OKLAHOMA CITY >> Stanford freshman NiJaree Canady was locked in a pitcher’s duel Thursday against Oklahoma, the two-time defending champs, but was eventually outdone by Sooners ace Jordy Bahl, putting the Cardinal on the brink of elimination in the Women’s College World Series.

Bahl threw a five-hitter with 11 strikeouts to help Oklahoma defeat Stanford 2-0 Thursday in its tournament opener.

Bahl was Oklahoma’s ace last year, but an arm injury left her with a reduced role at the World Series. This year, the first-team All-American was healthy and ready to go.

“Jordy was absolutely on her game,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “She was just a boss today. It was really fun to watch that, especially not getting the opportunity she wanted last year and just making the most of it from day one.”

Bahl outlasted Canady, the nation’s leader in ERA and the NFCA freshman of the year. Canady gave up just four hits and one earned run in five innings while regularly throwing 75 mph against a team that leads the nation in scoring and batting average.

“We knew what we were running into in the way of NiJa, and she has become one of the hardest-throwing, ball-moving freshmen I’ve ever seen,” Gasso said. “So I feel like we got a really tough, tough matchup. Their pitching staff is really good.”

Jayda Coleman’s RBI single in the fifth provided all the offense Oklahoma needed.

No. 1 seed Oklahoma (57-1) extended its Division I-record win streak to 49 games and advanced to play No. 4 seed Tennessee (50-8) on Saturday. The winner reaches the semifinals in the double-elimination bracket.

No. 9 seed Stanford (45-14) plays No. 5 seed Alabama (45-21) in an elimination game today.

Oklahoma’s Haley Lee sent a Canady pitch to the warning track in the fourth, but Stanford left fielder Ellee Eck snagged the hard shot to end the inning.

Stanford got two on with one out in the fifth against Bahl but could not score.

With two outs in the fifth, Coleman singled to left field to knock in a run. An error on Eck for letting the ball bounce off her glove allowed the other runner to score and put the Sooners up 2-0.

“I think she saw a good pitch and hit it, honestly,” Canady said. “All I can do is throw each pitch to the best of my abilities. Yeah, I think she just saw the pitch.”