Women’s College World Series championship: Shay Knighten’s home run in 17th lifts Oklahoma past Florida in Game 1
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Reporting from Oklahoma City — Shay Knighten’s three-run homer off Kelly Barnhill in the top of the 17th inning gave Oklahoma a 7-5 victory over Florida in Game 1 of the championship series on Monday night.
The matchup between programs that have split the past four national titles was the longest championship series game in NCAA history. It lasted 5 1/2 hours, and all four pitchers threw more than 100 pitches.
Oklahoma (60-9) can clinch a repeat Tuesday in Game 2 of the best-of-three series.
Paige Lowary (16-3) got the start, was replaced, then re-entered to claim the win. Paige Parker pitched 6 2/3 innings of relief.
Barnhill (26-4), USA Softball’s National Collegiate Player of the Year, took the loss for Florida (58-9). She pitched nine innings and struck out 13. Delanie Gourley struck out 13 in eight innings of relief. The Sooners scored the first earned runs top-seeded Florida has allowed in four World Series games.
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