Oklahoma Tops Tulsa In NCAA Regional

The Oklahoma Sooners continued their run in the Norman Regional of the NCAA Tournament Saturday, topping in-state rival Tulsa 7-1 to advance to the championship game and send the Golden Hurricane to the loser's bracket.

Keilani Ricketts (30-7) was once again dominant for the Sooners, pitching a complete game, giving up just one earned run on three this, striking out 10 batters in the process. Her only earned run came in the bottom of the second on a Jessica Stoelke groundout, bringing Skylar Swanson home to take a 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma managed nearly all of its scoring in the sixth inning, hanging six of their seven runs on the board to overcome a slim lead.

The Sooners managed to load the bases with no outs, setting the table for Jessica Shults, who doubled to right field to bring Lindsey Chamberlain home and tie the game 1-1. Erica Sampson followed with a two-run single to give OU a 3-1 lead and two at-bats later Katie Norris added a two-run single of her own to give OU a 5-1 lead.

Georgia Casey capped off the scoring two batters later with a double to left field to bring Jessica Vest home, giving Oklahoma a five-run advantage.

That big inning ended the day for Lacey Middlebrooks (20-6), who had pitched well until that point, but finished d the game with five earned runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings of service.

The Sooners will head to the finale of the double-elimination pool, awaiting the winner of the knockout game between Oregon State and Tulsa at 7 p.m. Saturday.