College Softball: No. 1 OU Completes Sweep, OSU and Tulsa Fall

Oklahoma

LUBBOCK, Texas—No. 1 Oklahoma finished off a three-game sweep of Texas Tech Sunday afternoon, taking down the Red Raiders 13-7.

With the win, the Sooners improved to 37-2 this season, the best start in program history. The Sooners are also 6-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2008.

Lauren Chamberlain hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, her 21st of the season and her fourth straight game with a home run, tying her school record that she had already achieved twice.

Fellow sophomore Shelby Pendley also enjoyed a standout game, going 3-4 with two runs scored and six driven in.

After scoring a run in the first inning, the Sooners batted around in the second, plating all five runs with two outs.

After two groundouts to first base, freshman Erin Miller kept the inning alive by singling to left field. Senior Brianna Turang and Chamberlain followed with singles of their own to load the bases for sophomore Georgia Casey.

A double off the wall by Casey scored two runs, while Pendley brought everyone home with a three-run home run to right center field to make it 6-0. It was her 13th of the season and 32nd of her career.

Oklahoma added another run in the before Texas Tech cut into the Sooners' lead in the fourth with three runs on an RBI single by Adriana Perez and a two-run home run by Katibeth King of OU starter Keilani Ricketts.

Coming off a no-hit performance on Friday night, Ricketts got the win on Sunday to move to 20-1 on the year. She struck out seven and walked two while giving up three runs on five hits.

The Sooners got one run back from Texas Tech, though, in the fifth inning as Martinez walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Miller.

A three-run sixth inning then ballooned the Sooners' lead to 11-3.

Chamberlain led off with a solo home run to center field, and Casey and Pendley followed with walks. Three batters later, sophomore Callie Parsons laced a double into the gap in left center to bring home both runners and match her career high in RBI.

King's second home run of the game, a three-run shot, was part of a four-run sixth inning for the Red Raiders but OU countered with two more runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run double by Pendley to finish the scoring.

Oklahoma returns to action next week with a neutral site contest against Oklahoma State at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Oklahoma State

WACO, Texas –The Oklahoma State softball team fell to No. 20 Baylor 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.

The Cowgirls (24-20, 2-7 Big 12) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Freshman Erika Campbell reached on a base hit and later freshman Shianne Hughes, who was pinch running for Campbell, scored when senior Tamara Brown singled to left field. Sophomore Gessenia DeLaCruz would later score when senior Samantha Chrisman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Baylor (33-10, 6-5) cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth inning with Kathy Shelton scored on a passed ball. The Bears then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Shelton and Kaitlyn Thumann scored on a double by Holly Holl. They would score two more to take a 5-2 lead, which would be the final score.

Offensively for the Cowgirls, Brown, Campbell and freshman Tiffany Mikkelson all had hits, while Brown and Chrisman had OSU's two RBIs.

Senior Kat Espinosa went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits and struck out three. Junior Simone Freeman entered the game in the sixth inning and pitched one inning, giving up one run on two hits and striking out one.

The Cowgirls will take on top-ranked Oklahoma on Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Don E. Porter/ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. – Aimee Creger struck out 12 batters, but a sixth-inning solo home run by UAB's Kristen McGrath was the difference as the Golden Hurricane fell to the Blazers, 1-0, Sunday afternoon.

The pitching staffs totaled 20 strikeouts and allowed a combined seven hits in the duel. Creger (17-4) gave up just four hits – two of which stayed in the infield – and one walk. UAB starter Lauren Webster (10-3) pitched 5.0 innings, allowing two hits with five strikeouts. Lannah Campbell picked up her fifth save of the season, tossing 2.0 innings in relief.

Tulsa started a rally in the bottom of the seventh when Lacey Middlebrooks walked, and pinch runner Emma Horton moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. An infield single by Julie Kernen put runners at first and second, but a strikeout and a groundout to third ended the game.

Middlebrooks reached base in all three trips to the plate, including an infield single in the second inning, and a hit-by-pitch in the fourth. She represented Tulsa's only two baserunners until a double in the sixth.

Creger struck out at least two batters in four innings, including three strikeouts in the second and seventh frames. Following the home run with two out in the sixth, Creger struck out the next four batters looking.

UAB got a double in the first inning by Heather Pearson, an infield base hit in the second by Kristen McGrath, and an infield single in the fifth by Chandler Orr. The Blazers' biggest scoring threat prior to the sixth came in the fourth inning when two batters were hit by pitches and sacrificed to second and third. A pop up double play, however, ended the inning. Kernen caught the pop up in the shallow infield near the first base line and threw to Cobb covering third ahead of the retreating runner to complete the play.

The Golden Hurricane returns to action next weekend, April 20-21, when it travels to Houston for a three-game C-USA set. The teams play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, with a single game at noon Sunday.