitcher at times because, when teams press you like that, it makes you be your best, and you can’t take a pitch off, and it’s a good test,” Bahl said. “So those moments are kind of fun, even though they’re really high stress at times.”
With two on and two outs in the fifth, Coleman singled to left field to knock in a run. An error on Eck for letting the ball bounce off her glove allowed the other runner to score and put the Sooners up 2-0.
“I think she saw a good pitch and hit it, honestly,” Canady said. “All I can do is throw each pitch to the best of my abilities. Yeah, I think she just saw the pitch.”
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