No. 2 OU Softball Crushes Competition In Season Opener

No. 2 Oklahoma got a no-hitter from Keilani Ricketts to defeat No. 21 Stanford 6-0, and run-ruled Oregon State, 14-2.

Friday, February 8th 2013, 7:58 pm

By: News 9


The Oklahoma softball team, ranked No. 2 in the country to start the season, began its quest for a national championship Friday, winning a pair of games in the Kajikawa Classic in Phoenix, Ariz.

The Sooners showed off both parts of their loaded arsenal, using a no-hitter from pitcher Keilani Ricketts to defeat No. 21 Stanford 6-0, and a scoring barrage to pummel Oregon State 14-2 in the second game.

Ricketts struck out 14 batters in the second no-hitter of her career and helped her own cause with a solo home run in the first inning, the middle bomb of back-to-back-to-back homers for the Sooners.

After Lauren Chamberlain and Georgia Casey reached base, Jessica Shults drove them in with a three-run home run. After Ricketts' home run, Arizona transfer Shelby Pendley homered to center field in her first at-bat with the Sooners.

That was all the run support Ricketts would need as she mowed down the Cardinal batters and only gave up three walks.

In the second game, Oregon State broke through first, as Desiree Beltran knocked a Michelle Gascoigne pitch over the left field fence to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

The Sooners got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Chamberlain took the second pitch she saw and drove it out of the park for her second homer of the day.

Casey had a two-RBI single in the bottom of the second inning to give OU a 3-2 lead before the bottom fell out for the Beavers in the bottom of the fourth.

The Sooners loaded the bases with no outs before Chamberlain walked to score Callie Parsons. After a sacrifice fly from Casey scored Jessica Vest, Shults walked to once more load the bases.

Ricketts walked and Pendley singled to each score a run. After an infield fly from Kelley Reeves, the Sooners scored a run each on a Brittany Williams single, a Leslie Miller walk and an Erica Sampson walk. With the Sooners up 10-2, Chamberlain came up again and hit a grand slam to give the Sooners a 14-2 run-rule win.

The Sooners continue their play in the Kajikawa Classic on Saturday when they face No. 5 Oregon at 10 a.m. CST and New Mexico at 12:30 p.m. CST.

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