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Oklahoma softball: Sooners defeat No. 4 Arizona in Hillenbrand Invitational

By Chip Rouse

CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 03: Suzannah Lillian Brookshire Gonzalez #5 of Mexico hits a single in the Sixth inning against United States during the Preliminary Round match at Akitsu Stadium on day two of the WBSC Women's Softball World Championship on August 3, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)
CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 03: Suzannah Lillian Brookshire Gonzalez #5 of Mexico hits a single in the Sixth inning against United States during the Preliminary Round match at Akitsu Stadium on day two of the WBSC Women's Softball World Championship on August 3, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma softball stumbled against Long Beach State, but won four of five games in the Arizona desert as part of the Hillenbrand Invitational over the weekend, including a 6-4 win over No. 4 Arizona in extra innings.

The Sooners improved to 8-1 and should hold on to their No. 3 ranking nationally.

OU opened the tournament with wins over Bryant, 8-3, and Northern Iowa, 10-2, on Friday.

In the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, Shannon Saile came on in relief after 4.1 innings of a one-run, three-hit performance by freshman starter Olivia Rains, but surrendered four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning that erased a 4-1 deficit and gave Long Beach State a 5-4 victory over last year’s Women’s College World Series runners-up.

The Sooners rebounded in the second game of the Saturday twin bill, against an even better team than LBS. With the score deadlocked a 4-4 after nine innings, OU outfielder Grace Green lofted a shallow fly ball to left in the top of the 10th that was dropped, allowing two Sooner runners to score.

Saile was awarded the win in relief of Rains again, retiring the only two hitters she faced in the bottom of the 10th. Rains followed up her brilliant start earlier in the day against Long Beach with a one-hit performance over 4.2 innings in relief of starter Macy McAdoo.

Saile got the start in OU’s final game of the tournament on Saturday against Northern Iowa and went four innings allowing no runs on three hits and striking out five before turning things over to Alanna Thiede. Saile was credited with the win, her second of the season against one loss, in an 8-0 shutout win for the Sooners.

Junior catcher Lynnsie Elam had a big weekend series, slugging four home runs and driving in seven runs. She now has five long balls in eight Oklahoma games.

Oklahoma moves from the Arizona desert further West, to Cathedral City, California (in the Palm Springs area), next weekend for another five-team, five game tournament, the Mary Nutter Classic. Other teams participating in that annual tournament are Texas A&M, Washington, Nebraska, Seattle and Wisconsin, which was ranked 23rd in the preseason USA Softball/ESPN Top 25.

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