Wednesday was a good day for Oklahoma softball ace Kelly Maxwell. Coming off one of the most pivotal performances of her career–a gritty, hard-fought win over Florida–Maxwell finally got the chance to play in the Women’s College World Series Finals.
She dazzled, too, holding the best offenses in the country to just four hits and one earned run while recording eight strikeouts in 7.0 IP in an 8-3 victory for the Sooners.
That wasn’t the only thing that Maxwell got to check off of her bucket list on Wednesday, though.
After growing up an OU fan, and particularly an OU football fan, Kelly was all about Adrian “All Day” Peterson.
Let’s be honest: who wasn’t enamored with AD? After all, he’s one of the greatest running backs of this generation.
Anyways, Maxwell was No. 27 growing up, but when she started playing travel ball, and that number wasn’t available, her coach said that she should just take No. 28, as she explained to KREF Sports back in April.
Afterall, It was just one number away from what she’d wanted, and it was the same number that belonged to her favorite running back.
That was all the convincing she needed, and from there on, Maxwell was No. 28.
Well, on Wednesday, Maxwell finally got the chance to meet the player who influenced her to choose the number that she’s now associated with, and it was a pretty surreal moment.
The number “28” means a whole heck of a lot around Norman, Oklahoma, and after the postseason that Kelly Maxwell has put together thus far, it’s on the verge of meaning that much more.
Heck, if Maxwell leads Oklahoma to their fourth consecutive national championship this week, it might be next to impossible to wear that number for the Sooners going forward after the legacy it carries.
Maxwell and the Sooners will take on Texas in Game 2 of the WCWS Finals at 7:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
