Oklahoma needed a big play and Jayda Coleman clearly had one more in her.On her final at-bat in a Sooner uniform, Coleman went to the plate with the bases loaded in a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth inning. The senior poked a single through the right side of the infield to extend the Sooners’ lead to two.Ella Parker kept the Sooners rolling with a two-run single to take a four-run lead with three outs remaining. A threerun sixth inning helped the Sooners turn the tide of the second game of the Women’s College World Series Championship Series on Thursday at Devon Park.Senior Kelly Maxwell took over in the circle late in the sixth and retired the final three batters in order for her own memorable ending to her career.The Sooners followed up a nine-hit performance in the opener on Wednesday with a 12-hit game to secure the sweep with an 8-4 win.In doing so, they became the first program to ever win four consecutive national championships.“We lost one game last year. We lost one game,” Gasso said. “We lost six this year, and you would think, ‘Oh, man, they’re going down.”The Sooners played five different pitchers on Thursday. Karlie Keeney got the start, followed by Paytn Monticelli, Kierston Deal and Nicole May.Maxwell started Wednesday’s opener and the semifinal the day before, throwing 267 pitches in the two wins.“We knew we couldn’t throw Kelly,” Gasso said. “We just can’t. I did that one time with a girl named Paige Parker. I’d never do it again. It wasn’t worth it.”Keeney walked two batters in the second inning and Kayden Henry singled to score the first run of the game. She left two runners stranded, but got in another jam with two outs down in the third.Viviana Martinez and Reese Atwood singled in back to back pitches and Katie Stewart was walked in five pitches to load up the bases. Alyssa Washington drove in another run on a single up the middle and the Sooners brought in Paytn Monticelli to relieve Keeney.Monticelli had not played in a game since May 9 and had pitched just 19 innings all season.After facing a full count, she forced the next batter ground out to leave the bases loaded.“It was really, really cool,” Gasso said about the pitching staff. “That’s one thing I’ll always remember, is just what this felt like. It was probably ...
