Oklahoma players celebrate as Jayda Coleman, 24, heads home after hitting a home run against Stanford during the third inning Monday in Oklahoma City. Nate Billings/Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Tiare Jennings doubled in the ninth inning to score two runs and No. 1 seed Oklahoma defeated No. 9 Stanford 4-2 on Monday to earn a shot at its third straight women’s College World Series softball title.

The Sooners increased their Division I record to 51 consecutive victories. They advanced to play No. 3 Florida State for the national championship.

Oklahoma (59-1) looks to become the first program since UCLA in 1988-90 to win three consecutive titles. The best-of-three championship series starts Wednesday.

Stanford (47-15) reached the World Series for the third time, and the first time since 2004. Oklahoma gave Stanford both of its World Series losses.

Grace Lyons doubled to start off Oklahoma’s ninth. Jayda Coleman came up with Lyons on third base and with two outs and was intentionally walked. Jennings then sent the ball into the gap in right-center to bring home Lyons and Coleman.

Oklahoma’s Jordy Bahl put the Cardinal down in order in the ninth.

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Bahl, who got the win, gave up four hits in four innings in relief of starter Nicole May and did not allow a run. Bahl is 3-0 at the World Series and has not allowed a run in 14 2/3 innings.

Stanford’s NiJaree Canady took the loss in relief of starter Alana Vawter. Canady had thrown the most innings of any player at the World Series. She threw a one-hitter against Washington on Sunday to lift the Cardinal into the semifinals, then threw 85 pitches against Oklahoma.

Because Oklahoma was unbeaten in the double-elimination bracket, the Sooners needed just one win on Monday, and Stanford would have needed two to advance.

Stanford’s Kylie Chung hit a 2-run homer in the first, the only one the Sooners have allowed at the World Series. Coleman’s solo homer tied the score at 2 in the third.

• Kathryn Sandercock and Makenna Reid combined for five innings of scoreless relief to help No. 3 seed Florida State defeat No. 4 Tennessee 5-1 and advance to the women’s College World Series championship series.

Sandercock, the Seminoles’ veteran ace, allowed one hit and struck out four in three innings to claim her 10th save of the year. Freshman Reid gave way to Sandercock after allowing one hit in two innings. She claimed the win to improve to 13-0 this season.

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BASEBALL

NCAA TOURNAMENT:  Josh Rivera went 3 for 4, BT Riopelle hit a pair of two-run homers and Florida beat Texas Tech 6-0 at Gainesville, Florida, to advance to the super regionals for the first time since 2018.

No. 2 Florida (48-15) survived three consecutive loser-out games to claim the Gainesville Regional championship. The Gators will host Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina in a best-of-three super regional this week.

Wyatt Langford hit a home run in the top of the second to account for the Gators’ first run. Langford also stole two bases on one play in the fifth inning and scored on Rivera’s single to put UF ahead 4-0.

Riopelle was hitless in 15 plate appearances, with eight strikeouts, in the regional before his two two-run homers.

Ryan Slater started for just the third time all season for Florida. He tossed five shutout innings and limited the Red Raiders to three hits and two walks for his team-high 10th win.

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Texas Tech (41-23) lost to Florida 7-1 on Sunday night to set up the winner-take-all regional championship.

• Dylan Crews and Hayden Travinski each had three of LSU’s 19 hits and the Tigers beat Oregon State 13-7 for the Baton Rouge Regional championship.

LSU (46-15), the No. 5 overall seed, advances to the super-regional round for the 16th time in program history.

• Dustin Dickerson hit a go-ahead three-run homer in sixth inning and Southern Miss rallied for the fourth straight game to claim the Auburn Regional with an 11-7 victory over Pennsylvania at Auburn, Alabama.

Southern Miss (45-18) is headed to the super-regional round for the second straight season. The Golden Eagles will face Tennessee, which captured the Clemson Regional, on Friday.

• Austin Davis had four RBI, Cole Fontenelle and Tre Richardson added three apiece and TCU beat Arkansas 12-4 to clinch the Fayetteville Regional.

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TCU (40-22) advances to its eighth super regional in program history — and the first since 2017.

• Hunter Gilliam hit a go-ahead double in a two-run sixth inning and Kentucky beat Indiana 4-2 in a winner-take-all regional final at Lexington, Kentucy.

Twelfth-ranked Kentucky (40-19) advances to the super regionals for the second time in program history. The Wildcats will play No. 5 LSU in Baton Rouge later this week.

• MJ Metz had three hits, including a home run, and three RBI, Alex Stone hit a three-run shot and Duke breezed to a 12-3 victory over top-seeded Coastal Carolina to win the Conway (South Carolina) Regional.

The second-seeded Blue Devils (38-21) advance to the super regionals for the first time since 2019. Duke will be trying for its fourth berth in the College World Series and its first since 1961.

GEORGIA: Georgia hired LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson as its new coach.

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Johnson replaces Scott Stricklin, who was fired on May 26 following a 9-0 loss to South Carolina in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament. Georgia finished 29-27 this season, including an 11-19 mark in the SEC.

Johnson was the Minnesota Twins’ pitching coach before making the unusual move of leaving the major leagues for the job at LSU on June 22, 2022. At the time, Johnson said the career change was “very, very, very tough. This the toughest thing I’ve ever done.”

Johnson, 51, will remain with LSU (46-15) through its postseason.

FOOTBALL

HALL OF FAME: Michael Vick, Larry Fitzgerald and Terrell Suggs are among the college football stars who will be considered for induction to the Hall of Fame for the first time this year.

The National Football Foundation released a list of 78 players and nine coaches from major college football who are on the Hall of Fame ballot. There also are 101 players and 32 coaches from lower divisions of college football up for consideration.

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Vick, who led Virginia Tech to the BCS championship game against Florida State as a redshirt freshman in 1999, is among the most notable players appearing on the ballot in his first year of eligibility.

Vick finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1999. He played one season of college football before being drafted No. 1 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. Vick’s professional career was interrupted when he served 21 months in prison for his involvement in dog fighting.

Fitzgerald was the Heisman runner-up in 2003 to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White. He scored 34 touchdowns in just two seasons at Pitt.

Suggs led the nation in sacks with 24 in 2002 for Arizona State.

The 2024 Hall of Fame class will be chosen by the National Football Foundation’s Honors Court and announced in January. Induction into the Atlanta-based hall is the following December.


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