Oklahoma downs Texas to secure WCWS four-peat

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma became the first program to win four consecutive Women's College World Series titles, beating Texas 8-4 on Thursday to sweep the WCWS Championship Series.

Cydney Sanders drilled a three-run double to lift the Sooners out of a 3-2 hole in the fourth, and then the bullpen took over from there.

Oklahoma State transfer Kelly Maxwell came on in the sixth to get the Sooners out of a jam, and then closed it out in the seventh to clinch the title. Before Thursday, Maxwell threw back-to-back complete games, throwing a combined 267 pitches, to get the Sooners in position to win another title.

The Sooners finish the season 59-7 and are 235-15 over the last four seasons.

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso tied legendary Arizona coach Mike Candrea with her eighth WCWS title.

Texas struck first, scoring in the second on a two-out single by Kayden Henry.

The Sooners answered right back in the bottom half on freshman Kasidi Pickering's two-run home run.

The Longhorns again staged a two-out rally in the third, tying the game on Alyssa Washington's RBI single, before adding an unearned run in the fourth to take the lead.

But in the bottom half, the Sooners got three consecutive singles before Sanders dug in.

Sanders had been just 2-of-14 in the WCWS before the at-bat, with both of her hits being home runs.

But Sanders reached out and drove Estelle Czech's 2-2 offering into the gap in right-center to clear the bases and put the Sooners up 5-3.

Oklahoma added three more in the sixth after the Longhorns cut the deficit to one earlier in the inning. Ella Parker's two-run single capped the scoring.

For Texas (55-10), the season ends with a loss to their archrivals in the championship series for the second time in three seasons.

--Field Level Media