When Jayda Coleman was intentionally walked in the top of the ninth inning of the Women's College World Series semifinal against Stanford, the Oklahoma center fielder spiked her bat to celebrate.
That piqued the interest of some fans watching the Sooners in the College World Series. It was a big celebration for the Cardinal intentionally putting runners at the corners with two outs.
As it turned out, however, Coleman wasn't celebrating the walk. She was celebrating the next hitter. Tiare Jennings doubled the other way to give Oklahoma a 4-2 lead, where it would stay as Jordy Bahl shut Stanford down in order in the bottom of the ninth to put the Sooners in the final.
It's hard not to notice the way Oklahoma celebrates ... everything. Whether it's a walk or a homer, if something positive happens, the dugout is celebrating in a big way. While part of this is softball culture -- softball dugouts tend to be a bit more vocal than baseball ones -- the other part is that it's just who the Sooners are.
Oklahoma is on a historic win streak -- 51 games heading into Wednesday's game against Florida State. When a team rips off that many wins in a row, winning can become rote. Rigid. Boring. But Oklahoma's celebrations make sure winning becomes anything but bland.
Why does Oklahoma celebrate so much?
There's a short answer to why the Sooners celebrate so often: It's their identity.
“One thing I’ve told these guys is … you must be unapologetic about the energy and the celebrations that you have because women have worked so hard to get here, yet still get judged for those things,” said Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso, per USA Today.
“That’s the way we play, and that’s what people enjoy. Or you don’t. You either like it or you don’t, but we’re not going to apologize for these players knowing the game and celebrating it the right way.”
