Ricketts Leads Sooners To 4-1 Win Over North Texas

A near no-hitter and a fourth inning home run by Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts propelled the Sooners to a 4-1 win over North Texas Wednesday night.

The win snapped a two game losing streak for the Sooners as Ricketts pitched all seven innings with only one hit and 14 strikeouts.

Ricketts put the Sooners on the board in the fourth inning with a two-run home run to left center for an early 2-0 advantage.

Through the fifth inning, Ricketts had 10 strikeouts and had allowed no hits on the evening.

In the bottom of the sixth with two runners on, Jessica Shuts singled to score Destinee Martinez and advance Lauren Chamberlain to third. Ricketts then singled to left to score Chamberlain and give OU a 4-0 lead.

North Texas got a hit in the bottom of the seventh by Brooke Foster and scored on a throwing error by the Sooners to cut it to 4-1 but the Sooner defense and Ricketts pitching held strong to notch the victory for Oklahoma.

Brittany Simmons pitched six innings for the Mean Green allowing six hits, three earned runs and one strikeout.

The Sooners return to action Friday, March 2 against LSU in Norman at 6 p.m.