Four outs away, Florida Softball was within reach of slaying the dragon in Oklahoma

Coming into the 2024 season, if national prognosticators were to predict which team could unseat Oklahoma's reign, Florida Softball would not have been high on the list. The Gators were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in 2023 during the regional round and entered 2024 with a completely revamped roster.

It makes the Tuesday afternoon defeat to Oklahoma in the Women's College World Series bittersweet because Florida accomplished far more than anyone thought they would, while also left to wonder what if as the Gators fell 6-5 in eight innings to the Sooners.

Florida Softball: They'll Be Back

Florida was faced with the unenviable task of having to defeat Oklahoma twice in order to advance to the championship series. On Monday, the Gators pulled off step one. And due to weather delays, the "If necessary" game was pushed to Tuesday afternoon.

Home runs from Jocelyn Erickson, Ariel Kowalewski, and Reagan Walsh had Florida up 5-2 heading into the fourth inning. The Sooners pulled it back to 5-4 into the sixth inning, but were still trailing with two runners on and two out when a run scoring single tied the game.

By this point the Gators had run out of momentum and as the game went into extra innings, the walk-off home run from Oklahoma in the eighth inning to win 6-5 felt like an inevitability.

The reality of the NCAA Tournament is that you either win the national title or your season ends in a loss. Sometimes, like last season, it feels like a team can't wait to have the season end. But as the 2024 campaign progressed there was an increasing feeling that this Gators squad was rekindling the magic of the golden years for the program.

When Florida beat Oklahoma on Monday, it was a sign anything was possible as Florida snapped a 20-game NCAA Tournament winning streak for the Sooners. Four outs away from slaying the dragon for good, dreams of another national title were closer and closer to becoming a reality.

The end of the 2024 season brings a bittersweet end for senior Skylar Wallace, who stated in her post game comments that transferring to Florida from Alabama was the best thing she had ever done.

But the 2025 season also has the potential to be a special one for the Gators. Katie Kistler is the only other senior who started on Tuesday, meaning on paper seven of Florida's nine starters in the lineup, in addition to starting pitcher Keagan Rothrock, will return for another crack at the title.

With a key transfer portal pickup or two, there is zero reason to believe the Gators won't be back in Oklahoma City next year and zero reason to believe they can't finish the season with a trophy and fireworks rather than a heart breaking defeat.