No. 1 Oklahoma wins Bedlam finale 11-8 to claim ninth consecutive Big 12 title

No. 1 Oklahoma softball took the finale of the Bedlam series on Sunday 11-8 to claim their ninth consecutive Big 12 regular season title.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball capped off their biggest series of the year in style on Sunday winning the Bedlam finale 11-8 against rival No. 7/9 Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

The game was the unofficial Big 12 championship, with the winner claiming the regular season title after they split the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday. With the win, the Sooners have now won the league’s regular season crown in nine straight years – an absurd feat for a goliath program built by Patty Gasso.

Getting the start for Oklahoma was Giselle Juarez (16-1) and she had some rare struggles only completing two innings and allowing four runs. It was an offensive day in Stillwater, with not even Juarez being immune to balls flying all over the park throughout the afternoon.

Fortunately for Juarez, she had quite the cushion to work with as the Sooners jumped out to a big early lead 6-0 in the top of the second. RBI hits from left fielder Mackenzie Donihoo and center fielder Jayda Coleman paired with multiple errors from the Cowgirls allowed the marathon inning to get Oklahoma out to the quick advantage.

After Oklahoma State got one back in the bottom of the second, the Sooners would strike for three more runs in the third inning on a three-run shot to right field off the bat of right fielder Nicole Mendes. At the middle of the third frame, Oklahoma held a commanding 9-1 lead.

But, the Cowgirls weren’t going to go down easy. They matched the Sooners’ six-run second inning with a six-run frame of their own off of Juarez and fellow senior pitcher Shannon Saile. Shortstop Kiley Naomi and first baseman Alysen Febrey both connected with two-run home runs in the big inning to help draw the game to a 9-7 score after three.

In the fourth, the two teams would trade solo home runs with Oklahoma second baseman Tiare Jennings hitting one in the top half before Okalhoma State designated player Haley Busby got one in the bottom half. The Sooners took a 10-8 lead into the fifth.

There, Coleman gave Oklahoma an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to make the score 11-8. That would go on to be the final score thanks to the star of the weekend – Sooners freshman starting pitcher Nicole May.

After getting her first save of the season in Saturday’s game, she picked up her second here working a masterful 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen allowing just one run and three hits while striking out four. In a rare occurrence where the two outstanding veteran pitchers struggled, the young gun stepped in a gigantic way.

The win moves the Sooners to 42-2 overall and 16-1 in Big 12 play to conclude the regular season and, obviously, gives them the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament in Oklahoma City.

This was billed as the biggest series of the year for both teams and one of the biggest in the country all year long, and it lived up to the hype. The emotion was high all throughout three action-packed games. But, once again, it’s Gasso and Oklahoma who reign supreme in the Big 12.

The Sooners will now have some time to celebrate and catch their breath with four days away from game action before starting the Big 12 Tournament on Friday.