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Oklahoma softball: Sooner pitching shines in 5 season-opening wins

By Chip Rouse

SEPTEMBER 23 - BLACKTOWN: A general view of the softball game between women's Chinese and Canadian national teams, playing at the Blacktown Olympic Center, in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, on September 23, 2000. (Photo by Stephen Munday/Getty Images)
SEPTEMBER 23 - BLACKTOWN: A general view of the softball game between women's Chinese and Canadian national teams, playing at the Blacktown Olympic Center, in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, on September 23, 2000. (Photo by Stephen Munday/Getty Images) /
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The No. 4-ranked Oklahoma softball team opened the 2019 season with a five-game sweep in the Grand Canyon University Kickoff Tournament in Phoenix over the weekend.

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Not only did the Sooners pick up five season-opening wins, but they did so in dominating fashion, finishing off their final three opponents with run-rule decisions.

In its five victories, Oklahoma outscored its five opponents 44-2, allowing just 10 combined hits in the process.

Junior right-handed starter Mariah Lopez and junior left-hander Giselle Juarez each recorded a pair of wins in leading the Sooners.

Lopez defeated Syracuse 6-0 in game one on Friday, allowing just one hit and striking out 12 in a complete-game performance. Senior second basemen Caleigh Clifton hit the Sooners’ first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh to extend OU’s lead to six.

Lopez also started OU’s opening game on Saturday, hurling a second one-hitter in a five-inning, run-rule win, 13-0, over the Charlotte 49ers. OU unloaded for seven runs in the top of the first inning, providing Lopez with more than enough cushion to seal the victory. Shay Knighton, Raegan Rogers and Grace Green each slugged home runs for the Sooners in the win over Charlotte.

Oklahoma also produced a seven-run inning in its second game of the Saturday doubleheader. This time the junior southpaw Juarez was the beneficiary, as OU posted its second win over Syracuse in as many days. The Sooners pounded out 13 hits, while Juarez yielded just three to the Syracuse hitters in a 9-1 Oklahoma victory.

On Sunday, junior right-hander Shannon Saile drew the start in the circle for the Sooners. Saile, a transfer from Florida International, mowed down San Diego State, allowing just one hit and striking out eight in a run-rule-shortened 9-0 OU victory, the Sooners third shutout of the weekend.

Over the three-day, five-game tournament, Oklahoma produced 58 hits while allowing just 10 combined hits to its five opponents.

OU is off to Clearwater, Florida, next weekend for the five-team St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. where the competition will get much tougher. Among the five teams the Sooners will face in Florida are No. 1-ranked Florida State and No. 15 Kentucky.

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