Sooners Ride Strong Pitching to Win in Season Finale

Keilani Ricketts pitched a complete game and struck out 14 batters in OU's final game of the regular season.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:23 pm

By: News On 6

Sooners Ride Strong Pitching to Win in Season Finale

Originally Published: May 8, 2011 2:34 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Okla. – Keilani Ricketts turned in another dominant pitching performance and led the Oklahoma softball team to a 4-1 victory over Iowa State to end the regular season Sunday.

Ricketts pitched a complete game and held Iowa State (21-24, 3-11) to just two hits. The only run the Cyclones scored came in the third inning, and it was an unearned run that scored thanks to a fielding error. Ricketts faced a total of 27 batters and struck out 14 of them.

The Sooners (38-16, 10-8) also only scored in one inning, but it was enough to provide Ricketts with all the support she needed. OU entered the fourth inning down 1-0, but tied the game on a single by Ricketts that scored a run thanks to a throwing error.

The Sooners took their first lead of the game in the next at-bat, when Haley Nix worked a full count and then launched a two-run home run for a 3-1 lead. They added one more run later in the inning on an RBI single by Katie Norris, and that marked the end of the scoring.

Ricketts now has won 25 games this season and surpassed 400 strikeouts on the year. The Sooners also swept their first two-game series since April 6, when they beat Kansas in both games of a doubleheader.

Sunday’s game marked the end of the regular season, and the Sooners currently sit at No. 6 in the Big 12 standings.