After an incredible outing to beat the UCLA Bruins to close out the Mary Nutter Classic in California, the Oklahoma Sooners put together an encore performance Friday evening against No. 17 Kentucky.
After beating UIC 5-0 in the first game of their Friday double-header, the Oklahoma Sooners were once again dominant over a ranked opponent, beating the Wildcats 18-0 at Marita Hynes Field.
[autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] got the start in the circle and was flawless, throwing five innings and striking out five for the no-hitter. Her lone blemish in the win was a hit batter with two outs in the first inning. She didn’t allow another base runner over the final 4.1 innings pitched to move to 5-0 and lower her ERA to 0.27 on the season.
Not to be overshadowed by another dominant outing for Storako, the Sooners’ bats had another huge outing.
As they’ve done a lot this year, Oklahoma went to work early, putting the pressure on in the first inning.
[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] led off the game with a double before [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] drove her in for the 1-0 lead. After moving to third on a [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] ground out, and [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] singled and stole second, true freshman Jocelyn Erickson came up with a pair of runners in scoring position and just one out.
She did what she’s been doing all year and added to the lead with a two-run single to make it 3-0 OU.
Hansen, who had a huge debut weekend in the Mary Nutter Classic a week ago, kept her offensive outburst going with a grand slam in the second inning to put the Sooners up 4-0.
𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐊 🗣️ @kinziehansen
END 2 | OU 7, UK 0 | 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/PPzsAAv4nq
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) March 4, 2023
It was her third home run of the season and first of two in the game.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Oklahoma Sooners erupted for 10 runs, kickstarted by Jayda Coleman’s fourth home run of the season. It was a solo shot to put the Sooners up 8-0. But they weren’t satisfied there.
With two on and one out, [autotag]Sophia Nugent[/autotag] belted a three-run home run for her third home run of the season. Arizona State transfer [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] followed Nugent’s blast with home runs of their own to go back-to-back-to-back.
Jordy Bahl walked to drive in a run, and Haley Lee brought in Rylie Boone from third on a fielder’s choice to make it 15-0. Then Kinzie Hansen came to the plate again and bashed a three-run home run for her fourth homer of the year. Hansen’s played in just seven games this season and has four home runs and 16 RBIs.
The Sooners hit five home runs in the 10-run inning to put away yet another top 25 opponent.
Oklahoma was pretty much flawless from the circle and at the plate. In Alex Storako’s last two starts, both against ranked teams, the Sooners have outscored their opponents 32-0.
Oklahoma is now 15-1 on the season and has been absolutely dominant since losing to Baylor nearly two weeks ago.
They’ll face Kentucky once again at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday at Marita Hynes Feld. Their second matchup with UIC will follow Oklahoma-UCLA.
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