No. 1 Oklahoma softball suffers their second loss of the season 6-4 in Bedlam

No. 1 Oklahoma softball suffered their second loss of the season on Friday night falling in the Bedlam opener 6-4 to No. 7/9 Oklahoma State.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball began their biggest series of the season on Friday night in Stillwater for Bedlam against No. 7/9 Oklahoma State. The winner of the series will be the Big 12 regular season champions, which adds a whole extra layer of drama to an already intense series between two good teams and in-state rivals.

Getting the start for the Sooners was Giselle Juarez (15-1) who had a very rare clunker, allowing five runs and only being able to work into the third inning. Friday would mark her first loss of the entire season.

Oklahoma was the team to jump out early, though, with center fielder Jayda Coleman connecting on a two-run home run in the second to put the Sooners ahead 2-0. Then, after the Cowgirls got a run back on a homer of their own in the bottom half of the inning, left fielder Jocelyn Alo hit a mammoth two-run blast in the third to push the lead to three runs at 4-1. Patty Gasso’s club, seemingly, was in total control.

But, momentum would shift heavily to the Oklahoma State dugout in the bottom of the third as the Cowgirls hit two two-run home runs off of Juarez to give the Pokes their first lead of the night at 5-4. From there, the Sooners’ bats went stunningly silent.

Oklahoma State pitcher Carrie Eberle (19-1) had early struggles allowing the home runs, but from the fourth inning on she was simply nails not allowing another run the rest of the way. The Cowgirls would tack on another run in the fifth, but Eberle wouldn’t need it. She was lock down the rest of the way to help Oklahoma State get the win 6-4.

This is the first win for the Cowgirls in Bedlam softball since April 27, 2011 and snaps the Sooners’ 57-game regular season conference game winning streak. Oklahoma State was game for this challenge, and they responded with a big time win and are now just one more away from claiming a Big 12 title.

Conversely, Oklahoma, now at 40-2 overall and 14-1 in league play, finds themselves needing to win the next two days to win the conference for a ninth consecutive season. The Sooners are, of course, more than capable of doing that. But, this was a legitimate statement from the Pokes in the opener.

Game two of the series will be back in Stillwater on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT.

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