Florida State softball aware of challenge ahead facing Oklahoma for national championship

For the second time in three years, Florida State softball will be playing for a national title against the same exact opponent: Oklahoma.

The Sooners have looked nearly unstoppable this season, posting a 59-1 record and winning 51 straight games. Oklahoma has outscored opponents 70-14 this postseason and hasn't faced elimination the entire time. Preparing for Wednesday's game it's seeking its third straight national championship.

It's a team that's put up big numbers and impressive stats, but the Seminoles aren't letting the numbers and records get to them. More so, they're viewing the Sooners as just another team.

"There's a game plan going into every game, and they're just another team. They put on their pants the same way as we do," sophomore Michaela Edenfield said. "I think sticking to us and minimizing the damage they're going to do is important."

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Sticking to the game plan

This isn't the first time that the Seminoles and Sooners have squared off this season.

In March, FSU made the trip to Norman and nearly pulled off the upset, falling to Oklahoma, 5-4. A homer by Katie Dack put the Seminoles up 4-3 in the fourth, but the Sooners responded in the bottom of the inning to take the lead and hold on.

Oklahoma outhit FSU, 13-6 and only ran two arms, one of them being the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Jordy Bahl, while the Seminoles ran four of their five pitchers. Kathryn Sandercock had the best outing against the Sooners, sufficing one run on three hits over two innings.

Being the veteran of the pitching rotation, Sandercock has a lot of experience in facing the Sooners. Alongside the outing earlier this season, she pitched against them in all three games of the 2021 WCWS championship.

"Every time I've faced them they always have a difficult roster and they keep you on your toes, but it's the coolest challenge as a pitcher to put yourself up against the best," Sandercock said. "I'm really excited to face them, and it's cool that I have some experience facing them before. They know me a little bit and I know them a little bit. It should be really fun softball."

The Seminoles' defensive knows that Oklahoma will find its way onto the scoreboard, as it hasn't been shut out this entire season, and is shifting its focus toward making sure they aren't getting as many big hits. Teams like Stanford and Clemson were able to keep pace with the Sooners late into games and gave themselves a chance to win.

"They have a great lineup and I think it goes into our field of what we're trying to accomplish between me and the pitchers," Edenfield said. "We want to limit the back to backs, and the number of people we allow on the base, so if they hit a home run, it's bound to happen, we want to minimize the number of runs they get on that."

"I enjoyed playing against OU, they're a passionate squad, and you want to play the best."

On the offensive side of their game, the Seminoles want to use a versatile approach when it comes to getting on base and scoring. FSU proved that it can hit the ball hard, as it homered three times versus Tennessee, but it wants to be able to capitalize on any slip-up that the Sooners may have.

"When you look at teams that can run, you put away certain pitches, the opportunity for a ball in the air versus a ball on the ground," Seminoles head coach Lonni Alameda said. "I wouldn't say that base running is our sole thing. It's just something that we make sure we take pride in practice."

"It's an everyday thing for us and sometimes you can have power. Like last night, we had power. As long as we're training all facets in our offensive strategies, then we have things to go to."

Relearning the opponent

Alameda said prior to the WCWS that while FSU has the benefit of playing a lot of the teams that were in the WCWS, they're now all different teams. That statement proved accurate as the Seminoles dropped their three-game series to Oklahoma State earlier this season, but then throttled the Cowgirls in the opening round, 8-0.

Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso agrees that while her team has faced FSU before, both teams are in different spots. However, she added that both squads are very similar in the veteran leadership that they bring to the field.

"It was a good matchup. They're very well coached, hardworking, and have some returners that have been through this, so they're very similar to us," Gasso said. "Am I surprised we're both here? No. We're both similar, but we're a different team than we were in March, and as are they."

"We know we're familiar with names and their style, but we've got to go back to the drawing board like we haven't seen them before."

Oklahoma has played in some competitive matchups this season, going into extra innings with Clemson and Stanford. Jayda Coleman said that those have been her favorite games and shows that her team is never out of it.

"Those games are the best games. I will never forget that Clemson game and I'll probably never forget that Stanford game," Coleman said. "Just knowing we're never out of it and that we get down to two strikes, two outs, and we can come back any time. It just builds confidence in our team. If we have another out or another strike, we still have a chance."

No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 1 Oklahoma

• What: NCAA Softball Women’s College World Series best of three championship series

• When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Friday, 8 p.m. (if necessary)

• Where: USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium

• TV: Wednesday-Friday, ESPN

• Records: FSU, 58-9; Oklahoma 59-1

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State softball heads into championship series facing Oklahoma