The Oklahoma Sooners closed the regular season in dramatic fashion in the final game of their series with rivals Oklahoma State.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Sooners were struggling to get anything consistent going against Cowgirls ace Kelly Maxwell. But that all changed in the fifth frame.
Maxwell struggled with control issues with the top of the lineup coming to bat. She hit two batters and walked another to load the bases for the reigning, defending, national player of the year and [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag] made her pay with the fifth grand slam of her career. That’s all the Sooners pitching staff would need the rest of the way as they kept Oklahoma State scoreless the rest of the way.
In her final regular season game at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Alo came through in the clutch like she has so many times in her Sooners career. For her efforts, Alo was named Big 12 player of the week. It’s the seventh time in her career that she’s won the honor.
Only fitting that Jocelyn Alo claims the final ππ’π ππ ππ₯ππ²ππ« π¨π ππ‘π ππππ€ honor of the season π#ChampionshipMindset Β» https://t.co/k3WvHJphc6 pic.twitter.com/i9hxnbc3hp
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 10, 2022
Alo hit .444 in the series with one home run, six RBIs, and three runs scored. She was walked twice and held a .545 on-base percentage and slugged .778, totaling seven bases.
Alo was a top 10 finalist for the USA Softball National Player of the Year award and is the favorite to take home the honor once again in 2022.
The Sooners head into the Big 12 tournament the No. 1 seed and await the winner of Baylor vs. Iowa State Friday at 1 p.m. CST.
Contact/Follow usΒ @SoonersWireΒ on Twitter, and like our page onΒ Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.