OKLAHOMA CITY - No. 9 Stanford battled throughout and held No. 1 Oklahoma's high-powered offense in check before falling 2-0 on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Women's College World Series.
Two-time defending NCAA champion Oklahoma (57-1, 18-0 Big 12) plated the game's only two runs in the fifth inning following an RBI single and fielding error. The Sooners, who own the all-time Division I record for consecutive victories, have now won 49 in a row since their only loss of the season on Feb. 19 to Baylor.
Making its third NCAA Women's College World Series appearance overall and first since 2004, Stanford (45-14, 14-10 Pac-12) gave Oklahoma everything it could handle and kept the Sooners off balance.
That was most evident in the circle, where Stanford entered the game boasting one of the most dominant pitching staffs in the nation, ranking first in strikeout-to-walk ratio, fourth in ERA and 10th in shutouts.
NiJaree Canady, who earlier this week was named the TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year, met the moment again on Thursday with another impressive performance. The nation's leader in ERA and strikeouts per seven innings, Canady allowed only four hits and one walk in five innings while striking out seven despite taking the loss.
Canady was brilliant in shutting down an Oklahoma offense that leads the country with 8.39 runs per game and a .372 batting average, helping Stanford become only the fourth team this season to hold the Sooners to two runs or less.
The Cardinal consistently put runners on base but was unable to cash in at the plate. Sydney Steele finished 2-for-3 while Kylie Chung, Taylor Gindlesperger and Emily Young each contributed a hit.
Alana Vawter relieved Canady and pitched a scoreless sixth inning, working around two hits and one walk to go along with one strikeout.
Stanford, which owns a 52-44 overall record in NCAA Tournament competition, next faces No. 5 Alabama on Friday, June 2, at 4 p.m. PT (ESPN). The winner advances to play Sunday while the loser is eliminated.