Saturday Softball Roundup: Sooners Sweep, Cowgirls Swept

The Oklahoma softball team took care of business in a doubleheader sweep of IPFW, while the OSU softball team was swept by North Texas.

Saturday, February 28th 2015, 9:23 pm

By: News 9


Oklahoma Sweeps Doubleheader Against IPFW

CONROE, Texas -- The No. 4 Oklahoma softball team (14-3) swept a doubleheader against IPFW (0-13) Saturday afternoon in Conroe, Texas, at the Scrap Yard Sports Complex. Junior Kelsey Stevens threw her second career no-hitter, and her first as a Sooner, in a 5-0 win in game one, while the Sooners run-ruled the Mastodons, 9-0, in five innings in game two.

No. 4 Oklahoma 5, IPFW 0

Junior Kelsey Stevens threw the second no-hitter of her career, and her first as a Sooner, as No. 4 Oklahoma opened a doubleheader Saturday against IPFW with a 5-0 win at the Scrap Yard Sports Complex in Conroe, Texas.

Stevens struck out a season-high 11 batters, one off her career high, and walked just one. The lone baserunner she allowed was a one-out walk in the second inning. From there, Stevens proceeded to set down the next 17 batters as she was perfect over the final 5.2 innings. She struck out at least one batter in every frame, including two punchouts in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings.

The no-hitter was the second of Stevens' career. While a freshman at Stanford, Stevens threw a perfect game with 10 strikeouts against Virginia on Feb. 23, 2013.

The 41st no-hitter in program history was also the second no-hitter of the season for OU as freshman Paige Parker recorded a perfect game of her own at Hawaii on Feb. 7. The last time OU had multiple pitchers throw no-hitters in the same season was 2007 when Lauren Eckermann had three and D.J. Mathis threw one.

No. 4 Oklahoma 9, IPFW 0 (Five innings)

Oklahoma completed the doubleheader sweep with its seventh run-rule win of the season, 9-0, in five innings. Dating back to Feb. 21, this marks the second time this season that OU has posted three straight shutouts.

Junior Leslie Miller, making her first start of the season, led the offense with a career-high five runs batted in. She hit a two-run double off the wall in left field and added a three-run homer in the fourth. It was her first home run of the season and the sixth of her career.

Senior Georgia Casey entered the game as a pinch-runner in the third inning, marking her first appearance since suffering a torn UCL in her left thumb in the season opener against DePaul.

Freshman Paige Parker improved to 5-2 with the win. She struck out four and walked two with two hits in three innings. She was replaced by junior Taylor Hodges, who struck out one in her season debut while allowing


Cowgirl Softball Drops Doubleheader Against North Texas

CONROE, Texas - After sweeping a back-to-back with IPFW to open the weekend, the Oklahoma State softball team had its fortunes reversed on Saturday, as the Cowgirls fell to North Texas by scores of 5-3 and 4-0 at the Scrap Yard Sports Complex in Conroe, Texas.

“We have to pick it up,” coach Rich Wieligman said. “Several of our girls hit the ball well today, and our pitching staff kept us in both games, but we still need to pick it up in certain areas. Having our first set of home games this weekend will be great for the team.”

The Cowgirls (5-11) pounded out 14 hits over the doubleheader, but were unable to develop consistency against the Mean Green's three-headed pitching attack of Stacey Underwood, Monique Garcia and Madison Thompson.

In the opener, Oklahoma State took its lone lead of the day in the bottom of the second, when Tiffany Mikkelson smashed a solo shot over the center field fence, giving the junior her first home run of the season. Three batters later, Mallory Collins stood on third with only one out, but back-to-back strikeouts from Dre McKee and Randee O'Donnell ended the threat.

North Texas responded immediately, scoring two in the third and three in the fourth behind four hits in each inning. After tossing a shutout against IPFW on Friday, Oklahoma State starter Meagan Lively would see her day come to an end in the fourth after giving up 11 hits and five runs.

Lively's replacement would turn out to be freshman Jessi Haffner, who earned her first career appearance in the circle. Over 3.2 innings of work, Haffner only allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two.

Haffner's relief efforts kept UNT scoreless the rest of the way, but OSU runs in the fourth and the sixth, including Mikkelson's second HR of the game, would not enough for the Cowgirls, who were eventually defeated, 5-3.

Overall, Mikkelson tallied nine total bases in the opener, finishing 3-4 with two HR, a single and two RBIs. Collins (2-2, BB) and Davis (2-4) also accumulated multi-hit performances for the Cowgirls.

In the second half of the twin-bill, Oklahoma State's timely-hitting woes continued, as the Cowgirls went 1-9 in potential RBI-producing situations. One of those instances came in the fourth, when OSU failed to capitalize on its only bases-loaded situation of the afternoon.

The Cowgirls threated again in the fifth, as Shianne Hughes and Davis stood on second and third with one out. However, Mikkelson and Collins would pop out and ground out, respectively, to end another OSU scoring opportunity.

In the final frame, Davis (3-4, SB) reached base for her fourth time of the game, but was unable to spark a Cowgirl rally, as Oklahoma State finished its trip with a 4-0 defeat. Brandi Needham (4 ER, 3K) kept the Cowgirls within range behind her team-leading fourth complete game of the season.

Next weekend, Oklahoma State will host the Mizuno Classic in the team's home debut, set for Friday, March 6, with a matchup against Evansville.

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