Sooners Explode For 19 Runs, Take Series At KU

No. 1 Oklahoma took the series at Kansas with a 19-0 run-rule win over the Jayhawks on Saturday in five innings. It was OU's 35th win by mercy rule in 45 games.

The Sooner bats exploded for 19 runs on 15 hits in the game, capped by a 12-run fifth inning. Super seniors Jocelyn Alo and Lynnsie Elam and sophomore Tiare Jennings all homered in the game. It marked the 23rd game this season that OU has homered three-plus times.

Redshirt senior Hope Trautwein (4.0 IP) and sophomore Nicole May (1.0 IP) combined on OU's nation-best 27th shutout of the season in the circle. The nation's leader in ERA, Trautwein, allowed just three hits while striking out one and walking one, while May gave up no runs, hits or walks in her relief appearance in the fifth.

With the win, Oklahoma (44-1, 13-1 Big 12) is undefeated in their last 65 Big 12 series (61-0-4) and have won 72 of its last 74 conference regular season games.

OU scored in four of the five innings they went to the plate, starting with one run in the first. After a walk to Alo and single from Jennings, a wild pitch got by the Kansas (15-30, 2-12) catcher that allowed Alo to race home. 

In the second, the NCAA all-time home run leader Alo blasted her 23rd of the season and No. 111 in her career on a two-run shot to center field.

The Sooners went quietly in the third before a four-run fourth inning. Following a pair of walks and another single from Jennings, senior Grace Lyons plated sophomore Jayda Coleman with a sac-fly RBI to center. A throwing error by KU allowed Alo to score prior to a two-RBI triple from redshirt senior Taylon Snow. It was OU's eighth triple of the year and Snow's first of the season.

Already leading 7-0 after four, Oklahoma scored 12 runs on eight hits and four walks in the fifth to put the game in run-rule territory. It was the highest-scoring inning of the season for the Sooners.

Lyons began the fifth-inning explosion with an RBI single to right field, before a two-RBI single from sophomore Alyssa Brito and two-run double from super senior Jana Johns. Elam then launched her 13th homer of the season to deep right field on a three-run blast. With 13 round-trippers in 2022, Elam passes her previous career single-season best of 12 a season ago.

Freshman Sophia Nugent, entered as a pinch hitter, continued the scoring with an RBI double to right center, her fourth hit and fifth RBI of the season in 14 at-bats. A three-run home run from Jennings closed the frame for OU, the sophomore's 20th of the year and second in as many games. 

Nine Sooners registered a hit in the contest with eight bringing in at least one run. Jennings and Elam each had three RBIs. Jennings and Lyons paced the team with 3-for-4 performances. Alo went 1-for-1 with four walks and four runs scored.

May finished the game in the circle in the bottom half of the fifth, retiring the side in order with help from junior Rylie Boone who ended the game with a diving catch in right field.

With 35 run-rule victories in 2022, Oklahoma ties its program-best mercy-rule mark from a season ago. The Sooners' 19 runs was the fifth time they have eclipsed the 15-run mark and their third-highest total of the season, behind 21 at Texas Tech (4/10) and 20 vs. Iowa (3/20). 

OU looks for the series sweep over the Jayhawks on Sunday at noon CT. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard via 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity app. 

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