OU softball's streak of WCWS titles ends, but its dynasty? That's still to be determined

The crimson-clad players clustered between the Sooners dugout and home plate.There were long hugs and hushed words.

Glazed expressions and stunned faces.

Pats on the back and tears in the eyes.

But for as difficult as those moments after OUs late-inning jubilation turned to season-ending disappointment Monday night at the Womens College World Series, no one seemed to want to start packing up the dugout, much less leave Devon Park.Then again, maybe the Sooners werent exactly sure what to do.They havent had a season end this way in a long time, after all.Its been six years since an OU softball team last left the WCWS without a national title.

Since then, we had a pandemic and the Sooners won an unprecedented four consecutive national championships.It took a generational talent and her team to end that run.Texas Tech 3, OU 2.TAKEAWAYS: OU softball title streak ends as NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech tops Sooners in WCWS semifinalWhat theyve done is historic, legendary, something were going to be talking about, Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said.

When I was a kid, we grew up talking about John Wooden and UCLA basketball.

That's what Patty Gasso has done and what Oklahoma has done.The Sooners are a dynasty, but on the night their streak of national titles ended, dont assume that the dynasty is done, too.

With apologies to ESPN announcer Kevin Brown who said after the Red Raiders walk-off sacrifice fly, They end the greatest dynasty in college softball history, lets not get ahead of ourselves.A rebuilt team that OU coach Patty Gasso thought back in the fall might be good enough to finish in the middle of the pack in the SEC was one of the last four teams standing.

No, it didnt extend the Sooners streak of national championships, but now, OU only has six of the past nine titles.The dynasty might not be dead, but that question will require another season or two to answer.What we can say is that it took an epic pitcher and an even more epic ending to stop OUs run of titles.

Put it this way: Had NiJaree Canady decided to play basketball instead of softball coming out of high school in Topeka, Kansas and she seriously considered it the Sooners would be playing in the championship series.It didnt feel like they would lose an elimination game to any other pitcher in the World Series.But Canady is next level.

She throws hard, yes, but her movement is devastating.

Her rise ball fools even the best hitters, and her change-up got several Sooners to swing wildly or freeze altogether.Her stat line vs.

OU: eight strikeouts, one walk and five hits in seven innings.NiJaree is unbelievable, Gasso said.

She's really, really tough, and it was hard to square her up, hard to make solid contact.REQUIRED READING: Who are top OU softball players in 50 years of program history? Meet 50 greatest SoonersBut Canady wasnt perfect.

The Sooners had runners in scoring position in two of the first six innings, and they werent relying on bloops or flares.

They were making solid contact; OU freshman Sydney Barker even went 3 for 3.Still, when Canady got a couple of outs in the top of the seventh inning, it felt like she was about to close the door on the Sooners hopes of a rally.

Then she got Abigale Dayton to watch the first two pitches go by for strikes, it seemed like the door might get slammed.But then Dayton launched an 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall.They continued to believe, Gasso said.

As long as they have a swing left, they believe.

Thats proof of it.The home run set off a wild celebration at Devon Park as Dayton sprinted around the bases.

But even though the two-out, two-strike, seven-inning homer was dramatic, it didnt win the game.

It only tied the score 2-2.Texas Tech still had a chance to win the game in the seventh, and momentum be damned, the Red Raiders did it.

A one-out single up the middle was followed by a double to left field that looked for a moment like it might be going out.

It instead smacked off the wall and put runners at second and third.With speeder Mihyia Davis standing on third and riverboat gambler Glasco making the calls did you see him have a runner steal home between pitches against UCLA? the Red Raiders were likely to head home on just about anything.Still, Lauren Allred had to put the ball in play.She didnt waste time, lofting the first pitch into right field.

It wasnt super deep, but it was deep enough for Davis to tag and score.Ball game.But it took that kind of ending in a game against a pitcher like NiJaree Canady to bounce the Sooners and end the run of championships.

More: OU ace Sam Landry was last person Texas Tech's Gerry Glasco wanted to face in WCWS bracketGlasco called it an honor to have played OU to get to the championship series.Just a privilege ...

for my kids to play against a team that well coached, that talented, he said.

What a great opportunity, great privilege to be on the field with them, with a coaching staff like that.

I want to be sure that I give them every bit of credit I can, and I still can't give them enough.

They deserve more than I can.Told that Glasco had evoked UCLA mens basketball and John Wooden when talking about her and her Sooners, Gasso seemed a bit shocked.Oh, goodness, she said.A native of Southern California, Gasso knows well the exploits of those teams.

She was just a kid when Wooden and his Bruins won 10 national championships during a 12-year span from 1964-75, but she recognized what a big deal they were.And she recognized Glascos comparison was no small thing.I appreciate those comments, she said.

Not warranted but appreciated for sure.

I don't even honestly think about that.

I just do my job.

That's all I'm trying to do is just turn girls into women and help them become elite softball athletes, but at the same time make sure that they learn about life so they become good mothers, they're good daughters, they're good friends.

Losing is not fun, but losing is life.

We all lose at something, and it's hard, but it's lessons learned from it that's probably what's most important for me.Now, dont misunderstand these Sooners werent happy to be going home without a trophy.

The last time an OU team did that was in 2019 when UCLA swept it in the best-of-three championship series.

That was also the last time OU had a season that ended in a loss; the last game it played before COVID shut down the 2020 season, it won.You know, that loss in the 2019 championship series actually means its been since 2018 that OU didnt make the final game of the WCWS.

Washington eliminated the Sooners in the knock-out phase of the series that year.More: Abigale Dayton saves OU softball with two-out HR off NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech in WCWSThink of all thats happened in the years since.

Even as the world changed, one thing remained the same: OU softball winning national titles.Thats what this bunch of Sooners came to the Womens College World Series expecting to do.

Nothing less.And when they fell short, there were tears.

On the field.

In the locker room.

During the press conference.

But there were also reasons to be proud.

Sooner slugger Ella Parker talked about her pride in how far the team had come and how much it had grown since the fall.Its just so cool to see where we ended up, Parker said.Gasso said, As much as I need a break, Im really ready to come back and start over again because I think we learned so much and were going to be that much better.Sure doesnt sound like a program ready to fade into the background anytime soon.The streak is over.The dynasty?To be determined.Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at [email protected].

Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball streak of WCWS national titles ends, dynasty may continue.

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