Sooners Jump Ahead Early, Cruise Past Tulsa

Originally Published: Mar 3, 2010 8:35 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – The No. 8 Oklahoma softball team jumped out to a huge lead early in the game and used solid pitching the rest of the way to cruise to a 7-0 victory over Tulsa Wednesday.

The Sooners (12-2) hit three home runs and scored six times in the first two innings. Tulsa’s pitching improved as the game went on, but it was too late for the Golden Hurricane (7-8) to recover.

Keilani Ricketts pitched a complete-game shutout for OU, giving up only three hits while striking out eight. She carried a perfect game into the fourth inning before giving up a hit and walk to the first two batters of the inning. Ricketts recovered to retire the next three batters and did not allow two runners to be on base at the same time for the rest of the game.

The Sooners’ offensive surge started thanks to superior base running from Brianna Turang and Chana’e Jones, the first two hitters in the lineup. They combined to steal three bases in the first inning, including Turang stealing third and Jones stealing second on the same pitch. Both scored on sacrifices and gave the Sooners a 2-0 lead after only one hit.

Haley Nix hit a home run to extend the lead to 3-0 after one inning, but OU’s power hitting did not stop there. Ricketts and Katie Norris led off the second inning with back-to-back home runs, and Jessica Shults added an RBI single to give the Sooners a commanding lead. Ricketts’ pitching was all Oklahoma needed from then on.

The Sooners have now won 10 of their last 11 games, with their only loss coming to No. 1 Washington. They will host Nevada at 6 p.m. Friday before renewing the Bedlam rivalry with Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. Saturday in Oklahoma City.