That’s how you start postseason play. Oklahoma scored three runs in the first, four in the second, and two in the third to jump out to a 9-0 lead before the Iowa State Cyclones even registered a hit.
After getting a bye from winning the regular season title, the Sooners had to patiently wait their turn to begin their quest to capture the Big 12 tournament title.
As Tom Petty says, “the waiting is the hardest part.”
Oklahoma didn’t wait long to get going offensively against a hot Iowa State team that had won nine of their last 11, including an 8-1 win over the Baylor Bears on Thursday.
The Big 12’s Player of the Year, [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], led off with a double. The Sooners once again found themselves in a familiar place with the bases loaded. But unlike in their series against Oklahoma State, OU came through with an RBI single from [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] and a two-run double from [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] to get off to a hot start in postseason play.
[autotag]Grace Lyon[/autotag]’s three-run home run in the second and Coleman’s two-run bomb put the game completely out of reach for the Cyclones.
The best offense in the nation provided timely hitting and home run power to coast to an impressive run-rule shutout win.
And the pitching was equally effective in their five innings of work. [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] allowed just two walks in three innings, true freshman [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] allowed just one hit in 1.1 innings, and [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] pitched a perfect 0.2 innings of work to close out the combined one-hitter.
It was a strong performance to open postseason play as the No. 1 team in the nation pursues their third straight national championship and seventh overall.