Oklahoma won its fifth Women’s College World Series title on Thursday, defeating Florida State twice in a best-of-three series. With each record broken and home run hit, captivated audiences across the country became indefatigable fans of college softball and advocates of instant replay.
When the final out was recorded, possibly the happiest and most electrifying span in college sports—WCWS—gave way to the saddest and most monotonous span in college sports—all the days without the WCWS.
As ESPN play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins noted in Thursday’s final game, “there are those who love the game and those that just don’t know they love it yet.