There was controversy at multiple stages of the Oklahoma Sooners 4-3 win over Washington on Friday night, but OU pulls out the victory to remain undefeated at 3-0 and extend their record winning streak to 56 games.
After the Sooners plated two runs in the top of the first off the bats of [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag], the Washington Huskies came back with three in the bottom of the second.
A play at the plate in which [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] threw out Avery Hobson, but was ruled obstruction as Hansen moved back inside the basepath to receive Coleman’s throw. Instead of the Hobson being ruled out at the plate for the third out of the inning, she was awarded home, and the Huskies could cut the Sooners lead to one. Washington went on to add two more runs in the inning to take the lead.
According to the NCAA website, “defensive players will not be called for obstruction if they are in possession of the ball or if they are making a legitimate reaction to the trajectory of the ball after it is thrown.”
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More: Social Media Reacts to Kasidi Pickering’s grand slam in first career at bat
After the three second inning runs, [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] was able to settle back in and keep the Huskies off the board for another two innings before giving way to [autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag].
Monticelli threw a scoreless fifth inning but ran into trouble in the sixth. But by that time the Sooners tied it up on a [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] single to centerfield.
[autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag] came in and faced a couple of batters, but it was Kelly Maxwell who was the star late in the game.
She entered with one out and runners on first and third in the bottom of the sixth. And then more controversy ensued.
After Maxwell forced Kinsey Fiedler to bounce the ball right back to her, Maxwell threw it to Hansen at home, who applied the tag on Jing Gardner for the out. Replay showed Gardner getting in under the tag, but the umpire ruled her out and without the ability to challenge, it was the second out of the inning. Maxwell then forced a ground out to end Washington’s six inning threat.
In the top of the eighth inning, Pickering was placed on second base with Cydney Sanders coming to bat. Sanders chopped the ball back to the pitcher, and on Ruby Meylan’s throw to first, Pickering advanced to third. Then [autotag]Riley Boone[/autotag] stepped up with two outs and drove a pitch to left field to give the Sooners the one-run lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, Maxwell was fantastic again. Though Oklahoma allowed the Huskies extra inning runner to advance to third on a grounder Alyssa Brito, Maxwell shut it down from there. She got Brooke Nelson to pop up to second base and then Fiedler to ground out to Brito, who made a nice stab down the line and a beautiful throw to first to end the game.
Oklahoma had a difficult time with Huskies pitcher Ruby Meylan. Meylan entered the game in the fourth inning and proceeded to stymie the Sooners’ vaunted lineup. In five innings, she recorded seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one walk.
Maxwell threw 2.2 innings and allowed just one base runner and a walk while striking out two to pick up her second win of the season.
The Oklahoma Sooners will close out their time in the Puerto Vallarta College Classic in their finale against Long Beach State on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
More: How to watch, listen to No. 1 Oklahoma in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge
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