Tag: Patty Gasso

No. 1 Oklahoma softball suffers their second loss of the season 6-4 in Bedlam

No. 1 Oklahoma softball suffered their second loss of the season on Friday night falling in the Bedlam opener 6-4 to No. 7/9 Oklahoma State.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball began their biggest series of the season on Friday night in Stillwater for Bedlam against No. 7/9 Oklahoma State. The winner of the series will be the Big 12 regular season champions, which adds a whole extra layer of drama to an already intense series between two good teams and in-state rivals.

Getting the start for the Sooners was Giselle Juarez (15-1) who had a very rare clunker, allowing five runs and only being able to work into the third inning. Friday would mark her first loss of the entire season.

Oklahoma was the team to jump out early, though, with center fielder Jayda Coleman connecting on a two-run home run in the second to put the Sooners ahead 2-0. Then, after the Cowgirls got a run back on a homer of their own in the bottom half of the inning, left fielder Jocelyn Alo hit a mammoth two-run blast in the third to push the lead to three runs at 4-1. Patty Gasso’s club, seemingly, was in total control.

But, momentum would shift heavily to the Oklahoma State dugout in the bottom of the third as the Cowgirls hit two two-run home runs off of Juarez to give the Pokes their first lead of the night at 5-4. From there, the Sooners’ bats went stunningly silent.

Oklahoma State pitcher Carrie Eberle (19-1) had early struggles allowing the home runs, but from the fourth inning on she was simply nails not allowing another run the rest of the way. The Cowgirls would tack on another run in the fifth, but Eberle wouldn’t need it. She was lock down the rest of the way to help Oklahoma State get the win 6-4.

This is the first win for the Cowgirls in Bedlam softball since April 27, 2011 and snaps the Sooners’ 57-game regular season conference game winning streak. Oklahoma State was game for this challenge, and they responded with a big time win and are now just one more away from claiming a Big 12 title.

Conversely, Oklahoma, now at 40-2 overall and 14-1 in league play, finds themselves needing to win the next two days to win the conference for a ninth consecutive season. The Sooners are, of course, more than capable of doing that. But, this was a legitimate statement from the Pokes in the opener.

Game two of the series will be back in Stillwater on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT.

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No. 1 Oklahoma dominates No. 25 Wichita State in 14-3 run-rule win

No. 1 Oklahoma softball dominated No. 25 Wichita State in a 14-3 run-rule win on Tuesday night to improve to 40-1 on the season.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball returned to action on Tuesday night after a week off to do battle with No. 25 Wichita State at their place in Wichita, Kansas. As have many of the Sooners games have been this year, it wasn’t very competitive.

Getting the start for Oklahoma was Shannon Saile (13-0) who continued her fantastic season with four shutout innings allowing just one hit. The Shockers were unable to muster much of anything against her throughout the evening, only collecting three runs in the fifth inning off of freshman Nicole May.

After an empty opening inning, the Sooners would get the bats going in the second putting up four runs on a bases loaded walk by third baseman Jana Johns, a two-run single by left fielder Mackenzie Donihoo and an RBI knock from second baseman Tiare Jennings.

Oklahoma wouldn’t add in the third but would score two more runs in the fourth highlighted by an RBI double from Jennings to make the score 6-0. The Sooners would then explode in the fifth inning making it a complete laugher with an eight-run frame.

Right fielder Rylie Boone got it started with a run-scoring single followed by an RBI double from Donihoo. Jennings would then knock in two more before shortstop Grace Green put the exclamation point on the evening with a grand slam to make the score 14-0 in favor of Oklahoma.

Wichita State would try to avoid the run-rule in the bottom half of the frame scoring three runs off of May, but that wouldn’t be enough as the Sooners held on to win it 14-3. The win moves them to an absurd 40-1 on the season and is their seventh in a row since taking their first loss of the year to Georgia two weeks ago.

This team continues to make good teams look bad, as the Shockers entered with a very impressive record as a definite NCAA Tournament team coming up later this month. But, like so many others, they were simply no match for Patty Gasso’s incredible club.

Oklahoma will now return to the state of Oklahoma for the remainder of the season, beginning with Bedlam in Stillwater starting on Friday night.

No. 1 Oklahoma sweeps doubleheader against Baylor to improve to 39-1

No. 1 Oklahoma softball swept their doubleheader against Baylor on Tuesday to move to 39-1 overall and 14-0 in Big 12 play.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball had the quick turnaround once again off of their weekend series to a road doubleheader on Tuesday evening in Waco against conference-foe Baylor.

Getting the start in game one was the Sooners ace Giselle Juarez and she was fantastic tossing a complete game allowing just one run and five hits while striking out six. After the Bears worked across a run in the opening inning to snag an early lead, she was lockdown the rest of the way.

After being shutout the first three innings, the Oklahoma bats would come to life in the fourth loading the bases with two outs for senior Nicole Mendes. She would promptly unload the bases with a huge grand slam to put the Sooners in front 4-1.

Jocelyn Alo would then homer in the fifth inning to extend the lead before Tiare Jennings would drop a two-run shot in the sixth to push the advantage out even further to 7-1 Oklahoma in the late stages. That would go on to be the final score with Patty Gasso’s club taking the front end of the double dip.

The second game wouldn’t get much better for Baylor, as the game would end up in yet another run-rule win for the Sooners. Getting the start was Shannon Saile who picked up where Juarez left off going four shutout innings of her own.

Oklahoma would take a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Lynnsie Elam and a sacrifice fly from Kinzie Hansen. They would then add three more runs to that early edge in the second on run-scoring hits from Jennings and Alo before Grace Lyons grounded out to bring another run around to score.

Leading 5-0 in the third, the Sooners would manufacture two more runs to extend the lead to 7-0. The Bears would attempt to threaten to get themselves back in the game in the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs, but Saile would escape the jam forcing a pop out right back to her to end the frame.

Oklahoma would keep things rolling later scoring four more runs in the sixth inning to push the lead out to 11-0. Sophomore Olivia Rains and freshman Nicole May would team up for scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth to finish things off for the run-rule win to sweep the doubleheader.

The two wins move the Sooners to 39-1 overall and 14-0 in conference play on the season, continuing an extremely impressive bounce back effort since having their undefeated season ended last Tuesday night. This team looks to be on a mission, demolishing teams in their path right now.

And now, the scary part for the rest of the country, is that they get the chance to rest up. Oklahoma will have an ultra-rare weekend off this week meaning they won’t take the field again all the way until next Tuesday night against Wichita State. At that point, the Sooners really begin their stretch run and push for another national title.

When, where, how to watch No. 1 Oklahoma softball’s doubleheader against Baylor

Everything you need to know for No. 1 Oklahoma softball’s doubleheader against Baylor on Tuesday evening in Waco.

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No. 1 Oklahoma (37-1, 12-0) is once again making a quick turnaround from a home sweep to a road doubleheader as they head to Waco for two games against Baylor (24-13, 5-4) on Tuesday evening.

Since suffering their first loss of the season last week, the Sooners have rattled off four straight wins in dominant fashion allowing just threeΒ totalΒ runs including shutting out Texas Tech in every game of their series last weekend. Simply put, the loss didn’t exactly shake their confidence. They picked up right where they were previously absolutely eviscerating their way to wins.

As for the Bears, they had a solid bounce back weekend taking two of three from Iowa State after having been swept in Stillwater by Oklahoma State the weekend previous. A solid team with some good wins under their belt, they will need to be on their A++ game to try and steal one from goliath that is this Oklahoma team.

Patty Gasso discussed after Sunday’s win over the Red Raiders how the team has the advantage of having learned from their mistakes in this exact situation a week ago when they swept Texas before a road doubleheader at Georgia. Having just gone through this almost exact situation just last week will surely help the team know how to handle it much better in terms of preparation, an area where Gasso admitted they may have overdone things rather than resting more in the time between the two series.

Dating back to 2017, Oklahoma has won a jaw-dropping 55 consecutive regular season Big 12 games – with the last loss against coming against these very Bears. Baylor is coached by Glenn Moore in his 21st year with the program.

For this conference midweek doubleheader, here is everything you need to know:

Game 1 – Tuesday

WHEN:Β  Β 4:00 p.m. CT

WHERE:Β  Β Waco, Texas (Getterman Stadium)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β ESPNU (Beth Mowins & Michele Smith)

HOW TO LISTEN:Β  Β Sooner Sports Radio Network – The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM; Tune In Radio App (Chris Plank)

Game 2 – Tuesday

WHEN:Β  Β 6:30 p.m. CT (Approximate)

WHERE:Β  Β Waco, Texas (Getterman Stadium)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β ESPNU (Beth Mowins & Michele Smith)

HOW TO LISTEN:Β  Β Sooner Sports Radio Network – The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM; Tune In Radio App (Chris Plank)

No. 1 Oklahoma completes series sweep with 20-0 annihilation of Texas Tech behind program record 18-run fourth inning

No. 1 Oklahoma softball completed the sweep of Texas Tech on Sunday with a 20-0 blowout victory behind a program record 18-run 4th inning.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball returned to Marita Hynes Field on Sunday for their final game of the regular season against unranked Texas Tech.

The series opened with a doubleheader on Saturday and the Sooners doing what they often do: dominate. They opened the day with a 15-0 run-rule blowout win before capping off the sweep of the afternoon with a 5-0 victory in the second game.

In the finale on Sunday, it was more of the same as Patty Gasso’s club rolled to a mind-blowing 20-0 run-rule win to complete the weekend sweep.

Getting the start was ace pitcher Giselle Juarez who was fantastic tossing four shutout innings allowing just two hits and striking out five. Shannon Saile then closed things out with a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

Oklahoma wouldn’t wait long to get the bats going as after just two batters they already led 2-0 after Jocelyn Alo got one just over the right field fence for her 24th home run of the year. Red Raiders starting pitcher Missy Zoch would settle in a bit after that, keeping the score there through three innings.

But the fourth inning is where things would severely get away from Texas Tech in historic fashion as the Sooners had a gigantic program record 18-run (!) inning to push the lead all the way out to 20-0. Alo and Kinzie Hansen both got RBI singles to get it started before Jayda Coleman knocked in two more herself. Taylon Snow’s ball hit to third base was then booted that allowed two more to come across before Jana Johns cleared the bases with a three-run home run to right field. They were only just getting started

Alo would then connect on a two-run double to deep center before Rylie Boone got another run across on a fielder’s choice. Snow would then connect with a three-run home run to right field followed by a two-run triple by Nicole Mendes and yet another RBI hit from Alo giving her six RBIs on the day.

After the roughly 45-minute half inning, Shannon Saile would come out to relieve Juarez and finish the job in the fifth to complete the series sweep. The win moves the Sooners to an astonishing 37-1 on the season and 12-0 in Big 12 play.

This was as dominant of a weekend of softball as you could really have, Oklahoma won all three games by a combined score of 40-0. That seems to be pretty good.

The Sooners will take the day off tomorrow before battling Baylor in a doubleheader in Waco on Tuesday evening.

When, where, how to watch No. 1 Oklahoma softball’s series against Texas Tech

Everything you need to know for No. 1 Oklahoma softball’s three-game series against Texas Tech beginning Saturday afternoon in Norman.

No. 1 Oklahoma (34-1, 9-0) is back at Marita Hynes Field this weekend for a three-game, two-day series with conference foe Texas Tech (18-20, 2-10).

The Sooners undefeated season bid came to an end on Tuesday when they dropped the front end of a doubleheader against Georgia, but Patty Gasso’s squad didn’t exactly let that linger as they pounded the Bulldogs to the tune of a 12-3 run-rule win in the second game. Now, they return to conference action looking to build on a brand new win streak.

The Red Raiders, meanwhile, have had a bit of a tough year dropping their first nine league games before taking two of three from Kansas last weekend in Lawrence. If they found a way to steal a game in Norman that would be a massive success as they are pretty huge underdogs in these games – as are most teams who go up against this ridiculous Oklahoma team.

The two squads played one another most recently four times during the 2019 season, three in Lubbock and one in the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, with the Sooners taking all four. Texas Tech is coached by Sami Ward in her first season with the program.

For this conference series matchup, here is everything you need to know:

Game 1 – Saturday

WHEN:Β  Β 1:00 p.m. CT

WHERE:Β  Β Norman, Oklahoma (Marita Hynes Field)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β SoonerSports.tv (Chris Plank & Destinee Martinez)

HOW TO LISTEN:Β  Β Sooner Sports Radio Network – The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM; Tune In Radio App (TV Simulcast)

Game 2 – Saturday

WHEN:Β  Β 3:00 p.m. CT (Approximately)

WHERE:Β  Β Norman, Oklahoma (Marita Hynes Field)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β SoonerSports.tv (Chris Plank & Destinee Martinez)

HOW TO LISTEN:Β  Β Sooner Sports Radio Network – The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM; Tune In Radio App (TV Simulcast)

Game 3 – Sunday

WHEN:Β  Β 12:00 p.m. CT

WHERE:Β  Β Norman, Oklahoma (Marita Hynes Field)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β SoonerSports.tv (Chris Plank & Destinee Martinez)

HOW TO LISTEN:Β  Β Sooner Sports Radio Network – The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM; Tune In Radio App (TV Simulcast)

No. 1 Oklahoma suffers first loss of season, then bounces back to split doubleheader against No. 21 Georgia

No. 1 Oklahoma suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday night before taking Game 2 to split a doubleheader with No. 21 Georgia.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball got back to action on Tuesday night putting their undefeated season on the line in a doubleheader against No. 21 Georgia in Athens.

The Sooners have had an incredible season to date and have looked to be next to unstoppable throughout the year, but to remain unblemished is something very difficult to do for a long stretch of time in college softball. Patty Gasso’s club found that out themselves splitting the doubleheader with the Bulldogs to take their first loss of the year and end their undefeated season bid at 33 straight wins to open the year.

The loss came in the first game of the evening in a very back and forth affair that needed extra frames to determine a winner. Getting the start for Oklahoma was ace pitcher Giselle Juarez who was effective over her five innings allowing just two runs and striking out seven.

The first run of the game would come from the Sooners in the second inning on a solo home run by Grace Lyons. After both teams came up empty in the third, the game remained 1-0 Oklahoma into the fourth inning.

It was that point that Juarez would run into her only trouble of the day allowing first a solo home run by Sydney Kuma to tie things up at 1-1. Then, in a very peculiar play, the Bulldogs’ Jaiden Fields launched an apparent two-run home run to give Georgia the lead but she inexplicably didn’t touch home plate when coming around the bases. Because of that, only one run counted and it was a 2-1 game through four frames.

What appeared to be one of the very biggest hits of the Sooners’ season would come later on in the sixth with Lynnsie Elam at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. With her team’s undefeated record in serious jeopardy, Elam sent a grand slam over the left center fence to give Oklahoma a 5-2 lead and seemingly put the dagger in the Bulldogs.

But, to Georgia’s credit, they kept battling. Fields would come through with a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning to trim the lead down to one. Then, after the Sooners added another run to their lead in the top of the seventh, Kuma and Sara Mosley would pick up run-scoring hits in the bottom half of the frame to knot things up at 6-6 and send the game into extras.

Both teams would be turned away empty in the eighth and Oklahoma would be again in the top of the ninth, needing freshman pitcher Nicole May to try and keep the game moving into a tenth inning. But, after picking up some key outs, May would not be able to quite to shut the door as Fields came through with another massive hit – this one a two-out, walk-off single to hand the Sooners their first loss of the 2021 season.

In the second game, Oklahoma played a lot like a team that took some frustration in suffering their first defeat of the year as they pounded the Bulldogs to the tune of a 12-3 run-rule victory.

Shannon Saile got the start and did a very nice job tossing three shutout innings allowing just a single hit. While she kept the Georgia bats quiet, the Sooners bats were having a field day.

Oklahoma put up five runs in the first across three hits from Lyons, Jayda Coleman, and Mackenzie Donihoo. They then tacked on three more in the second on bases loaded walks drawn by Coleman and Donihoo along with an RBI-single from Elam. The Sooners led 8-0 after two frames.

Gasso’s squad kept it rolling in the third with four more runs coming from the same group of Lyons, Coleman and Donihoo. Oklahoma held a commanding 12-0 advantage after only three turns at bat.

After an empty trip to the plate in the top of the fourth, redshirt sophomore Brooke Vestal would toss a scoreless inning to push the Sooners to just three outs away from the run-rule win. Sophomore Alanna Thiede would be called upon do that in the bottom of the fifth with the score still 12-0, and would run into some trouble allowing a three-run homer.

But, that wouldn’t be enough for the Bulldogs to extend the game as Thiede would hold things there for Oklahoma to get the 12-3 victory. Amazingly, it is the team’sΒ 26thΒ run-rule win of the season – which is beyond absurd.

The split doubleheader brings the Sooners’ overall record to 34-1 on the year. While it will certainly sting to have the zero in the loss column wiped away, it doesn’t have much effect on Oklahoma’s perception or their long term goals. They are still an elite team in every facet of the game and one loss in by no means changes that even slightly.

The Sooners will now take a couple days away from game action before starting a three-game weekend series with Texas Tech in Norman on Friday night.

When, where, how to watch Oklahoma softball’s doubleheader against Georgia

Everything you need to know before No. 1 Oklahoma’s doubleheader against No. 20 Georgia on Tuesday evening.

No. 1 Oklahoma (33-0, 9-0) is putting their undefeated record on the line on Tuesday night with a road doubleheader against No. 20 Georgia (27-11, 6-9) out of the SEC.

The Sooners have been completely rolling through the season to this point, hardly even being challenged to the tune of an astonishing 25 run-rule victories. This past weekend was their most impressive yet with three straight blowout wins in just five innings each over a top-10 Texas team. Simply put, they look unstoppable.

The Bulldogs have had a solid season to date but are coming in on the other side of the spectrum compared to Oklahoma. They were swept at home by Arkansas scoring just seven total runs in the three games. Now they get to deal with the best team in all the country, which isn’t exactly what you want coming off of a losing skid.

This doubleheader will provide the sixth and seventh all-time meetings between the two programs, with Georgia having taken three of the first five. The squads haven’t met since 2015, with the Bulldogs winning that one 6-5 as part of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California. Georgia is coached by Lu Harris-Champer in her 21st year with the program.

For this Big 12/SEC collision, here is everything you need to know:

Game 1 – Tuesday

WHEN:Β  Β 4:00 p.m. CT

WHERE:Β  Β Athens, Georgia (Turner Stadium)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β SEC Network (Beth Mowins & Michele Smith)

HOW TO LISETN:Β  Β The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM (Chris Plank)

Game 2 – Tuesday

WHEN:Β  Β 6:00 p.m. CT (Approximate)

WHERE:Β  Β Athens, Georgia (Turner Stadium)

HOW TO WATCH:Β  Β SEC Network+ (Beth Mowins & Michele Smith)

HOW TO LISETN:Β  Β The Franchise 2 103.3 FM/1560 AM (Chris Plank)

No. 1 Oklahoma run-rules No. 7/8 Texas for third straight day, moves to 33-0

No. 1 Oklahoma softball run-ruled No. 7/8 Texas for the third straight day on Sunday to move to an astonishing 33-0 on the season.

No. 1 Oklahoma softball has been on a demolition derby in 2021 absolutely obliterating their way to the top ranking in the country and an undefeated record.

This weekend, the Sooners welcomed in what appeared to be their stiffest test of the season in No. 7/8 Texas, but you wouldn’t know it with how the games have unfolded. After getting the run-rule win in the opener on Friday night and doing it again on Saturday afternoon, they completed the trifecta on Sunday getting the sweep with a 9-0 win in five innings.

Freshman Nicole May got the start and was fabulous tossing 4 1/3 shutout innings allowing six hits and striking out four. She gave way to sophomore Alanna Thiede to record the final two outs and finish things off.

After a rare empty opening inning for Oklahoma offensively, they struck for three in the second on a sacrifice fly from Taylon Snow and a two-run home run by Jana Johns. They were far from done after that.

In the third, the Sooners added four more runs on the board on two more home runs. The first was a three-run shot by Jayda Coleman with the second being a solo job off the bat of Lynnsie Elam. Patty Gasso’s club held a commanding 7-0 lead heading to the fourth.

Needing only one more run to put them in position for another run-rule, Oklahoma messed around and got two more for good measure on yet another home run – this one a two-run blast by Tiare Jennings. May and Thiede would then team up to slam the door in the fifth for the 9-0 win.

The victory moves the Sooners to an astonishing 33-0 on the season and 9-0 in conference play. There are not proper adjectives to put into words what this team is doing this season, absolutely eviscerating everyone in their path to this point. Of their 33 wins, this is their 25th run-rule. That is obscene.

Gasso expressed after Saturday’s game that there was talk of the narrative surrounding them that they had mostly dominated inferior competition –Β  well let that talk live no longer. This was a series against a top-10 opponent and it was never even remotely close.

Oklahoma will have a day off tomorrow, not that they need one by any stretch, before hitting the road to take on Georgia for a doubleheader in Athens on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma softball seniors announce 2021 return

Giselle Juarez, Nicole Mendes and Shannon Saile officially announced their plans to return for the 2021 season via Twitter Thursday.

Oklahoma softball seniors Giselle Juarez, Nicole Mendes and Shannon Saile officially announced their plans to return for the 2021 season via Twitter Thursday.

The Sooners posted a 20-4 in 2020 before the NCAA canceled all Division I and II spring sporting events for the remainder of the season, which included the remainder of Oklahoma’s softball season. On March 30, the NCAA granted all participants in the spring season one extra year of eligibility.

The only piece left to the puzzle for head coach Patty Gasso and Oklahoma was it’s three seniors officially announcing their return, which happened Thursday night.

Both Juarez and Mendes battled injury throughout most of the 2020 season. Mendes had just made her way back into the lineup after suffering a torn ACL in the fall with what would be only a few games remaining. Juarez, who led the Sooners in strikeouts in 2019, Β battled a shoulder injury. Coach Gasso alluded to the fact she wasn’t close to returning to the circle in late February.

Saile ended the season on a hot streak, posting several solid outings in the circle in the final games. She finished with 89 strikeouts and an 8-3 record.

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