Oklahoma softball: Sooners take 4 of 5 at Mary Nutter Classic

For the second weekend in a row, the Oklahoma softball team faced a pair of ranked opponents in five-team tournaments and return home winners in four of the five games.

Senior Caleigh Clifton had three hits and drove in five runs as the Sooners defeated Cal State Fullerton 9-1 in the first game of a Sunday twin bill, and Shannon Saile and Parker Conrad combined on a four-hit, 8-0 shutout over UC Santa Barbara in the second game as No. 4 Oklahoma finished off a 4-1 weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California.

Oklahoma won both games on Sunday by run rule, giving the Sooners six such wins this season.

The Sooners lone loss of the weekend was to No. 2-ranked UCLA. The Bruins defeated OU 7-1 on Friday as junior starter Rachel Garcia went the distance and held OU to four hits, striking out 15.

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It marked the second consecutive weekend Oklahoma has lost to a team ranked in the top five. A week ago, the Sooners fell 7-4 at the hand of top-ranked Florida State.

With four wins at the Mary Nutter Classic, the Sooners improved to 13-2. Their two losses are to the teams ranked one and two in the country.

Junior left-hander Giselle Juarez got Oklahoma off on the right foot on Friday, pitching a two-hit, 5-0 shutout over BYU, aided by 14 strikeouts. Senior third baseman Sydney Romero had three hits in the game and scored three of the five OU runs.

Juarez was the hero again on Saturday, yielding just two hits and striking out 11 in a 2-1 complete-game win, here second in as many days, over 14th-ranked Arizona. She had a no-hitter going through six innings, retiring 18 of the first 19 Arizona hitters she faced. Romero hit her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth inning to provide the winning runs.

In its 13 wins so far, Oklahoma has outscored the opposition 104-10 and allowed just 28 combined hits. In their two losses, the Sooners have been outscored 14-5 and outhit 15-11.

The Sooners open their home season next weekend, hosting Oregon State and Louisiana for a pair of games each at Marita Hynes Field.