Sooners advance to 9th straight Women's College World Series

The four-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners are heading back to Oklahoma City after defeating SEC rival Alabama 13-2 in five innings of the Norman Super Regional on Saturday to earn a spot in the Women's College World Series for the ninth straight season.

The 50-9 Sooners also clinched a ninth consecutive year of winning at least 50 games -- the longest active streak in Division I.

Last year, Oklahoma made history by becoming the first program to win four straight national championships. The Sooners will certainly be favored to extend the run to five after advancing with a dominant win over Alabama, during which Gabbie Garcia clubbed two of Oklahoma's four home runs.

With its ninth straight trip to the Women's College World Series, Oklahoma moved into second all-time for consecutive appearances at the tournament's final site, located some 20 miles away from the Sooners' home city of Norman.

Only Arizona -- with 16 straight appearances from 1988 to 2003 -- saw a longer run than Oklahoma.

Should the Sooners win the national title yet again, the program would move into second by itself with nine championships. UCLA holds the record with 12, followed by Oklahoma and Arizona.

--Field Level Media