Tag: Cydney Sanders

5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s 2-0 weekend at Miami (Oh.) Tournament

The Sooners’ bats came to life in their 2-0 weekend at the Miami (Oh.) Tournament. Here are 5 takeaways from the wins.

The Oklahoma Sooners took a road trip to Ohio for the first time in program history to take part in the Miami (Oh.) Tournament. Their first game against Oakland was canceled due to inclement weather, but the Sooners took advantage of their opportunity to play a doubleheader on Saturday and went 2-0 against Miami (Oh.) and Louisville.

Oklahoma’s now 39-1 on the season, matching their 40-game record from a season ago.

The Oklahoma Sooners had the week off of Big 12 play, but will go to Waco to face a Baylor Bears team that’s handed the Sooners their only loss of the season. They’ll look to repay the favor, but before we get to Baylor, here are five takeaways from the Sooners weekend in Ohio.

7 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners sweep of the Texas Longhorns

From Tiare Jennings to Jayda Coleman, takeaways from the Sooners three-game sweep of the Texas Longhorns.

It was a thrilling weekend kickstarted by the largest attendance ever for a regular season NCAA softball game at Hall of Fame Stadium on Friday night.

The Oklahoma Sooners came away with a three-game sweep over the Texas Longhorns in a matchup of top 10 teams.

The Longhorns certainly challenged the Sooners, but Oklahoma was too much for them offensively. Oklahoma is now 33-1 on the season, 6-0 in Big 12 play, has won 25 straight, and continues to prove why they’re the best team in the country.

Here are seven takeaways from the Sooners 3-0 weekend against the Texas Longhorns.

Oklahoma Sooners run-rule Texas Longhorns 10-2 for three-game sweep

The Oklahoma Sooners completed the three-game sweep with a 10-2 run-rule win over the Texas Longhorns powered by home runs from Tiare Jennings and Haley Lee.

For the third straight game, the Oklahoma Sooners allowed the Texas Longhorns to score first. As was the case in the first two games of the series, it didn’t matter.

The Oklahoma Sooners used a three-run second and a five-run fifth to beat the Longhorns 10-2 to sweep the series against their Red River Rivals.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning on a [autotag]Mia Scott[/autotag] home run, the Oklahoma Sooners came right back in the bottom of the first to tie it up on a [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] RBI.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] settled in after the first to retire nine of the next 11 hitters, and the Sooners erupted offensively.

In the bottom of the second, Arizona State transfer [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] drove a two-strike pitch for her first hit of the day. Rylie Boone followed that with a walk, and after [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] flied out, [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] launched a two-out home run for her ninth of the season to give Oklahoma a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the third, the Longhorns suffered back-to-back errors to allow Alyssa Brito to score and [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] to advance to second. Sanders moved Torres over to third base. [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] was hit by a pitch and Jayda Coleman followed that up with a bunt single to score Torres and make it 6-1 Sooners.

Jennings then singled to drive in Coleman for her fourth RBI of the day, and Haley then blasted her eighth home run of the season to give the Sooners a 9-1 lead.

A brief lightning delay put a hold on Oklahoma’s efforts, but the Sooners pulled out the run-rule win on a Cydney Sanders RBI double to score [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] from first. The walk-off double gave Sanders her second hit of the day, and it was her first multi-hit game since February 18, when she went 2-for-2 against Stephen F. Austin.

Tiare Jennings’ four-RBI day was her third in the last five games. She has hit five home runs in her last eight games and has totaled 17 runs batted in that same time frame. She now has nine home runs and 39 RBIs on the season and is hitting .457.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] was solid for 5.1 innings, battling around six hits and two walks. She struck out eight to move to 10-0 on the season.

Oklahoma is now 33-1 on the season and 12-0 against top-25 opponents. The sweep of Texas gives them five wins against opponents ranked in the top 10 in the nation. It was also their 30th win in the last 31 games against the Longhorns.

The Sooners will next host the Texas Tech Lady Raiders at Marita Hynes Field in Norman for a three-game series starting on Thursday. Each of those contests can be seen on ESPN+. After Texas Tech, the Sooners will face the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge before a road trip to Miami, Ohio to face Oakland, Louisville, and Miami (OH).

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Oklahoma Sooners dominant in 14-0 win over No. 24 Auburn

The Oklahoma Sooners kept the offensive firepower going in the second game of their Saturday double-header with a 14-0 win over Auburn.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive eruption didn’t slow down in the second game of the day, a 14-0 win over No. 24 Auburn.

After a 16-0 win over Weber State, the Oklahoma bats stayed hot. The pitching was equally dominant to help the Oklahoma Sooners extend their winning streak to 18 games.

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] threw a complete game shutout, picking up right where she left off from her relief appearance against Florida State earlier in the week. Bahl struck out nine Tigers over five innings of work and allowed just four hits and a walk. She never allowed more than one base runner in an inning.

On a night when Oklahoma’s pitching was dominant, the Sooners’ offense provided a similarly dominant performance.

Oklahoma got on the board in the first inning again when [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] took a 1-2 pitch for a ride and led the game off with a home run. It was her sixth home run of the season to put her three away from tying a career-high.

But the Sooners weren’t done there. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] doubled, and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] drove her in with her fifth home run of the season to make it 3-0. With two outs in the inning, Kinzie Hansen launched her fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to put Oklahoma up 4-0 after the first.

Oklahoma went in order in the second before erupting for five runs in the third, taking advantage of several Auburn miscues. The highlight of the inning was a two-run double from [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag]. The national freshman of the year finalist from a year ago, has gotten off to a slow start in her Sooners career. Could her performance Saturday provide the boost she needs to really get going?

Leading 9-0 after three innings, Bahl continued to cruise, and the Sooners’ bats stayed hot in the fourth.

Tiare Jennings led off with a double, and after Avery Hodge came in to pinch run, [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] drove her in to make it 10-0. Later in the inning, with two on and one out, [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] continued to make her return felt with a three-run home run, her second of the season. That put the Sooners up 14-0.

Oklahoma is now 26-1 on the season and have won 18 in a row. The two wins on Saturday mark their 16th and 17th shutouts of the season. They have 16 run-rule victories on the year.

Jordy Bahl’s earned run average is below 2.00 for the first time since Oklahoma’s loss to Baylor. Since allowing two runs in two innings against Mississippi State, she’s thrown eight scoreless innings across three appearances.

Alex Storako’s no-hitter, Kinzie Hansen’s homers power Oklahoma to 18-0 win over No. 17 Kentucky

After being named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after her performance against UCLA with another dominant performance over Kentucky.

After an incredible outing to beat the UCLA Bruins to close out the Mary Nutter Classic in California, the Oklahoma Sooners put together an encore performance Friday evening against No. 17 Kentucky.

After beating UIC 5-0 in the first game of their Friday double-header, the Oklahoma Sooners were once again dominant over a ranked opponent, beating the Wildcats 18-0 at Marita Hynes Field.

[autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] got the start in the circle and was flawless, throwing five innings and striking out five for the no-hitter. Her lone blemish in the win was a hit batter with two outs in the first inning. She didn’t allow another base runner over the final 4.1 innings pitched to move to 5-0 and lower her ERA to 0.27 on the season.

Not to be overshadowed by another dominant outing for Storako, the Sooners’ bats had another huge outing.

As they’ve done a lot this year, Oklahoma went to work early, putting the pressure on in the first inning.

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] led off the game with a double before [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] drove her in for the 1-0 lead. After moving to third on a [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] ground out, and [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] singled and stole second, true freshman Jocelyn Erickson came up with a pair of runners in scoring position and just one out.

She did what she’s been doing all year and added to the lead with a two-run single to make it 3-0 OU.

Hansen, who had a huge debut weekend in the Mary Nutter Classic a week ago, kept her offensive outburst going with a grand slam in the second inning to put the Sooners up 4-0.

It was her third home run of the season and first of two in the game.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Oklahoma Sooners erupted for 10 runs, kickstarted by Jayda Coleman’s fourth home run of the season. It was a solo shot to put the Sooners up 8-0. But they weren’t satisfied there.

With two on and one out, [autotag]Sophia Nugent[/autotag] belted a three-run home run for her third home run of the season. Arizona State transfer [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] followed Nugent’s blast with home runs of their own to go back-to-back-to-back.

Jordy Bahl walked to drive in a run, and Haley Lee brought in Rylie Boone from third on a fielder’s choice to make it 15-0. Then Kinzie Hansen came to the plate again and bashed a three-run home run for her fourth homer of the year. Hansen’s played in just seven games this season and has four home runs and 16 RBIs.

The Sooners hit five home runs in the 10-run inning to put away yet another top 25 opponent.

Oklahoma was pretty much flawless from the circle and at the plate. In Alex Storako’s last two starts, both against ranked teams, the Sooners have outscored their opponents 32-0.

Oklahoma is now 15-1 on the season and has been absolutely dominant since losing to Baylor nearly two weeks ago.

They’ll face Kentucky once again at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday at Marita Hynes Feld. Their second matchup with UIC will follow Oklahoma-UCLA.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

May Day: Nicole May blanks UIC, Oklahoma Sooners stay hot in win

Nicole May struck out 11 over seven shutout innings, and the Sooners beat UIC 5-0 in the opener of the OU Tournament in Norman.

Nicole May was great yet again, leading the Oklahoma Sooners to a 5-0 win over UIC in the opener of the OU Tournament on Friday afternoon. May extended her scoreless innings streak to start the 2023 season to 28 and moved to 5-0 on the season.

It wasn’t without a bit of danger as May had to work around runners in scoring position several times throughout the game. Though she only allowed four base runners in her seven innings pitched, May had to work around a two-out, two-on jam in the second inning. After she ended the threat, she cruised the rest of the way for the complete game shutout. May finished another fantastic outing with 11 strikeouts.

The Sooners provided all the run support May needed in the first when Jayda Coleman led off the game with her third home run of the season. It was a pitchers’ duel for much of the game until the Sooners tallied a couple more runs in the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] led off the inning with a bunt single. Haley Lee came in to hit for [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], and Lee hit a two-run bomb to put Oklahoma up 3-0.

The Sooners added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth with another two-run home run. [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] got the leadoff walk and advanced to second on [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag]’s ground-out fielder’s choice. After playing small ball the inning before, Boone used the long ball to drive Jennings in and put Oklahoma up 5-0 for the win.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Sooners offense rolling but still has room for improvement

The Oklahoma Sooners’ offense has been really good through the first few weeks of the season, but they still have room to improve.

Sometimes a good team just runs into a good pitcher, and that can make all the difference. That’s what happened a week ago in Waco against the Baylor Bears, but that one-run loss hasn’t slowed down the defending national champion.

In the Mary Nutter Classic, the Oklahoma Sooners have continued their torrid offensive pace. They’ve scored 36 runs in four games, averaging nine runs per game. On the season, they’re averaging 8.38 runs per game.

The Sooners are getting contributions from up and down the lineup this season.

Oklahoma has nine players hitting better than .300 on the season and four better than .400. True Freshman [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] has made a seamless transition to the collegiate game. Erickson’s leading the team in hitting with a .560 batting average, five home runs, and 21 RBIs.

The Sooners’ offense has been really good to start the season, and still, it can be better. [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] hasn’t fully found her stride yet. She didn’t register a hit in Friday’s wins over Cal State Fullerton and Texas A&M but went 3 for 5 against Utah and Loyola Marymount on Saturday. She had a home run, two RBIs, and three runs scored on day two of the Mary Nutter Classic.

Arizona State transfer and national freshman of the year finalist [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] hasn’t really gotten going yet. She’s hitting just .222 on the season and hasn’t hit a home run yet. Last year for Arizona State, Sanders hit .425 with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs. She’s going to get going soon. Hopefully on Sunday against UCLA.

[autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag]’s return has provided a boost this weekend. Though she’s hitting just .222, Hansen has an RBI in four straight games. Her leadership and experience at the plate will be huge for the Sooners when they face their most formidable opponent of the season to close out the weekend.

The Sooners will close out the Mary Nutter Classic in a finale against the No. 1 UCLA Bruins on Sunday. UCLA has been fantastic this season, especially from the circle, where they have a team ERA of 0.97. The Bruins offer the Sooners their stiffest challenge to date, but if the bats get hot, Oklahoma will be tough to beat.

Check out the best photos from the first two days at the Mary Nutter Classic.

Oklahoma Sooners stay hot in win over Loyola Marymount

Oklahoma moved to 12-1 on the season with their 10-1 win over Loyola Marymount in the Mary Nutter Classic.

As they’ve done a lot this year, the Oklahoma Sooners jumped on Loyola Marymount early and cruised to a 10-1 victory behind a strong start from true freshman [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] in the circle.

[autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] got things going at the plate with a single out of the second spot in the order. She moved over to third on [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag]’ single to left. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] then doubled to score Lyons, and Jennings scored on [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag]’s fielder’s choice. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] continued her strong start to the season with another RBI when she drove in Lee from third.

[autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] singled to lead off the second and scored on Rylie Boone’s double to right. Jayda Coleman then hit her first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center to give the Sooners a 6-0 lead.

With two outs in the inning, [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] hit her first career triple to set up Erickson with another RBI opportunity to make it 7-0 through two innings.

Oklahoma got three more in the third when [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] cleared the bases with an RBI triple.

[autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] worked around a double in the first, recording two strikeouts. She allowed just three baserunners through four innings before running into a bit of trouble in the fifth. After loading the bases, [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] came in to close out the win. Loyola Marymount was able to pick up one run in the bottom of the fifth, but that was all they could muster in the 10-1 loss to Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Sooners moved to 12-1 with the win, setting up a showdown between the top two teams in the country when they face UCLA on Sunday.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Sooners complete the Friday sweep with 8-0 shutout of Texas A&M

The Oklahoma Sooners got another strong performance from Nicole May in their 8-0 win over the Texas A&M Aggies on Friday.

The Oklahoma Sooners started the [autotag]Mary Nutter Classic[/autotag] off with a bang on Friday, completing the two-game sweep with an 8-0 win over Texas A&M. It was the second run-rule win of the day after defeating Cal State Fullerton 8-0 in the early game.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] continued her scoreless streak to start the 2023 season with four shutout innings against the Aggies. Though she allowed five hits, a walk, and hit a batter, she was able to work around some jams with five strikeouts. May’s pitched 19.1 innings without allowing a run in 2023.

May had to go to work in the top of the first as the Aggies picked up three straight hits to open the game. And then May shut them down. With the bases loaded and no outs, she struck out the next three batters she faced to end the threat.

Oklahoma took control of the game in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of a wild pitch and a couple of two-out errors by the Aggies defense.

[autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], who got her first start behind the plate, opened the scoring, with an RBI fielder’s choice to drive in [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag]. It was her second RBI of the day after making her debut as a pinch hitter against Cal State Fullerton. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] reached on an error before [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] drove Hansen in to make it 2-0. Oklahoma then put two more across the plate as [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] reached on an error to make it 4-0.

Though May had to work around a couple of jams in the third and fourth, the Sooners’ offense provided enough offense to take care of their starter.

Oklahoma added four more runs in the bottom of the third, powered by [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag]’s fifth home run of the season. She came in to pinch-hit for [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and launched a three-run home run to make it 8-0.

Erickson leads Oklahoma with her five home runs, 17 RBIs, and a batting average of .579. Only two other Sooners have multiple home runs through the first 11 games, [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Sophia Nugent[/autotag]. Erickson’s proving the moment isn’t too big for her in her young career and will continue to get opportunities to make an impact in a deep Oklahoma Sooners’ lineup.

Now 10-1 on the season with seven run-rule wins, the Sooners will face Loyola Marymount and Utah on Saturday. Then comes the clash of the titans with the Sooners facing the No. 1 UCLA Bruins on Sunday.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Nicole May continues hot start to the season with scoreless performance in win vs. Army

Nicole May didn’t allow a hit, striking out 10 in four innings, and Jocelyn Erickson hit her third home run of the weekend in the Oklahoma Sooners’ 9-0 win over Army.

The Oklahoma Sooners followed their 22-0 win over Stephen F. Austin in the first of two games on Saturday with a 9-0 win over Army in the nightcap.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] got the start in the circle and was phenomenal. In four innings pitched, May recorded 10 strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit. She allowed a walk to the second batter she faced and retired 11 straight to close her stellar performance.

May received more run support than she received in her first start of the season, a 1-0 extra-innings win over Liberty. Again, the Sooners jumped on their opponent early with three runs in the first and two in the second to build a 5-0 lead.

In the first, [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] opened the game with a lead-off double. After [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] lined out, Coleman stole third. [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] drew a walk on a full count. When Lyons stole second, Jayda Coleman stole home on the throw to open the scoring.

[autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] drew a second consecutive full-count walk, and she and Lyons move up a base on a passed ball before [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] doubled to make it 2-0. With Erickson on third base after the Brito double, [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] drove the true freshman across home plate with a sacrifice fly.

After May retired Army in order in the second, [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] blasted a two-run home run, her first of the season, to give Oklahoma a 5-0 lead.

The Sooners scored four runs in the fourth to give them the run-rule margin and the win after [autotag]Riley Boone[/autotag] singled to lead off the inning and stole second. Lyons reached on an error, and Boone moved around to third for Erickson. The freshman phenom jumped on the second pitch of the at-bat and homered to right field for her second home run of the day and fourth of the season.

Erickson leads the Sooners in batting average (.643), home runs (4), and RBIs (14).

Alyssa Brito also continued her hot weekend in Waco, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. She now has five doubles on the season and leads the Sooners with seven extra-base hits. She’s 6-for-8 in Waco with six RBIs.

Nicole May hasn’t allowed a run in 15.1 innings pitched in 2023. She leads the Sooners’ stellar pitching staff with 28 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .102.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 8-0 and outscoring opponents, 70-5, ahead of their Sunday matchup with the Baylor Bears to close the weekend.

The game against Baylor will start at noon CT and can be seen on ESPN+.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.