OU softball improves to 33-0 after another rout of Texas
Sooners improve to 33-0 with another run-rule rout of Red River rival Texas
NORMAN — Oklahoma catcher Lynnsie Elam flung the ball into the air and sprinted toward the Sooner dugout in celebration.
It was only the top of the second inning, but OU freshman pitcher Nicole May had just induced a pop-out and struck out back-to-back Texas hitters to escape a bases-loaded, no-out situation.
May and the top-ranked Sooners got out of another bases-loaded jam in the top of the third inning and that kind of pitching was plenty to back the OU offense, which produced a 9-0, run-rule victory over eighth-ranked Texas on Sunday at Marita Hynes Field.
“I am just so proud of (May),” said Elam, who visited May in the pitcher’s circle a couple times during the rough patches. “I cannot explain how awesome it was to see her do that. In those moments with her, it’s just letting her know that she is so good and just to spin her stuff and it’s gonna be good enough.”
It was the third consecutive run-rule win over the Longhorns in as many days, a huge statement for a Sooner team that — despite being undefeated
and a clear-cut No. 1 team in both polls — was rated No. 16 in the NCAA softball RPI ratings released last week.
This was the first series the Sooners were set to be truly tested, and they responded with three straight run-rule victories to improve to 33-0. The last two games of the series were nationally broadcast on ESPN2.
“I think that riled them a little bit,” OU coach Patty Gasso said of the RPI rating. “OU-Texas is always a whole other level of intensity. We could feel the intensity, regardless of what the score is.
“I thought we showed well on television. The right people hopefully got to see that.”
Gasso felt the Sooners’ at-bats in the first inning were flat, and she told the team that when they returned to the dugout after the intense top of the second.
That’s when the Sooner offense came to life, primarily with a lift from the bottom of the batting order..
No. 7 hitter Taylon Snow drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to left field. And after just missing an extra-base hit with a line drive that was barely foul down the left field line, Jana Johns drove a home run out to center field for a 3-0 Sooner lead.
In the top of the third, Texas loaded the bases again with three straight oneout singles. But a strikeout and a flyout got the Sooners out of it.
May (11-0) earned the victory, allowing no runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts in 41⁄ innings.
3
“I kinda like that she got in those situations,” Gasso said of May. “I can say that now, knowing how the game ended. But putting her under pressure was important, and she really did a tremendous job with it.”
From there, May let the most productive offense in the country go to work.
In the bottom of the third, Jocelyn Alo singled to left field and Kinzie Hansen walked.
After Texas recorded the second out of the inning on a lineout by Grace Lyons, freshman Jayda Coleman ripped her fifth home run of the season to put the Sooners on top 6-0.
And Elam followed with a solo homer to left that led to Texas pulling starting pitcher Shealyn O’Leary, who had been unbeaten prior to coming to Norman this weekend. She left with a pair of losses on her record.
In the bottom of the fourth, freshman leadoff hitter Tiare Jennings put the game into run-rule territory with a tworun home run to left field for a 9-0 Sooner lead.
“When we came in after not scoring that first inning, we knew we had a freshman pitcher on the mound and we needed to have her back,” Coleman said.
“She went in there and she shut it down, so we went back out there like, ‘We gotta do this for her. She’s getting outs for us.’ We had her back, and I’m really proud of Nicole. She did great.”