Three shutouts, three run-rule victories and a pair of no-hitters. Just another weekend at the office for the No. 2-ranked Oklahoma softball team.
One of the Sooners five wins over the weekend was a 5-3 victory on Friday over No. 11 Arizona State. Freshman second baseman Tiare Jennings got the OU scoring started with a two-run home run in the fourth inning, giving the Sooners a 2-1 lead. A pair of seventh-inning long balls by seniors Nicole Mendez and Jocelyn Alo closed out the scoring and the victory for Oklahoma.
OU pitching ace “G” Juarez got the win over her former team, going six innings and allowing seven hits with 10 strikeouts. Juarez spent two seasons at Arizona State before transferring to Oklahoma in 2018.
Juarez, Shannon Saile and Olivia Rains combined for 8-0 run-rule no-hitter in game one on Friday against New Mexico. Sailes picked up the win, her second of the season.
The scene shifted from Tempe, Arizona, to Phoenix on Saturday and Sunday.
Facing New Mexico again in the first game on Saturday, Oklahoma set a program record by pounding out 28 hits in a 33-4 blowout over the Lobos. The Sooners sent 16 batters to the plate with 14 of them registering at least one hit and nine with multiple hits in the game.
Oklahoma led 26-2 after three innings. OU’s Alo hit one of three home runs for the Sooners in the second win of the weekend over New Mexico, including her second grand slam of the season.
In the second game on Saturday, Saile and Rains combined for a two-hit shutout, while Oklahoma scored 14 runs on 17 hits in a 14-0 run-rule win over Grand Canyon University.
The Sooners ended the weekend with an 8-0 perfect game against Portland State. Jaurez got the win, her fifth of the season, going the first two innings and striking out two before giving way to Nicole May and Brooke Vestal, who went the final three innings. The three OU pitchers faced the minimum number of 15 batters, striking out five and not allowing a hit or a walk.
Alo had a huge weekend at the plate for the Sooners, going 9 for 15 with four home runs and 12 RBI. She now has 10 fence-clearing blasts in 12 games this season.
Oklahoma has posted seven shutouts in their 12 wins and averaged 14 runs to their opponents’ 1.33 runs a game.
OU opens its home season next weekend, hosting the annual Courtyard Marriot Tournament, featuring No. 19 Missouri, Louisiana Monroe and Sam Houston State for five games