Gasso earned 1,500th win, Sooners sweep UCF
ORLANDO, Fla. – University of Oklahoma softball head coach Patty Gasso became the third NCAA coach to reach 1,500 career wins as the No. 2-ranked Sooners earned a series win with a 2-1 win over UCF on Saturday afternoon in Orlando.
Oklahoma received a complete-game gem from left-hander Kierston Deal as the southpaw held UCF (28-20, 10-13 Big 12) to just two hits on the afternoon. OU’s “magic number” moves to four for an outright Big 12 championship and three for a share of the title.
Sooner shortstop Tiare Jennings (1-for-3, R, HR, RBI) blasted her 90th career home run to provide the game’s first tally in the fourth, becoming just the eighth player in NCAA history to reach the milestone. Kinzie Hansen (0for-2, BB, R) followed by drawing a walk, then Ella Parker (1-for-2, BB, 2B, RBI) laced a double into the right-center gap to make it 2-0 Sooners.
Deal starred in the circle, allowing a lone unearned run on two hits and a walk while striking out four. She needed just 92 pitches to complete 7.0 innings, improving to 11-1 on the season. The southpaw has now won 11 of her last 12 starts, allowing just three earned over 57.0 innings for a 0.37 ERA in that span.
The Sooners (45-4, 21-3 Big 12) recorded their seventh sweep of the year with the road series win over UCF (28-21, 1014). OU’s “magic number” moves to three for an outright Big 12 championship and two for a share of the title entering the final week of the regular season.
Ella Parker hammered two home runs to lead the lineup while Kinzie Hansen reached in all four trips and Rylie Boone provided OU with a third multi-hit effort. Kasidi Pickering reached four times and Tiare Jennings (1-for-5, R, HR, RBI) recorded her 300th collegiate RBI on a solo home run in the fifth.
Down 2-0 after one complete, Parker launched an opposite-field two-run home run in the second to knot things at two each. UCF retook a short-lived two-run lead in the home half before the Sooners plated four in the third to make it 6-4 OU through three complete.
A well-executed squeeze bunt from Jayda Coleman (0-for-3, BB, R, RBI) plated Pickering to open the scoring in the third, then a go-ahead two-run Alyssa Brito single was followed by a Boone RBI knock to push the lead to two.
Pickering added insurance with a towering solo shot in the fourth. The Sooners posted another four-spot in the fifth on three home runs courtesy of Parker, Jennings and Hansen. Jennings’ blast registered her 300th collegiate RBI, making her the fifth player in NCAA history to reach the milestone.
Kelly Maxwell earned the win in relief, improving to 16-1 on the season with 4.1 innings of tworun ball. She scattered four hits and did not walk a batter, striking out one while throwing 38 of her 60 pitches for strikes. Gasso is now 1,501-349-2 (.811) at Oklahoma.
Up Next
OU returns home to host Oklahoma State for its final Big 12 regular-season series. Bedlam presented by Phillips 66 begins Friday, May 3 at Love’s Field with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on FS1.