‘I loaded early and just went for it’: Kinzie Hansen gets party started in…
Kinzie Hansen stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third against second team All-American pitcher Jala Wright. Wright came into today leading the Duke pitching staff in appearances, wins, earned run average, innings and strikeouts.
Wright had struck out Tiare Jennings and Ella Parker after coming in for starting pitcher Cassidy Curd, and she looked to get Hansen to get the Blue Devils out of another jam. Oklahoma had runners on second and third with one out in the second inning before Curd escaped without giving up a run after a fielder’s choice and a lineout.
On the first pitch Wright threw to the senior catcher, Hansen found a pitch she liked.
She crushed a hanging changeup that just cleared the left field bleachers to give the Sooners a lead they would never look back on. It was Hansen’s 10th home run of the season and her second of the postseason.
Hansen’s home run would be a tone setter for the rest of the offense as the Sooners hit two more home runs on the day to guide them past Duke 9-1 in the opening round of the 2024 Women’s College World Series.
“I noticed the at-bats before me, she was trying to pound the zone early,” Hansen said. “I loaded early and just went for it.”
With her heroics on Thursday, Hansen is now tied with former Sooner Lauren Chamberlain with six career home runs at the Women’s College World Series. She passed Brittany Schutte and former Sooner Shay Knighten with her home run in the third.
Two batters later, senior utility player Alynah Torres unloaded a two-run home run to give the Sooners some extra breathing room. It was Torres’ ninth home run this year, and it gave the Sooners a three-run lead.
“I think we’re just playing loose and having fun,” Torres said. “Knowing that it’s our last week together as a team, and playing free, passing the bat and just have fun.”
Junior infielder Cydney Sanders would add on to the lead with a two-run home run in the fourth, giving OU a 6-1 lead and Sanders’ first home run since April 16 against Tulsa.
“Since (Torres and Sanders) have been here, they’ve really been trying to be the same hitters that they were at Arizona State,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “It really doesn’t matter to me what you’ve done through the season, this is where everyone’s got to remember it.”
In the top of the fourth, the Sooners had faced trouble.
Graduate left-hander Kelly Maxwell got the start on Thursday, and walked four batters in 3.2 innings and left with the bases loaded. Gasso would then turn to sophomore left-hander Kierston Deal.
On a 2-2 pitch, Duke first baseman Gisele Tapia hit a fly ball that looked like it was going to drop.
Then Jayda Coleman did what she’s used to doing in a Sooner uniform – robbing batters of big moments. It was the second time in as many games where Coleman has robbed another player of a hit.
In addition to another robbery, Coleman also went 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and two runs scored.
“The catalyst today was Jayda Coleman,” Gasso said. “I don’t think anyone has really talked much about her.”
Deal would settle down after the fourth and pitch the final two innings. She went 2.1 innings out of the bullpen and allowed just two hits with no runs and no walks.
“It’s really good to be able to bounce pitchers off of each other,” Hansen said. “I have a lot of fun when both of them are on the mound.”
Next, the Sooners will face UCLA (43-10) in a rematch of the 2019 Women’s College World Series championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ABC.
