Jayda Coleman’s Walk-off Home Run Completes Oklahoma’s Dramatic Comeback Over Florida

OKLAHOMA CITY — Monday afternoon, Kinzie Hansen made a declaration. 

“The Sooners play best after we get punched in the mouth,” the Oklahoma catcher said after OU’s 9-3 defeat to Florida. 

Patty Gasso’s co-captain was spot on. 

Freshman Ella Parker, re-entering the game after a scary collision in the fifth inning, delivered a two-out single in the sixth. 

The run tied the game at 5-5, erasing the 5-2 deficit Oklahoma faced after three innings. 

Kelly Maxwell, who recovered after surrendering three home runs in the circle, held firm in the seventh to give her offense a chance to walk off the game. 

Of course the Sooners delivered. 

Senior star Jayda Coleman lifted the ball mere feet over Florida left fielder Korbe Otis’ glove, sealing OU’s 6-5 win in eight innings. 

“I think one of the better games in College World Series history,” OU coach Patty Gasso said after the win. “A nail-biter. A little bit of everything.”

Coleman, who was 1-for-3 at the plate entering the eighth inning, met with Alyssa Brito before stepping up to the plate.

“I had been a little frustrated all game. Obviously I just want to do anything to help my team,” Coleman said. “… She was like, ‘Surrender it all. Don’t try to control everything. Go for it. No matter what, I’m not justified by whatever the at-bat is.’

“… Going around the bases, I lost it, just started crying.”

Gasso and Coleman embraced for a long time after crossing home plate before the celebrations truly got underway.

“I didn’t ask for a home run,” Gasso said. “I didn’t think it was going to go that far either.”

🥶 𝐈𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐉 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐞 🥶#ChampionshipMindset | @jaydac00 pic.twitter.com/KbRGP8ewUV

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 4, 2024Oklahoma skirted past elimination, and now the 2-seeded Sooners will take on the top-seed Texas Longhorns for a National Championship.

Florida homered in each of the first three innings: a two-run shot by Jocelyn Erickson, a two-run bomb by Ariel Kowalewski and a solo home run by Reagan Walsh. 

Parker mashed a first inning shot of her own, which is how the Sooners found themselves in the 5-2 hole. 

Then Maxwell dug deep. 

She held Florida scoreless for four innings, allowing Cydney Sanders to pull Oklahoma within one in the fourth inning. 

Her second home run of the Women’s College World Series also scored Hannah Coor, but it was Parker who converted Avery Hodge’s one-out double into the tying run in the sixth. 

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 4, 2024The three-RBI day from the freshman got Oklahoma back in the game, but her first-year counterpart gave the Sooners a chance to win the game in seventh. 

Kasidi Pickering hammered a one-out double off the wall to give OU a baserunner, and Florida walked Rylie Boone. 

Sanders took a home run cut but missed on strike three and Hodge popped out to send the game to extras. 

But it had to be a senior. 

And it had to be Coleman. 

She was the only bater the Sooners sent to the plate in the eighth, setting up another matchup with Texas on Wednesday at 7 p.m.