The Oklahoma Sooners completed another perfect weekend, beating the Utah Utes 2-1 in the finale of the Mary Nutter Classic. The Sooners are now 15-0 on the season and have faced and overcome some adversity along the way.
Not every win is going to be a run-rule performance, but the Sooners have found ways to win in their last two, including this matchup against the Utes.
Utah took a 1-0 lead in the third inning
The Oklahoma Sooners struggled for the most part against Utah’s pitching and when the Sooners started to get things going, the Utes got some timely defensive play to keep the game from breaking open.
Utah pitchers Sydney Sandez and Halle Morris combined to allow just five hits and two walks on the day and got some timely defense behind them. With the Sooners threatening to extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth, they had runners on first and second with nobody out.
Tiare Jennings hit it right at third baseman Julia Jimenez who was guarding the line to protect against the extra-base hit. After fielding the ball, Jimenez quickly stepped on the bag before throwing to second where Aliya Belarde got the second out and threw to first to complete the triple play.
TRIPLE PLAY!!! 😮 #NCAASoftball x 🎥 @Utah_Softball pic.twitter.com/5NX2xeD5Tt
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) February 27, 2022
In the following inning, the Sooners again looked to extend their 2-1 lead, and yet again, it was Julia Jimenez making the defensive play to get the Utes out of the jam. With runners on second and third and one out, Jimenez caught a line drive before it hit the ground and stepped on third to end the threat.
Hope Trautwein gave up one earned run on two hits in four innings of work before giving way to Jordy Bahl who threw three perfect innings to close out the game for Oklahoma.
After dominating at the plate for much of the weekend, the top four hitters in the Sooners lineup were a combined 2 for 9 with two walks and two strikeouts.
Oklahoma returns to Norman for a break before their home opener against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Monday, Mar. 7 at 5 p.m. CT.
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