Tag: Cydney Sanders

Jayda Coleman wins NFCA, Big 12 Player of the Week awards

After an incredible weekend vs. Kansas, Jayda Coleman was named NFCA and Big 12 Player of the Week. It’s the Sooners fourth-straight Big 12 Player of the Week award.

The Oklahoma Sooners offense has settled in well in their 12-0 start to Big 12 play. After tinkering with the top of the order during nonconference, Patty Gasso has the best leadoff hitter in the game back at the top of the order and Jayda Coleman’s responded in a big way.

In the Sooners three-game sweep over Kansas, Coleman was incredible, hitting .857 with three home runs, four RBIs, eight runs scored, and seven walks. All while continuing to play Gold Glove-level centerfield for the Sooners.

It’s the fourth consecutive Big 12 Player of the Week award for the Sooners and the second NFCA Player of the Week award in the last month. Coleman’s conference award follows [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] (also won NFCA Player of the Week), and [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] who have each had big weeks over the last month.

She’s been on a tear in Big 12 play, hitting .571 with 5 home runs and 10 RBIs.

Coleman now leads the Sooners with a .466 batting average, .589 on-base percentage, 45 runs, and 30 walks. This is her fourth career player of the week award. She’s up to eight home runs and 27 RBIs as she puts together another fantastic season.

The Sooners next go on the road to take on the Texas Longhorns this weekend in Austin.

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No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners top Baylor Bears 8-1 in top 25 series opener

Kelly Maxwell had another outstanding performance and the Sooners erupted for seven runs in the 5th to beat Baylor 8-1.

What started out as a pitcher’s dual through the first four innings turned into another impressive win for the Oklahoma Sooners, who topped the Baylor Bears 8-1.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] and RyLee Crandall treated the 8,798 fans in attendance to a back and forth pitching matchup that lived up to pregame expectations. Both pitchers came into the contest with sub-1.50 ERAs and through four innings, it was as tight a ball game as you’d expect.

The Sooners got on the board first in the bottom of the second when [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] beat out an infield single and a throwing error allowed [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] to score from first.

Though Maxwell was cooking, Baylor was able to manufacture the tying run in the top of rht fourth. Emily Hott led off with a bunt single and stole second base on a controversial 3-1 pitch that was called a strike. Hott then took third on a passed ball before scoring on a Abi Flores single. But that’s all the Bears could muster in the inning.

Oklahoma wasn’t able to answer in the bottom of the fourth despite getting a couple of Sooners on base. As she had done throughout the first half of the game, Crandall found a way out of another jam to keep the Sooners from taking advantage of a scoring situation.

Maxwell pitched a scoreless fifth and was rewarded for her strong outing as the Sooners exploded for seven runs in the fifth.

After becoming the all-time leader in doubles earlier in the game, Tiare Jennings put Oklahoma ahead for good with a two-run home run, her 11th of the season. But the Sooners weren’t done there.

With one out in the inning, [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] earned back-to-back singles and then Cydney Sanders walked to load the bases. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] earned an RBI with a walk of her own to make it 4-1. With the bases still loaded, [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] went to her bench and brought in [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] who’s had a great week, hitting two home runs in the win over UT Arlington on Wednesday.

Torres took a 2-2 pitch and deposited it over the left field wall to put Oklahoma up 8-1.

Maxwell got the first out in the sixth before giving way to Peytn Monticelli, who closed it out allowing just one hit in 1.2 innings.

Maxwell, who was named NFCA and Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, moved to 9-0 on the season. She allowed one earned run on three hits and one walk while recording four strikeouts. She lowered her season ERA to 1.31. The fourth-inning run was the first Maxwell had allowed in her last 21 innings pitched, dating back to her 4-0 shutout win over Iowa State game.

Jennings, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week continued her incredible run with a 3-for-3 evening with a home run, two RBIs, and a walk. She raised her batting average to .444, which is second on the Sooners in 2024 behind Rylie Boone, who had a 3-for-3 day with a double.

Jayda Coleman didn’t record a hit, but she recorded three walks in the win. Ella Parker, Cydney Sanders, and Riley Ludlam each reached base twice.

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No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 19/22 Baylor one of D1Softball’s must-watch series of the week

This week’s top 25 matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and the No. 19/22 Baylor Bears among D1Softball’s top matchups of the week.

The Oklahoma Sooners are on a tear to open Big 12 play.

Through two series, they’re 6-0 and are outscoring their opponents 69-6. Oklahoma’s recorded 33 extra base hits in conference play, 12 more than the Texas Longhorns. The Sooners offense also leads the way in walks.

Now Oklahoma prepares for the first of two consecutive top 25 showdowns in Big 12 play when they host the Baylor Bears this weekend. Friday’s game will be held at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, the site of the Women’s College World Series before moving back to Love’s Field for the final two games of the series.

Baylor is coming off of an upset sweep at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks. The Bears scored two runs in the opener, and that’s all they could muster the rest of the weekend.

With the Sooners leading the Big 12 in ERA, this may not be a great time to face Oklahoma and their deep pitching staff.

Looking ahead to the weekend, Oklahoma vs. Baylor comes in at No. 3 in D1Softball’s “What to watch” this week.

The Bears were the only team to beat the Sooners in 2023, winning a non-conference matchup before being swept in their conference series later in the year. Now, the teams meet again. OU has surged to open Big 12 play, dismantling Iowa State and Texas Tech, while Baylor has struggled, most recently being swept at the hands of Kansas last weekend. Kelly Maxwell has been excellent in the circle for the Sooners, while Baylor has had some injury issues that have limited their roster depth as a whole. The Bears are the first Big 12 opponent on the OU schedule with, at minimum, a proven history of *being capable* of beating the three-time-defending champions – but can they do it with this year’s team? Only time will tell. – Justin McCleod, D1Softball

After last year’s loss to Baylor in nonconference play, the Oklahoma Sooners responded by shutting out the Bears in a three-game sweep during conference play.

While the name on the jersey may read the same, these teams are different. Instead of [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] taking their turns in the rotation, the Sooners will send [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] and [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] to the circle with [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] to face their Big 12 foes.

Last year’s series with Baylor might have been the turning point for [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag]. Heading into that weekend in Waco, Sanders was hitting just .234 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. Against the Bears, she raised her average to .271 after going 4-for-6 with two home runs, four RBIs, and five walks. That sparked a second half of the season where Sanders recorded seven home runs and 15 RBIs, including the postseason, and finished with a .284 average. This year, Sanders is hitting .365 with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs.

Baylor may have one of the few wins over the Sooners over the last couple of seasons, but this is a different Oklahoma team than the one they faced last year.

More: How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 19/22 Baylor

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Sooners catcher Kinzie Hansen ‘day-to-day’ with knee issue

Oklahoma Softball: Kinzie Hansen day-to-day with knee injury

The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a sensational start to Big 12 play, sitting at 6-0 with the Baylor Bears coming to town for a three-game set this weekend.

As OU prepares to host the only team to beat them in 2023, they may have to play without one of their captains, catcher [autotag]Kinzien Hansen[/autotag]. Patty Gasso said on Tuesday that Hansen is dealing with a knee issue.

“She’s got a little bit of a tweak in the knee that we don’t want to mess around with right now,” Gasso said Tuesday. “We’re just kind of playing it very cautiously. Riley Ludlam’s done a great job in that spot. So it’s just kind of day-to-day. She’s not out for the season or anything like that, we’re just kind of taking it day to day.”

Hansen has been fantastic in her final year with the Sooners, hitting .367 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs. Her work behind the plate defensively and with the pitching staff have also been critical to Oklahoma’s success.

In her only at bat last week, Hansen launched a solo home run in Friday’s game against Texas Tech in her first plate appearance. She didn’t play the rest of the weekend.

Taking her place in the ambiguous nature of day-to-day is [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag]. Ludlam, who transferred from Furman last offseason is having a really good year with the Sooners. She’s hitting .385 with two home runs, 16 RBIs and has recorded 13 walks this season. Her on-base percentage of .528 is third on the Sooners behind [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag].

Patty Gasso also revealed that in the even the Sooners need another catcher, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] will work as the emergency backstop.

The Oklahoma Sooners will play UT Arlington on Wednesday before they begin their three-game series with Baylor on Friday night in Oklahoma City at Hall of Fame Stadium. The final two games of the series will take place at Love’s Field in Norman.

More: How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma vs. UT Arlington

More: 5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s sweep of Texas Tech

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Kelly Maxwell dazzles, Tiare Jennings hits two home runs in Sooners win over Texas Tech

The Oklahoma Sooners got a fantastic outing from Kelly Maxwell and Tiare Jennings launched two home runs as the Sooners beat Texas Tech 14-0

The No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners traveled to Lubbock, Texas, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. OU took the first of three games 14-0.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] threw six innings, striking out 10, allowing two hits and four walks to move to 8-0 on the season, and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] led the way with two home runs and six RBIs.

Oklahoma got the scoring going in the top of the first. After [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] stole second, Jennings brought her home on an RBI double to put Oklahoma up 1-0.

In the second inning, [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] hit her seventh home run of the season to put Oklahoma up 2-0.

In the third innings, the Sooners put up three runs on a pair of walks from [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and the first of Jennings’ two home runs to give the Sooners a commanding 5-0 lead.

Oklahoma added another run in the fourth to make it 6-0.

Maxwell cruised throughout the game until running into a bit of trouble in the sixth inning. She allowed a leadoff walk, then hit the next Texas Tech batter before issuing another walk to load the bases. The veteran star then showed incredible poise, striking out the next three Red Raider hitters to keep the game scoreless through six.

Then in the top of the seventh, the Sooners lineup put an exclamation point on the evening with an eight-run inning to leave no doubt.

Alyssa Brito led off the inning with a single and then Tiare Jennings launched her second home run of the game to put OU up 8-0. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] walked and then with one out, so did Alynah Torres. Singles by [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and a [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] fielder’s choice tacked on three more runs before [autotag]Maya Bland[/autotag] doubled to bring in two more and make the score 13-0. Jennings and Ludlam walked to load the bases for [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] who also walked to score Bland and make it 14-0 Oklahoma.

[autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag] came in to pitch a scoreless seventh, striking out two and hitting a batter to close out the game.

The Sooners moved to 25-1 on the season and 4-0 in Big 12 play.

Tiare Jennings led the way at the plate with a 3-for-3 day with two home runs, six RBIs, a double, and two walks. She retook the team RBI lead and now sits with nine home runs and 31 RBIs on the season. Jennings’ batting average is now up to .423.

Cydney Sanders, who had been red hot in the month of March, didn’t record a hit in the game, but walked four times had an RBI and scored a run. Jayda Coleman was 2-for-4 and reached base on a walk.

Over her last three starts, Kelly Maxwell is 3-0 and hasn’t allowed a run while recording 25 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.

It was a strong performance to set the stage for the weekend on a cool night in Lubbock. The Sooners will take the field Saturday at 1 p.m. CT against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

More: How to watch the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Tech

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Cydney Sanders named Big 12 Player of the Week

After a huge week, Oklahoma’s Cydney Sanders was named Big 12 Player of the Week.

It was a huge weekend on the diamond for the Oklahoma Sooners. OU Baseball swept UCF, and OU Softball swept Iowa State. Both programs crushed the ball, putting up 29 runs over the weekend. For OU Baseball, Easton Carmichael was named Co-Big 12 Player of the Week. Now it’s softball’s turn to earn some honors as Cydney Sanders was named Big 12 Player of the Week.

Sanders was awesome last week, batting .714 with four home runs and nine RBIs. All four home runs came in the weekend series against the Cyclones, with three coming during Saturday’s doubleheader. During Oklahoma’s 4-0 week, Sanders also drew five walks.

Sanders is having the type of month that could propel her into the National Player of the Year discussion if she’s able to keep this pace. Ahead of their double header with Tarleton State, Sanders has six home runs and 15 RBIs in the month of March.

More: 5 Takeaways from Oklahoma’s sweep of Iowa State

She’s in the midst of a huge bounce-back season after hitting just .284 with nine home runs and 31 RBIs in 2023. That came after a breakout freshman season with Arizona State, where she hit .425 with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs.

This season, she’s already hit eight home runs, just one away from matching her total from last season. Sanders is batting .385, has 20 RBIs, and leads the Sooners with 15 walks.

Sanders and the Sooners next take the field in a double-header against Tarleton State on Tuesday before traveling to Lubbock for a three-game series against Texas Tech.

More: How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma vs. Tarleton State

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Cydney Sanders’ has big weekend in Sooners sweep of Iowa State

Cydney Sanders showed off her power in a big weekend vs. Iowa State.

The Oklahoma Sooners started Big 12 play with a bang as they beat the [autotag]Iowa State Cyclones[/autotag] in all three games to start. The Sooners won 4-0, 11-2 and then 14-1.

The star of the weekend was first baseman [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag]. Sanders hit four home runs and recorded nine RBIs. Sanders spoke to reporters after Saturday’s doubleheader about the day she had.

“Just seeing a strike and swinging,” Sanders said. “Honestly, in my last at-bat, I told coach I was going to swing at my first pitch strike. I ended up not but it ended up working out in the end. Just seeing pitches and getting good swings on them.”

That she did. We had been waiting for a breakout day from Sanders since she transferred before last season. As a freshman, she hit 21 home runs and had 63 RBIs for Arizona State. In her first year with the Sooners she hit nine home runs with 31 RBIs and her batting average dropped from .425 to .284.

This year Sanders is up to .385 and already has eight home runs and 20 RBIs. That would put her on pace for about 20 home runs and 46 RBIs. She’s had six home runs and 15 RBIs in the month of March alone. And it’s only March 10.

If they can keep getting this version of Cydney Sanders, it could be huge fir Oklahoma’s chances of winning a fourth straight national title.

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Kierston Deal shines, Oklahoma Sooners beat Texas A&M Commerce 9-0 in five innings

Kierston Deal threw three innings of one-hit ball and the Oklahoma Sooners jumped out to a five-run first inning lead in their 9-0 win.

It didn’t take long for the Oklahoma Sooners to get going in their midweek showdown with Texas A&M Commerce. The Sooners jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 9-0 run rule win to improve to 19-1 on the season.

[autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] got the start for the Oklahoma Sooners. She allowed a lead-off single and then retired the next nine batters she faced in her three innings of work. She got out of the first inning with two strikeouts to keep Texas A&M Commerce from adding to the lead-off single.

[autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] led off the game with a walk, followed by a couple of flyouts from [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag]. But the Sooners were masterful with two outs. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] drew a four-pitch walk and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] continued her strong freshman campaign with a two-RBI double to put the Sooners up 2-0 in the first.

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] was intentionally walked bringing up freshman Ella Parker, who lined an 0-1 pitch to right field for the three-run home run to put the Sooners up 5-0 after the first.

After a 1-2-3 second inning from Deal, [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] led off the bottom of the second with a double and moved to third on Boone’s bunt single. Brito had another hard-hit ball to center field to bring home Sanders on the sacrifice fly and the Sooners led 6-0.

Deal threw another flawless inning in the third, picking up her fifth strikeout of the game.

In the bottom of the third, Hansen led off with a single to center. With [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] in to pinch run for Hansen, Pickering added her second RBI double of the game. Coleman singled to center field to bring home Pickering for the 8-0 lead. After [autotag]Hannah Coor[/autotag] entered the game to pinch run for Jennings, [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] doubled to make it 9-0 in favor of the Sooners.

[autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag] worked two scoreless innings of relief in the fourth and fifth to preserve the run-rule win. Over five innings of work, Deal and Monticelli combined to allow just two hits and one walk.

Deal is now 4-0 with a team-leading 0.97 ERA in 2024. Over her last four starts, Deal has now gone 19 innings without allowing a run. In that span she has a 0.63 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) and has recorded 23 strikeouts.

Pickering was the only Sooner with multiple hits in the game. She now leads the Sooners with a .458 batting average. Boone, Hansen, and Coleman each had a walk and a hit in the win. Parker’s home run was her fourth of the season. Along with the four home runs, she now has 18 RBIs on the season, good for third on the team.

Oklahoma will open Big 12 play this weekend with a three game home slate against Iowa State. The Cyclones are currently 9-10 on the season ahead of their trip to Norman.

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Oklahoma Sooners historic 71-game win streak comes to an end

All good things must come to an end as the Sooners are stunned vs. Lousiana.

The Oklahoma Sooners took on the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for the second time this weekend to complete a five-game weekend. And for the first time in more than a year, the Sooners took a loss, falling to Louisiana 7-5 in eight innings.

Things did not start well for Oklahoma as [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] got the start and the Sooners quickly found themselves down 2-0 at the top of the 4th inning. [autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag] came on in relief but walked a batter with the bases loaded to increase Louisiana’s lead to 3-0. The Sooners offense struggled to get anything going for much of the contest off of Ragin’ Cajun starter Chloe Riasetto.

The bottom of the fourth is where it looked like the Sooners would start to get going as Kinzie Hansen hit a two-run home run to cut the Ragin’ Cajuns lead to 3-2. But anytime the Sooners looked like they were about to settle down, Louisiana answered. They visitors scored a run in the top of the 7th inning as [autotag]Alyssa Britto[/autotag] fielded a ground ball before firing it home to Hansen. Hansen ended up mishandling the ball, allowing the runner to score to extend the lead to 4-2.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Sooners were down two runs with one out. [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] came up to bat and cut the lead to one with an RBI single. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] came in to pinch hit and looped a ball into shallow right field that was misplayed. Maya Bland was running on contact and advanced to third. The throw home snuck through the Louisiana catcher, and Bland skirted home to tie the game.

In extra innings, Louisiana answered once again. They were able to get the bases loaded with no outs thanks to multiple errors by the Sooners’ defense. Ultimately, Lousiana was able to score three runs in the inning to go up 7-4.

[autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] hit a solo shot to make it 7-5 and Alynah Torres reached first to bring the tying run to the plate. But with two outs and one on [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] stepped up to the plate with the record on the line. She grounded out to second, and the game was over. The Sooners lost 7-5, and their 71-game winning streak ended.

Their next game is Wednesday against Texas A&M Commerce at 6:00 p.m. CT.

More: Social media reacts to end of Sooners 71-game winning streak

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Oklahoma Sooners beat Liberty Flames 15-3 behind 7 extra base hits

Behind seven extra base hits, the Oklahoma Sooners cruised to a 15-3 win over Liberty.

The Oklahoma Sooners bats came to life in a 15-3 throttling of the Liberty Flames to improve to 18-0 on the season. In the process, they extended their record win streak to 71 games.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] got the start for the Sooners. After giving up three runs in the first inning to Miami (OH), May held the Red Hawks scoreless for the remainder of her outing. That continued against Liberty on Saturday as she threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in the process.

The Sooners got the scoring going in the second inning when [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] launched a solo shot to deep left-center field. It was her third home run of the season on a day where Sanders went 2-for-2 with the home run, a double, a walk, and four RBIs.

Still in the second, after she doubled and advanced to third on a [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] single, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0. [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] then crushed her sixth home run of the season to make put OU up 4-0. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] then added another run on a Liberty throwing error to put the Sooners well in front 5-0.

More: Social media reacts to Sooners walk-off win in Love’s Field opener

In the Sooners next at bat in the bottom of the third, the Sooners put up seven runs on five hits. Sanders added three runs in a base-clearing double to put Oklahoma up 12-0 after three.

In the bottom of the fourth, [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] had an RBI single and [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] a two-run home run, putting Oklahoma up 15-0.

More: Best photos from Opening Day at Love’s Field.

Oklahoma allowed three runs in the top of the fifth on back-to-back home runs, but the game was already well decided at that point.

Six different Sooners had at least two hits, led by Coleman’s three-hit game.

Oklahoma will close out the OU Tournament with a game against Louisiana on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CT at Love’s Field.

More: How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma in the OU Tournament

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