Charlotte knocks off No. 4 Florida State, Jordy Bahl injured and more from college softball's opening day (2024)

The road to Oklahoma City began on Thursday as college softball is officially back. Here is what you may have missed from a busy opening day.

No. 4 Florida State falls to Charlotte, 6-5

Charlotte gained its biggest win in program history after defeating No. 4Florida State during day one of the JoAnne Graf Classic. The 49ers were able to escape Tallahassee with an upset win in extra innings.

FSU held a steady lead, 3-1, into the fifth inning before Charlotte started to chip away. After an infield RBI single from Charlotte's Ella Chancey and a wild pitch, the 49ers were locked with the Seminoles, 3-3.

Florida State responded in the fifth with an RBI double from Kalei Harding, followed by an RBI triple from Devyn Flaherty. The 49ers did not go out quietly though, as Charlotte powered home two runs in the final two innings to force extras.

In the top of the tenth, London Dirks doubled to left field with Abigail Knight waiting in the wings. Knight poked a clutch single into right field to give the 49ers the lead, and eventually their first top-5 win in program history.

.@abigailknight07 singles in London Dirks to give us the lead!#GoldStandard⛏️ pic.twitter.com/AZbM43VaYR

— Charlotte Softball (@CharlotteSB) February 9, 2024

Florida State, 2023's WCWS runner-ups, will look to get in the win column on Feb. 9 when they take on Texas Tech and Florida A&M in a double-header.

Oklahoma transfer Jordy Bahl injured in No. 17 Nebraska debut

It was a not-so-great way to start opening day for No. 17 Nebraska as excitement turned to concern. No. 1 Oklahoma transfer and Nebraska native Jordy Bahl was helped off the field in the third inning as she allegedly lost her footing and could be seen slightly limping off the field vs. No. 10 Washington on Thursday night.

Jordy Bahl’s first strikeout in a 𝗡𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗮 uniform.@HuskerSoftball | @PVCollegeSB | @TCSFastpitch | @jordybahl | #PVCC pic.twitter.com/YzAT0MRQxP

— FloSoftball (@FloSoftball) February 9, 2024

Shortly after Bahl struck out the lead-off hitter, Bahl endured an ankle injury — causing the pitcher to exit the game early. Bahl finished with a 2.1 IP and gave up 3 runs.

With Washington up 5-0 heading into the fourth inning, the Huskers could not grasp any momentum to stop the offensive game — leading to a Huskies run-rule victory.

No. 1 Oklahoma rolls past No. 8 Duke & Utah Valley

Oklahoma traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to open the season in the 2024 Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. This marked the third appearance from the Sooners as they took on Utah Valley and No. 8 Duke.

Oklahoma cruised through five innings to breeze past Utah Valley and post their first win of the 2024 season, 13-0. A grand slam at the bottom of the first inning from Kasidi Pickering set the tone for the Sooners early on — leading to a run-rule victory.

😱 Welcome to the 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰, KP ‼️@PickeringKasidi blasts an opposite-field grand slam in her first collegiate at-bat to open the scoring!

📺 - https://t.co/Ze5V0wxIhu#ChampionshipMindset | @FloSoftball pic.twitter.com/Ji8njPXmjW

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) February 8, 2024

📊 RANKINGS: Take a look at the latest college softball rankings for the 2024 season

Sooners' Kelly Maxwell made quite the debut to hold off the Blue Devils as they rolled through seven innings to gain another win on opening day, 3-0.

The Oklahoma State transfer pitched through five innings to keep the Blue Devils at bay as she only allowed one hit and no runs.

For the Sooners' offense, the third inning was all they needed to crank things up as Tiare Jennings posted her first homer of the season. Alynah Torres increased the lead with an RBI single and freshman Kasadi Pickering accounted for an infield RBI single to put the Sooners up 3-0.

𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.@alynaht wins a LONG at-bat to plate a key insurance run 👊

📺 - https://t.co/NS02sK5M4H#ChampionshipMindset | @FloSoftball pic.twitter.com/slvYNZlu0d

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) February 8, 2024

🥎 DI SOFTBALL:Rankings|Scores

No. 3 Stanford takes down No. 24 San Diego State, 3-0

No. 3 Stanford closed out opening day with a 3-0 win over San Diego State. A scoreless game for both the Cardinals and Aztecs took place up until the sixth inning when Aly Kaneshiro's RBI single go the ball rolling for the Cards followed by a two-run home run by Caelan Koch.

💣 CAELAN KOCH GOES YARD!

First homer for the season makes it 3-0 Card!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/CkVAqONtCu

— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) February 9, 2024