There won’t be much talk of the Baylor Bears win over the Oklahoma Sooners from back in February now. After a three-game sweep, where the Bears didn’t record a single run.
After a shutout victory on Friday, the Oklahoma Sooners held the Bears scoreless in their Saturday double-header, picking up 4-0 and 2-0 wins on the backs of strong starts by [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] and [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag].
Game one featured a pitcher’s duel between Storako and Kaci West, who came in to relieve Rylee Crandall after she walked the first three batters to load the bases in the first inning. West kept Oklahoma off the board and battled Storako inning-for-inning until a four-run sixth by the Sooners.
In the sixth, [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] led off with a walk and then advanced to second on a passed ball. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], hitting from the clean-up spot lined a triple to left field, scoring Jennings to take a 1-0 lead. Sophia Nugent walked. Pinch running for Nugent, Avery Hodge stole second to put runners on second and third with one out for Cydney Sanders.
Sanders worked a hitters count and took the 3-1 pitch deep to left field for her fourth home run of the season, a three-run blast to put Oklahoma up 4-0. It was Sanders’ second home run in as many days.
The Arizona State transfer is officially hot and it’s coming at the perfect time of the season as the Sooners prepare for the stretch run.
Storako moved to 14-0 on the season and lowered her ERA to 0.73 on the season.
In game two, it was more of the same as the Sooners shutout the Bears 2-0 to complete the sweep and stay perfect on the season.
The Sooners wasted little time getting on the board in this one. [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] hit her 11th home run of the season to put Oklahoma up 1-0 in the top of the first, and Alyssa Brito followed that up in the second with her 10th home run of the season. After two, the Sooners led 2-0, and that’s all the support Nicole May would need.
May scattered two hits and three walks across seven innings for her sixth shutout of the season and moved to 13-0, lowering her ERA to 0.45 on the season.
After much was made of Baylor’s February win, the Sooners reminded the Bears, the Big 12, and the softball world why they’re the back-to-back national champions.
They’re the most well-balanced team in the nation, leading the nation in scoring and in ERA coming into the weekend. And they provided some timely defense to erase any Baylor threats throughout the weekend.
Now at 42-1 and riding a 34-game winning streak, the No. 1 team in the nation has Sunday and Monday off before a two-game road trip to face Wichita State and Tulsa on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Shockers hold a recent win over Oklahoma State and boast one of the best players in the nation in Sydney McKinney. McKinney leads the nation in batting average at .545.
Oklahoma returns to Big 12 play at Marita Hynes Field in Norman next weekend when they host the Kansas Jayhawks.
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