OU Blows Out OSU in Bedlam Showdown

Originally Published: Apr 28, 2010 9:38 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- The Oklahoma State pitchers struggled from the very beginning, and Oklahoma took advantage with an 11-1 victory in five innings Wednesday.

The Sooners (37-10, 11-3) started quickly when Haley Anderson blasted a solo home run in the first inning. OSU (41-11, 10-4) starter Anna Whiddon struggled to get the ball over the plate for the rest of the inning.

Whiddon walked OU’s next two batters, Amber Flores and Jessica Shults, and the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Haley Nix followed with a hard ground ball to shortstop, but she outran the throw to first for an infield single that drove in Flores for a 2-0 lead.

Whiddon then walked another batter to load the bases and was pulled in favor of Kat Espinosa. Espinosa committed a balk on her first pitch that brought in the Sooners’ third run of the game, and later in the at-bat hit Katie Norris with a pitch to load the bases again.

Espinosa finally got Dani Dobbs to line to right field to end the inning, but the damage had been done. All nine OU batters came to the plate, and the Cowgirls’ pitchers combined for three walks, a hit batter and a balk in one inning. The pitching did not get much better as the game progressed.

In the third inning, Haley Nix and Keilani Rickets connected on back-to-back singles, and Norris drove both of them in with a three-run homer to double the lead to 6-0. The Sooners added their third long ball of the night in the fourth when Shults hit a two-run blast over the right-field fence to push the lead to eight.

After a double and two consecutive walks loaded the bases, Nix drove in a run with single that kept the bases full. Dobbs followed with another walk to bring in a run and give OU a 10-0 lead. With the bases still loaded, Wendy Trott pinch hit with nobody out. She grounded into a double play, but another run crossed the plate to finish the Sooners’ scoring.

Facing the threat of being run-ruled, the Cowgirls finally generated some offense in the top of the fifth. Sam Heinlein doubled, giving OSU just their second hit of the game. Ricketts then hit Chelsea Garcia with a pitch to put runners on first and second.

OSU eventually loaded the bases with one out, threatening to cut back within single digits and prevent an early ending. Mariah Gearhart drove home the Cowgirls’ first run of the game with a groundout to third base, but Katelyn Bright followed with another groundout to end the game.

As the Sooners’ bats caught fire, Keilani Ricketts (23-8) kept the Cowgirls at bay with superb pitching. Through the first four innings, she gave up just one hit while striking out seven. She ran into some trouble in the fifth, but pitched out of it for her 23rd victory of the season.

The Bedlam rivalry between OU and OSU has now been played 136 times, with the two teams splitting them down the middle. Wednesday’s game brought things back to a 68-68 tie in the series, with the next matchup between the two top-15 teams possibly coming in the Big 12 Championship.

The Sooners’ next game will come at 2 p.m. Saturday against Kansas State, while the Cowgirls will face Nebraska in Stillwater at the same time.