Tag: Riley Ludlam

‘It’s going to be bittersweet’: Oklahoma Sooners’ seniors ready for final road trip

Heading to Orlando to take on the Knights, Oklahoma’s senior class goes on the road for the final time.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ senior class is one of the best senior classes in the history of softball. Most have been a part of the three straight national champions or at least a part of some of the national titles during this stretch.

Those seniors include [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag], [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag], [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag], [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag], [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] and [autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag]. This weekend they head on the road for what might be the final time in their career.

After this weekend in Orlando vs. UCF, the Sooners will close out the regular season in Norman against Oklahoma State. Then it’s onto the postseason where OU won’t have to leave Central Oklahoma.

With the final road trip coming, what is Alynah Torres thinking ahead of their series with UCF.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Torres said. “I think it’s going to be bittersweet. It’s going to be a long flight so it’s going to be really cool just sitting there and thinking about it and just having a good time. I think road trips are always fun because that’s when you get closest with your teammates.”

Torres went on to mention she’s excited for this trip in particular because it’ll be the Sooners’ first time to head to UCF as members of the Big 12. What better way to go out than for a series sweep against a conference foe before the start of postseason play in a few weeks?

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‘When they don’t get caught up in outcomes’: Patty Gasso on what calms her team

This senior group has been special for the Sooners but even they have their down times and need something to get them going each year.

The Oklahoma Sooners have 10 seniors on this year’s roster. Five of them have been a part of all three of their national championships.

That would be [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag], [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] and [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag]. [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] has been a part of two of them, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] has been a part of one. The other three, [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag], [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] and [autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag] are new to the team this year.

This season may not have gone like people expected, but the Sooners are still in a strong position to contend for the national title. Despite four losses, the sky certainly isn’t falling.

Patty Gasso shared that sometimes her team gets caught up in the outside noise but there is one thing that gets her seniors going. “When they get lost in the game,” Gasso said. “When they don’t get caught up in outcomes. You’ve seen some really uncharacteristic teams where we’re just getting really mad at ourselves. You might see the slamming of the bat. Something that’s really frustrating them. We try too hard. That is not our game. It just comes super natural because they are that elite of athletes.”

You can tell at times the pressure of winning a fourth title in a row is starting to weigh on them, especially, with all of the outside noise as well. But when they are playing their game, I still think they are the best team in the country regardless of what the standings say.

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Sooners open series with 8-0 run-rule win over the Houston Cougars

The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a hot start in their series opener against the Houston Cougars, and Kelly Maxwell pitched another gem to lead Oklahoma to an 8-0 run-rule win in walk-off fashion. Taking on a Houston team that has the second-lowest …

The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a hot start in their series opener against the Houston Cougars, and [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] pitched another gem to lead Oklahoma to an 8-0 run-rule win in walk-off fashion.

Taking on a Houston team that has the second-lowest batting average and the highest ERA in Big 12 play, the Sooners struck early.

Maxwell recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first, and the Sooners’ offense quickly went to work in the bottom half of the inning.

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] walked to lead off the game and moved to third on a two-out single by [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag]. [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] put OU on the board first with a three-run home run. It was Torres’ eighth home run of the season and part of a 2-for-2 evening with four RBIs and two runs scored.

Oklahoma had opportunities with runners on in the second but were unable to capitalize. The Sooners put pressure on Houston again in the third with the bases loaded and nobody out. All they could muster was one run on a fielder’s choice from [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] to make it 4-0.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] led off the fourth with a walk and moved to third on Hansen’s base hit. Torres picked up her fourth RBI of the game on a grounder to the pitcher, scoring Jennings from third to make it 5-0. After a fielder’s choice put Hansen on third, the Sooners’ star catcher stole home to make it 6-0 and put the Sooners in complete control.

With the way Maxwell was pitching, Houston had little hope at that point. She threw five innings, allowing two hits and three walks, and recorded five strikeouts. Maxwell didn’t allow a runner past second base in a performance that helped the Sooners ace move to 14-1 on the season. The Sooners defense picked her up with double plays in the second and third innings.

Not satisfied, the Sooners continued to pour the offense on in the sixth inning. Kinzie Hansen led off with a single and advanced to third on Avery Hodge’s single to centerfield. [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] walked to load the bases, and Sanders walked for the 34th time in 2024 to drive in a run and make it 7-0 Sooners. With two outs in the inning and the Cougars hoping to play all seven, [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] walked it off with a RBI single to secure the Sooners win.

After her 10-game hitting streak was snapped against Tulsa, Kinzie Hansen responded with a 3-for-4 night to help lead the way at the plate. Coleman, Jennings, Torres, and [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] each had two hits on the night. Along with Hansen, Jennings and Coleman also reached base three times, each earning a walk to go along with their two-hit nights.

With the victory, Oklahoma improved to 40-4 on the season and 16-3 in Big 12 play. They remain one game ahead of the Texas Longhorns and two games ahead of Oklahoma State in the Big 12 regular season title race.

The Sooners are back in action for game two of the series on Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT. Oklahoma will close the series with Houston on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. Both games can be seen on ESPN+.

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‘Oh she is a blessing’: Patty Gasso on being able to turn to Riley Ludlam at catcher

One of the unsung heroes for Oklahoma this year has been the play of transfer, Riley Ludlam.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been without one of their captains for some time now. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] hasn’t played a full series since the Sooners played the [autotag]Iowa State Cyclones[/autotag] as she deals with a knee injury.

She’s only played two games since then. It’s been huge for Oklahoma that they can turn to someone with a lot of experience like [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag]. Ludlam has started each of the last six games at catcher. Since replacing Hansen in the lineup in the opener against Texas Tech, she has just one hit, a home run, but she’s also walked 12 times and scored five runs.

“Oh she is a blessing,” Patty Gasso said of Ludlam. “We had a couple of catchers leave us unexpectedly and we went scrambling because a lot of catchers were already pulled in a lot of directions or universities. It was just a blessing for her and me to find each other. When I called her, she didn’t believe it was me. It took me a while to get her to understand that I am the coach at Oklahoma, and she came down for a visit. She was wonderful, her family was wonderful, and I knew I wanted her here.”

Ludlam had already proven to be a fantastic addition, even in a reserve role. But with Hansen out of the lineup, she’s become even more valuable. Her effectiveness at and behind the plate will allow the Sooners to be patient with Hansen’s recovery as the season goes along.

Ludlam is just one of many Sooners who aren’t talked about enough but are playing a big role right now.

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Best Photos from Oklahoma’s doubleheader sweep of the Baylor Bears

A look at the best photos from the Sooners doubleheader with the Baylor Bears

The Sooners are now on a 13-game winning streak after their sweep of the Baylor Bears.

The wins over Baylor marked their first top 25 wins since early in the season when they knocked off top 10 teams Washington and Duke.

The games set the stage for a stretch of games against Wichita State, Kansas (yes, Kansas), and the Texas Longhorns. It’s a stretch that could have a huge impact on the Big 12 title race as Texas sits second in the standings and Kansas is a half-game back of Oklahoma State ahead of the Jayhawks series finale against Houston on Sunday.

It was another capacity crowd at Love’s Field on Saturday as the Sooners announced a record attendance of 4,520 on-site to watch the top 25 matchup. The fans in attendance were treated to a show as the Sooners scored 19 runs on Saturday and hit seven home runs.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from the Sooners doubleheader sweep of Baylor.

No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners top Baylor Bears 8-1 in top 25 series opener

Kelly Maxwell had another outstanding performance and the Sooners erupted for seven runs in the 5th to beat Baylor 8-1.

What started out as a pitcher’s dual through the first four innings turned into another impressive win for the Oklahoma Sooners, who topped the Baylor Bears 8-1.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] and RyLee Crandall treated the 8,798 fans in attendance to a back and forth pitching matchup that lived up to pregame expectations. Both pitchers came into the contest with sub-1.50 ERAs and through four innings, it was as tight a ball game as you’d expect.

The Sooners got on the board first in the bottom of the second when [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] beat out an infield single and a throwing error allowed [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] to score from first.

Though Maxwell was cooking, Baylor was able to manufacture the tying run in the top of rht fourth. Emily Hott led off with a bunt single and stole second base on a controversial 3-1 pitch that was called a strike. Hott then took third on a passed ball before scoring on a Abi Flores single. But that’s all the Bears could muster in the inning.

Oklahoma wasn’t able to answer in the bottom of the fourth despite getting a couple of Sooners on base. As she had done throughout the first half of the game, Crandall found a way out of another jam to keep the Sooners from taking advantage of a scoring situation.

Maxwell pitched a scoreless fifth and was rewarded for her strong outing as the Sooners exploded for seven runs in the fifth.

After becoming the all-time leader in doubles earlier in the game, Tiare Jennings put Oklahoma ahead for good with a two-run home run, her 11th of the season. But the Sooners weren’t done there.

With one out in the inning, [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] earned back-to-back singles and then Cydney Sanders walked to load the bases. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] earned an RBI with a walk of her own to make it 4-1. With the bases still loaded, [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] went to her bench and brought in [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] who’s had a great week, hitting two home runs in the win over UT Arlington on Wednesday.

Torres took a 2-2 pitch and deposited it over the left field wall to put Oklahoma up 8-1.

Maxwell got the first out in the sixth before giving way to Peytn Monticelli, who closed it out allowing just one hit in 1.2 innings.

Maxwell, who was named NFCA and Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, moved to 9-0 on the season. She allowed one earned run on three hits and one walk while recording four strikeouts. She lowered her season ERA to 1.31. The fourth-inning run was the first Maxwell had allowed in her last 21 innings pitched, dating back to her 4-0 shutout win over Iowa State game.

Jennings, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week continued her incredible run with a 3-for-3 evening with a home run, two RBIs, and a walk. She raised her batting average to .444, which is second on the Sooners in 2024 behind Rylie Boone, who had a 3-for-3 day with a double.

Jayda Coleman didn’t record a hit, but she recorded three walks in the win. Ella Parker, Cydney Sanders, and Riley Ludlam each reached base twice.

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Sooners catcher Kinzie Hansen ‘day-to-day’ with knee issue

Oklahoma Softball: Kinzie Hansen day-to-day with knee injury

The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a sensational start to Big 12 play, sitting at 6-0 with the Baylor Bears coming to town for a three-game set this weekend.

As OU prepares to host the only team to beat them in 2023, they may have to play without one of their captains, catcher [autotag]Kinzien Hansen[/autotag]. Patty Gasso said on Tuesday that Hansen is dealing with a knee issue.

“She’s got a little bit of a tweak in the knee that we don’t want to mess around with right now,” Gasso said Tuesday. “We’re just kind of playing it very cautiously. Riley Ludlam’s done a great job in that spot. So it’s just kind of day-to-day. She’s not out for the season or anything like that, we’re just kind of taking it day to day.”

Hansen has been fantastic in her final year with the Sooners, hitting .367 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs. Her work behind the plate defensively and with the pitching staff have also been critical to Oklahoma’s success.

In her only at bat last week, Hansen launched a solo home run in Friday’s game against Texas Tech in her first plate appearance. She didn’t play the rest of the weekend.

Taking her place in the ambiguous nature of day-to-day is [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag]. Ludlam, who transferred from Furman last offseason is having a really good year with the Sooners. She’s hitting .385 with two home runs, 16 RBIs and has recorded 13 walks this season. Her on-base percentage of .528 is third on the Sooners behind [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag].

Patty Gasso also revealed that in the even the Sooners need another catcher, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] will work as the emergency backstop.

The Oklahoma Sooners will play UT Arlington on Wednesday before they begin their three-game series with Baylor on Friday night in Oklahoma City at Hall of Fame Stadium. The final two games of the series will take place at Love’s Field in Norman.

More: How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma vs. UT Arlington

More: 5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s sweep of Texas Tech

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Sooners score 12 in the first to wreck the Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a hot start in their 15-2 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a phenomenal start in their 15-2 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders with 12 runs in the first inning before ever registering and out. And they never looked back.

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] swung at the first pitch she saw, dribbling it into center field. After Coleman took second on a passed ball, [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] beat out a play to first to put runners on the corner, and Kasidi Pickering walked to load the bases for the red-hot Cydney Sanders. Sanders singled to right field, bringing in Coleman to take a 1-0 lead.

Tiare Jennings then doubled to bring two more in, and [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] drew another Sooners walk to load the bases again. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] walked to make it 4-0. RBI singles from [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] and [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] made it 6-0 as the Sooners batted around in the first inning.

Still, with no outs and the bases loaded, [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] drew a walk to make it 7-0, and [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] singled to bring in Hodge and Boone, and the Sooners were up 9-0. Then the Sooners got their only home run of the inning, a three-run shot to right by [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] to put Oklahoma up 12-0 before registering their first out of the game.

It was an incredible effort from the Sooners, who drew five walks in the inning.

According to SoonerSports.com, the 12 runs were the most scored in an inning by the Sooners since 2022 against the Kansas Jayhawks.

In the circle, Kierston Deal allowed a solo home run in the first and one in the fourth. They were the first runs she’d given up since her start against Long Beach State in Puerto Vallarta to start the season. Deal threw 3.1 innings, allowing just three hits, no walks and recording one strikeout. Despite the home runs, it was another strong performance for Deal who has been great over the last month.

[autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag] pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out two Red Raiders without allowing a hit.

Texas Tech came into the series third in the conference in runs scored and home runs, and the Sooners’ pitching staff has allowed just two runs through 12 innings.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], who reached base in all five plate appearances on Friday night, did it again Saturday. She was 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, and three RBIs. This weekend, she’s 5-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs, three walks and nine RBIs.

[autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag], batting in the two spot, was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. The Sooners leader in batting average is now hitting .450 as a true freshman.

The Sooners look to close out their series in Texas Tech with a sweep Sunday at Noon. Oklahoma is now 26-1 (5-0 Big 12) this season and riding an eight game winnings streak.

After [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] pitched Friday night and Deal threw on Saturday, [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] will likely get the ball to close out the series.

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Kelly Maxwell dazzles, Tiare Jennings hits two home runs in Sooners win over Texas Tech

The Oklahoma Sooners got a fantastic outing from Kelly Maxwell and Tiare Jennings launched two home runs as the Sooners beat Texas Tech 14-0

The No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners traveled to Lubbock, Texas, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. OU took the first of three games 14-0.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] threw six innings, striking out 10, allowing two hits and four walks to move to 8-0 on the season, and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] led the way with two home runs and six RBIs.

Oklahoma got the scoring going in the top of the first. After [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] stole second, Jennings brought her home on an RBI double to put Oklahoma up 1-0.

In the second inning, [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] hit her seventh home run of the season to put Oklahoma up 2-0.

In the third innings, the Sooners put up three runs on a pair of walks from [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and the first of Jennings’ two home runs to give the Sooners a commanding 5-0 lead.

Oklahoma added another run in the fourth to make it 6-0.

Maxwell cruised throughout the game until running into a bit of trouble in the sixth inning. She allowed a leadoff walk, then hit the next Texas Tech batter before issuing another walk to load the bases. The veteran star then showed incredible poise, striking out the next three Red Raider hitters to keep the game scoreless through six.

Then in the top of the seventh, the Sooners lineup put an exclamation point on the evening with an eight-run inning to leave no doubt.

Alyssa Brito led off the inning with a single and then Tiare Jennings launched her second home run of the game to put OU up 8-0. [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] walked and then with one out, so did Alynah Torres. Singles by [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and a [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] fielder’s choice tacked on three more runs before [autotag]Maya Bland[/autotag] doubled to bring in two more and make the score 13-0. Jennings and Ludlam walked to load the bases for [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] who also walked to score Bland and make it 14-0 Oklahoma.

[autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag] came in to pitch a scoreless seventh, striking out two and hitting a batter to close out the game.

The Sooners moved to 25-1 on the season and 4-0 in Big 12 play.

Tiare Jennings led the way at the plate with a 3-for-3 day with two home runs, six RBIs, a double, and two walks. She retook the team RBI lead and now sits with nine home runs and 31 RBIs on the season. Jennings’ batting average is now up to .423.

Cydney Sanders, who had been red hot in the month of March, didn’t record a hit in the game, but walked four times had an RBI and scored a run. Jayda Coleman was 2-for-4 and reached base on a walk.

Over her last three starts, Kelly Maxwell is 3-0 and hasn’t allowed a run while recording 25 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.

It was a strong performance to set the stage for the weekend on a cool night in Lubbock. The Sooners will take the field Saturday at 1 p.m. CT against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

More: How to watch the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Tech

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Kierston Deal shines, Oklahoma Sooners beat Texas A&M Commerce 9-0 in five innings

Kierston Deal threw three innings of one-hit ball and the Oklahoma Sooners jumped out to a five-run first inning lead in their 9-0 win.

It didn’t take long for the Oklahoma Sooners to get going in their midweek showdown with Texas A&M Commerce. The Sooners jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 9-0 run rule win to improve to 19-1 on the season.

[autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] got the start for the Oklahoma Sooners. She allowed a lead-off single and then retired the next nine batters she faced in her three innings of work. She got out of the first inning with two strikeouts to keep Texas A&M Commerce from adding to the lead-off single.

[autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] led off the game with a walk, followed by a couple of flyouts from [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag]. But the Sooners were masterful with two outs. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] drew a four-pitch walk and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] continued her strong freshman campaign with a two-RBI double to put the Sooners up 2-0 in the first.

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] was intentionally walked bringing up freshman Ella Parker, who lined an 0-1 pitch to right field for the three-run home run to put the Sooners up 5-0 after the first.

After a 1-2-3 second inning from Deal, [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] led off the bottom of the second with a double and moved to third on Boone’s bunt single. Brito had another hard-hit ball to center field to bring home Sanders on the sacrifice fly and the Sooners led 6-0.

Deal threw another flawless inning in the third, picking up her fifth strikeout of the game.

In the bottom of the third, Hansen led off with a single to center. With [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] in to pinch run for Hansen, Pickering added her second RBI double of the game. Coleman singled to center field to bring home Pickering for the 8-0 lead. After [autotag]Hannah Coor[/autotag] entered the game to pinch run for Jennings, [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] doubled to make it 9-0 in favor of the Sooners.

[autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag] worked two scoreless innings of relief in the fourth and fifth to preserve the run-rule win. Over five innings of work, Deal and Monticelli combined to allow just two hits and one walk.

Deal is now 4-0 with a team-leading 0.97 ERA in 2024. Over her last four starts, Deal has now gone 19 innings without allowing a run. In that span she has a 0.63 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) and has recorded 23 strikeouts.

Pickering was the only Sooner with multiple hits in the game. She now leads the Sooners with a .458 batting average. Boone, Hansen, and Coleman each had a walk and a hit in the win. Parker’s home run was her fourth of the season. Along with the four home runs, she now has 18 RBIs on the season, good for third on the team.

Oklahoma will open Big 12 play this weekend with a three game home slate against Iowa State. The Cyclones are currently 9-10 on the season ahead of their trip to Norman.

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