Tag: Jordy Bahl

Jordy Bahl fans 14, Oklahoma softball makes statement in win over No. 3 UCLA

Freshman pitcher Jordy Bahl struck out 14 UCLA hitters and the Sooners topped the No. 3 Bruins, 4-1.

In a battle of two of the sport’s titans, No. 1 Oklahoma delivered a statement to the college softball world that the defending champions are every bit as good as 2021. In fact, the Sooners might be better.

OU topped No. 3 UCLA, 4-1, in the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, Calif., as freshman pitcher Jordy Bahl baffled Bruins’ bats. Bahl struck out 14 UCLA batters, demonstrating that OU has found its new ace.

It was the most strikeouts by a Sooner pitcher since Giselle Juarez sat down 16 against Wisconsin in the Norman Regional in 2019 and the most by a Sooner freshman since Keilani Ricketts struck out 15 versus Texas A&M on April 10, 2010.

Bahl secured her second win of the season and now has 24 strikeouts in 12.2 innings.

Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso shared some thoughts on Bahl’s performance against one of the country’s best teams afterwards. Eyes On Oklahoma newsletter and podcast host Joe Buettner shared Gasso’s postgame sentiments.

“For a freshman, just off the charts. I just think about it, when I look at her, I think about the future. But if you saw the kind of work that she puts in, she came in ready. She came in fit. She came in with all the tools and she’s just a workaholic. She works her tail off. She doesn’t take a day off,” Gasso said.

“She’s been training to compete at a whole other level and never do I think, ‘Okay, she’s struggling, let’s get her out.’ Even after some of those illegal pitches, didn’t really faze her. She just figured [it out]. I mean, just back to her drive. We got something special and I felt that this game—although it’s only our fourth game of the season—it just took her to another place of understanding about how this level and this elite game of what it feels like. So, it was really important for her to feel that.”

With Bahl surrendering just four hits, three walks and one unearned run, Oklahoma’s offense wasn’t pressed to score runs. OU did jump in front first during the second inning when senior Taylon Snow delivered an RBI single to score senior Jana Johns.

Then, after UCLA had tied it following an Oklahoma throwing error in the third, the Sooners answered right back. A hit by pitch to senior Grace Lyons and Johns’ second hit of the game set the stage for a two-run response. Junior Mackenzie Donihoo scorched an RBI single up the middle to score Lyons and senior Lynnsie Elam added an infield single to score Johns.

OU added an insurance run in the sixth after three Bruins errors allowed pinch runner Hannah Coor advance home to deliver the winning margin of 4-1.

To date, Oklahoma has outscored its opposition 32-1 while racing out to a perfect 4-0 start. Oklahoma concludes its play in the Mark Campbell Invitational on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Sooners battle UC-San Diego.

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Oklahoma Sooners dominate in season opening blowout of UC Santa Barbara

The Oklahoma Sooners used a nine-run first inning and a combined perfect game to open the season with a 14-0 win over UC-Santa Barbara.

The Oklahoma Sooners started the 2022 softball season off with a bang in their season opener against UC Santa Barbara, picking up the 14-0 run-rule win.

On the backs of an offense that exploded for nine runs in the top of the first, the Sooners picked up right where they left off from their historic national championship run in 2021. Last season, the Sooners set an NCAA record for home runs and they wasted little time hitting the long ball in this one.

Second baseman Tiare Jennings got Oklahoma going in the top of the first with a lead off home run to give the Sooners a 1-0 lead. The Sooners erupted in their first at bat of the season with nine runs, including a grand slam from 2021’s national player of the year Jocelyn Alo to cap off the explosive inning.

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Jennings’ lead-off home run would be the game winner as three Sooners pitchers combined for the perfect game victory over UCSB. True freshman Jordy Bahl got her first start of the season for the Sooners and led the way with 2.2 innings pitched and four strikeouts. She retired all eight batters she faced before giving way to sophomore Nicole May, who struck out the only batter she faced. Hope Trautwein took over in the bottom of the fourth and closed out the game for the Sooners, striking out three of the six batters she faced in her two innings of work.

The Sooners would get another home run from Jennings and Kinzie Hanson hit her first of the season to help Oklahoma erupt for their first win of the season.

On the afternoon, nine players recorded a hit and nine players drove in a runner for Oklahoma. Jennings, Alo, Hansen, and shortstop Grace Lyons combined to go 7 for 13 with four home runs, seven RBIs, and 10 runs scored.

The Sooners quest to defend their 2021 national title got off to a great start with the offensive explosion and the pitching dominance. If the Oklahoma Sooners continue to get performances like this from their pitching staff, they’ll be incredibly difficult to beat all year.

The Sooners will next compete in the Mark Campbell Invitational where they’ll face Loyola Marymount and Mississippi State on Friday, before a pivotal early-season matchup with UCLA on Saturday. They’ll close out the weekend against UC-San Diego on Sunday.

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WATCH: Tiare Jennings, Jocelyn Alo belt first-inning HRs to begin Oklahoma’s title defense

Sophomore Tiare Jennings and redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo each blasted first-inning home runs as OU started off its title defense.

That didn’t take long. Top-ranked Oklahoma started off its title defense in style. Sophomore at second base Tiare Jennings and designated player Jocelyn Alo each belted first-inning homers.

In the process, the Sooners jumped all over the Gauchos with a nine-run first inning in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Jennings connected on an 0-2 pitch for a leadoff bop to start Oklahoma’s season.

It’s already the 28th home run of Jennings’ abbreviated career with OU. Jennings set an NCAA single-season freshman record with her 92 RBIs last season and the program record with 52 extra-base hits in 2021.

Then, to cap the opening fireworks, Alo stepped to the plate with the bases juiced and ripped a 2-2 pitch well past the right field wall to collect her 89th career home run.

Alo is just six homers shy of tying the career NCAA home run record. Of course, former Sooner slugger Lauren Chamberlain holds that record with her 95 career blasts.

“I’m not really thinking about it. Honestly, I know it’ll come so I’m just kind of, like I said, enjoying every moment that I have and if it comes it comes, if it doesn’t it doesn’t, but I know it’ll come so I’m not like pressed about it, but like I said I just want to win another (national title),” Alo said of her record pursuit ahead of the season.

Again, her main focus is leaving Norman with another national championship ring.

“Obviously, I want to win again. It’d be nice to be the last team standing once more. I think you guys kind of know about the other record going on. But honestly, I’m just here to enjoy my last year and I was kind of talking with my dad about it. I was just saying how I want to enjoy every moment and just be present in every moment. And Coach Gasso said like you won’t ever get this again. And I really won’t ever get this again. Like I won’t get to grind the same way that they pushed me to, I won’t get to play for these coaches again, I won’t get to play with this team again, I won’t get to wear ‘Sooners’ across my chest again. So I’m just kind of here to enjoy every moment,” Alo said.

Freshman standout pitcher Jordy Bahl got the opening-day start in the circle for the Sooners and promptly struck out a pair of Gauchos in a scoreless first.

Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso recently commented on the team’s motivation to start the 2022 season.

“It’s interesting because I think different teams approach the next season differently. Once you win it, you have two choices of thought, ‘I want it, I got it, it’ll never go away, I’ll have it forever and I’m good’ or ‘That tasted so well, that was such a wow factor in my world that I want more’. The taste of winning it, being called the best, is something that is almost like a drug. You want more. Some players feel one way, and some players feel the other. That is a bit concerning. The whole goal here from my side, is what would I feel like if a coach is telling me this and I’m an athlete. If my coach told me ‘you could be the greatest softball team of all time’, that would make me want to play hard. That would get me fired up. Every player is different. I’m anxious to see what this (the team) is going to look like when we put it out there because then I can really decipher where we’re at. Right now, we’re grinding and working really hard to get prepared for the start,” Gasso said.

The Sooners will also play in the Mark Campbell Invitational over the weekend from Irvine, Calif. On Friday, OU takes on Loyola Marymount at 5:45 p.m. and Mississippi State at 8:30 p.m. Then, on Saturday, Oklahoma will play No. 3 UCLA at 6 p.m. The final game of the weekend is against UC San Diego on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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