Nicole May – Page 4 – Syndication Server

‘It came too late’: Tiare Jennings on the good moments for the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense

The Oklahoma Sooners have one of the best offenses in the country but even still they haven’t hit their full stride yet.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had historic offenses in the last few years. While they’ve been very good in 2024 as well, something has just felt off.

It hasn’t felt as dominant in years past. Now, granted those have been all-time great offenses so being a tick below that isn’t necessarily that big of a knock.

This year they are still averaging 8.2 runs per game and have a .382 batting average on the season. That batting average and runs per game are actually better than last year’s averages as of now. However, the 2022 and 2021 offense scored more runs per game and the 2021 team had a better batting average.

It has just felt like this year, the offense has taken too long to get things going in a lot of games. Usually, they are firing on all cylinders by the second time they get through the order. That happened once again on Sunday. They took a little too long to get things going and when they did, it was too late.

Kinzie Hansen and Tiare Jennings spoke about how Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun pitcher Chloe Riassetto was able to keep the Oklahoma offense at bay for much of the game.

“I thought she did a really good job at spotting her pitches,” Hansen said. “She was spotting that low curveball really well for both lefties and righties. We were just taking good pitches honestly. We weren’t ourselves today and I think when we are, it would be a different outcome.”

“She said it right,” Jennings said. “Her curveballs in and out. There were some good moments that the offense did have but it came too late. In times like that, it’s hard to get going. But we just took too long to adjust. All credit to the pitcher, she was good. But we just weren’t good enough to beat her today.”

That’s not to take the pitching off the hook because it felt every time the Sooners’ offense did manage to get some runs, Louisiana would answer. Give credit to the Ragin’ Cajuns because they played a heck of a game. The Sooners just know they have to get the offense going quicker and help out the pitching staff.

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

More: Social media reacts to Sooners loss to Louisiana

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‘We were out of the running lane’: Patty Gasso explains controversial out call in Oklahoma’s loss to Louisiana

In a game with a lot of controversial moments, one stands above the rest. Patty Gasso breaks it down.

In the Oklahoma Sooners’ loss to the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns on Sunday, there were several controversial moments. But one such moments stood above the rest.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Sooners were down by one, 3-2. Freshman [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] came up to bat with two outs and hit a ground ball. Though it appeared the first baseman had to jump off the bag to catch the throw, Parker was called out at first.

A lengthy review determined she was still out even though it was clear the first baseman came off the bag to make the catch. If she had been called safe, the Sooners were going to score one run and maybe two to take the lead.

Patty Gasso explained after the game why the call stood as an out.

“We were out of the running lane,” Gasso said. “It was interference by the runner. That’s why the contact happened. If she was one step over in the running lane, she would have been safe. It was a crazy game like that. Lots of controversy.”

She was then asked about having a safety bag, which is an extra bag on the foul side of the first base line so runners can run through that to avoid contact with the first baseman. Gasso said she is not an advocate of the safety bag.

That was just another play in a long list of plays that didn’t end up going Oklahoma’s way, contributing to the loss.

More: Best photos from the Sooners opening day at Love’s Field

More: Social media reacts to Sooners loss to Louisiana

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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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Oklahoma Sooners walk off opener at Love’s Field, 9-7 over Miami (OH)

It didn’t start off great but Oklahoma rallied for a 9-7 walk-off win in their first game at Love’s Field.

The Oklahoma Sooners played their first game at their new home. [autotag]Love’s Field[/autotag], the nation’s largest on-campus softball stadium, is the new home of the Sooners.

Things didn’t start well for the Sooners. The nation’s leader in home runs, the Miami (OH) Redhawks, hit back-to-back home runs off [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] in the top of the 1st inning to get things started. The Redhawks led 3-0 after the top of the 1st. The Sooners loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the 1st but only managed to score one run on an [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] sacrifice fly that scored [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag]. Miami (OH) led 3-1 after one.

The 2nd inning was all about clutch pitching. Both pitchers were able to get out of two on jams.

The bottom of the 4th inning looked like it was going to be a big one. [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] and [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] started things off by putting runners on second and third respectively with no outs. [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] grounded out but was able to score Boone. Right after that, Miami (OH) struck out [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and got Coleman to pop out to only allow one run. The Redhawks led 3-2 after four.

[autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag] made quick work in the 5th inning and then [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] hit the first Sooners’ home run at Love’s Field to tie the game up at three heading to the 6th inning.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] came in as a pinch hitter and hit a single up the middle that scored Hansen to give the Sooners their first lead. The very next at-bat, Coleman hit a two-run shot to give the Sooners a 6-3 lead. But they weren’t done there because in the very next at-bat freshman [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] hit a solo shot to right field. The Sooners headed to the 7th inning with a 7-3 lead and needed three outs to improve to 15-0 on the season.

Keeney allowed back-to-back-to-back home runs to Miami to tie the game at seven with no outs in the inning. Keeney recovered to retire the side, setting the game up for another heroic moment.

The Sooners needed someone to step up and it was two of their veterans who did it. Boone started things off with a single before Hansen hit a walk-off two-run home run to win the game and extend Oklahoma’s winning streak to 68 and open Love’s Field with a huge win.

The Sooners face Liberty in the night cap of their double-header in their new home.

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 Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

How to watch, key players for No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners in the OU Tournament

The Sooners make their home debut and here is how you can watch their upcoming games.

The best softball team in the land is back in action this time for the first time at home and in their new stadium. The Oklahoma Sooners are in action this weekend in the OU Tournament.

They will play five games this weekend against three opponents. They’ll play Miami (OH), Liberty and Louisiana. The Sooners currently sit at 14-0.

They are looking to expand their national win streak record five more games. They’ve been paced by outstanding pitching and while the offense hasn’t been as good as in years past, it’s been very good once again. It seemed to come to life last week.

So, let’s take a look at how you can watch the game.

Oklahoma Sooners earn top 25 win over Mississippi State Bulldogs 9-3

The Oklahoma Sooners extended their winning streak with a big win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Oklahoma Sooners are out in California for the [autotag]Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic[/autotag]. And the first day of action in Cathedral City proved to live up to the hype.

In their first matchup of the evening, the Mississippi State Bulldogs fired the first salvo with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning from Jessie Blaine. But their first inning lead was shortlived as Sooners catcher Kinzie Hansen tied it up with a two-run home run of her own.

Oklahoma starter [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] ran into some more trouble in the second inning against a very good Bulldogs lineup. Sierra Sacco gave Mississippi State the 3-2 lead on a single with two outs in the inning.

As they did in the bottom of the first, the Sooners answered right back in the bottom of the second.

True freshman [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] singled to lead off the inning and with one out, Avery Hodge’s infield single put runners on first and second for [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag]. Boone proceeded to give the Sooners the lead with a two-run double to right field.

In the bottom of the third, Parker tacked onto the Sooners lead, driving in Alyssa Brito to give OU a 5-3 lead.

The Sooners added two more runs to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] drew a one-out walk and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] doubled to bring her home for a 6-3 lead. The Sooners kept the pressure on with [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] singling to bring home Jennings to put Oklahoma in a commanding 7-3 lead.

After May walked the lead-off hitter on four pitchers to start the fifth, Patty Gasso brought in [autotag]S.J. Geurin[/autotag], who retired the next three Bulldogs hitters to get out of the inning.

More: How to watch the Oklahoma Sooners in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

Oklahoma didn’t slow down their offensive onslaught, adding two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.

After surrendering a one-out walk and a fielder’s choice, Gasso turned to [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag]. Maxwell came in and got the final out of the inning.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh as Maxwell surrendered a pair of walks, but she also struck out the side to close out the Sooners win.

May threw four innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits and three walks. She also had four strikeouts in the game and earned her fourth win of the season. It wasn’t a clean performance, but she battled and was able to get out of some tough situations.

Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Alyssa Brito, and Ella Parker each had two hits, and six different Sooners recorded an RBI in the top 25 win over Mississippi State.

More: Top matchups for this week in College Softball

Patty Gasso feels Sooners are handling the early season lessons well

Patty Gasso feels like her team is handling the early season lessons so far.

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is still rolling after winning five more games this past weekend in Lake Charles. Still, they haven’t put out their best performance yet.

That could be a scary sign for the rest of the softball world because they are still dominant even though they haven’t hit their full stride just yet. Now, they head into another five-game weekend. One of those games is against a ranked opponent, so it won’t be easy.

Patty Gasso talked about the different lessons her team has learned so far and how they’ve responded heading into the weekend. “Today was our first day back,” Gasso said. “They handled it well. They got pushed, and they responded. So, I’m excited about that. It creates momentum too. We need to have a good day tomorrow as well to prepare us for what we’re walking into. Mississippi State is very good.”

The Sooners will start their weekend slate at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against [autotag]Mississippi State[/autotag]. The Bulldogs have been one of the surprises of the early part of the season with top 25 wins over Louisiana, Clemson, and Utah.

While the bats haven’t fully woken up to this point, the pitching has been pretty dominant. The Sooners have allowed seven runs in nine games. Six of those happened in two games.

When the bats eventually get going like we’ve seen, Oklahoma will be in a great place to chase that illustrious four-peat.

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

3 Stars from Oklahoma’s 5-0 weekend in the Cowgirl Challenge

The Oklahoma Sooners continued their record-winning streak in the Cowgirl Challenge and here are this weekend’s three stars.

The Oklahoma Sooners just completed a 5-0 weekend in Lake Charles, La. at the Cowgirl Challenge hosted by McNeese State.

Though the schedule may not have been as daunting as the week before, McNeese State and Central Arkansas were NCAA tournament teams in 2023 that represented themselves well in the regional. McNeese State nearly pulled off the upset to advance to the Super Regionals.

Against a couple of rising programs, the Sooners outscored the opposition 36-1 in the five games, earning a trio of run rules.

The pitching staff threw four shutouts as Patty Gasso and Jennifer Rocha went deep into their arsenal, utilizing six different pitchers during the weekend.

After another tremendous weekend in which the Sooners extended their winning streak to 62 games, and haven’t lost now in more than a year, here are the three stars and a few honorable mentions from the weekend.

Oklahoma Sooners run rule Central Arkansas 9-0 to open Cowgirl Challenge

Oklahoma Sooners opened their weekend in the Cowgirl Challenge with a 9-0 win over Central Arkansas.

The Oklahoma Sooners offense erupted in the bottom of the fourth inning for nine runs, which was all they needed to beat Central Arkansas and move to 5-0 on the season.

Central Arkansas starter Julia Petty kept the Sooners’ bats at bay for three innings, surrendering just a few hits. But in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Sooners bats came to life.

[autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. True freshman [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] took advantage and drove Hansen in on an RBI single, giving the Sooners a 1-0 lead. Parker took second on the throw home. After [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] walked, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] singled to bring Parker in to make it 2-0. Pickering went first to third on the hit to keep the scoring threat alive.

After Torres stole second, putting a pair of runners in scoring position, [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] cleared the bases with a triple to right field. [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] followed that up with a triple of her own to make it 5-0 Sooners with no outs in the inning.

Hodge scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0 followed by doubles from [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] made it 7-0. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag], pinch hitting for [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], reahed on an error and Hansen walked to load the bases for Parker. Parker came through again with an RBI single to score Jennings and make it 8-0 and put the run rule in effect. The final run of the nine-run fourth inning came from [autotag]Hannah Coor[/autotag], who reached on a fielder’s choice but scored Ludlam in the process.

It was the type of showing that reminded us that the Sooners can put runs on the board in a hurry. They sent 11 batters to the plate before Central Arkansas was able to record an out in the inning. By the time the bottom of the fourth came to a close, the game was all but over.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] threw another four scoreless innings to keep her ERA at a perfect 0.00 on the season. She allowed one hit and one walk while striking out six for another fantastic performance from the Sooners veteran.

[autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag] worked a scoreless fifth inning, surrendering a walk while also striking out the side to close out the Sooners win.

Coleman, Jennings, Parker, and Torres each recorded two hits. Parker and Boone each had a pair of RBIs.

It was a strong performance to start the weekend in Lake Charles. Though the bats were slow to get going, once they did, Oklahoma couldn’t be stopped. The Sooners extended their record winning-streak to 58 games with the win ahead of their night cap with McNeese State.

Patty Gasso breaks down this weekend’s games

The Sooners have five games this weekend that might be tougher than people think.

After starting the year with four games in Mexico, the Oklahoma Sooners head to Lake Charles, Louisiana for the Cowgirl Challenge. The Sooners will play five games against three teams.

On paper, this series doesn’t look that challenging. The Sooners opponents, Central Arkansas, McNeese State and Lamar, all have a combined record of 7-7 on the season.

Patty Gasso talked about her team’s upcoming challenge and why this won’t be as easy as it may seem to the outside world. “Central Arkansas was a tournament team last year,” Gasso said. “Lamar is a program on the rise. McNeese State, if you all remember, had one of the most exciting Super Regionals. They were almost in the World Series. Looking at their numbers, they have over 148 stolen bases last year which is unheard of. So, it’s going to be fast and furious. It’s going to be a lot of short game, slapping, runners in motion, our defense is going to have to be on point.”

McNeese State took Washington to the brink last season. They beat them and then had a do-or-die game vs. them to move on. They ultimately lost that game 7-6. They currently sit at 4-1 this year with three-run rules on the season.

So, while on paper it doesn’t look as difficult as last weekend’s games, the Sooners have to be ready or their streak could be in danger.

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 Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.