Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma softball: Sooners sweep Texas, win 68th straight Big 12 series

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma second baseman Tiare Jennings (23) rounds second base during a softball game between University of Oklahoma (OU) and Florida State at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.Ou Vs Floriday State Softball
Oklahoma second baseman Tiare Jennings (23) rounds second base during a softball game between University of Oklahoma (OU) and Florida State at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.Ou Vs Floriday State Softball /
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Tiare Jennings had four hits, including a three-run home run in the second inning, breaking open a tight game to that point and propelling the No. 1 Oklahoma softball team to a 10-2 run-rule victory on Sunday and a series sweep of Texas.

The Sooners (33-1, 6-0) collected a dozen hits off of three Longhorn pitchers and handed Texas its first run-rule loss this season. Texas came into the weekend series with Oklahoma ranked 8th in the nation and with a 30-5-1 overall record.

The Longhorns leave Norman with eight losses on their season resume. Six of Texas’ eight losses have been by one run. The Sooners, with an 8-1 victory in the series opener on Friday and 10-2 on Sunday, are the only team this season to defeat the Longhorns by more than one run.

Texas jumped out in front early on a first-inning home run by Mia Scott, but the Sooners responded with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning with Jayda Coleman scoring when Kinzie Hansen grounded into a bases-loaded double play with no outs.

After a three-run second inning, the Sooners broke the game wide open in the third, scoring five more times on four hits and a couple of Longhorn errors. The big hit in the inning was a two-run blast by Haley Lee, her seventh round-tripper of the season.

Texas avoided a potential run-rule loss after five innings by scoring a single run in the top of the fourth, but that only prolonged the inevitable as OU pinch runner Avery Hodge scored from first on an extra=base hit by Cydney Sanders in the home half of the sixth, providing the eight-run advantage that triggered the run-rule and ended the game.

Right-handed starter Nicole May had another strong outing for Oklahoma, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, striking out six and issuing a pair of walks. She picked up her 10th win of the season without a loss. Jordy Bahl, who earned the win in the first two games of the series came on in relief in the sixth to record the final two outs.

OU outscored Texas 22-6 in the three-game series and outhit the Longhorns 33-13.

The win gives the Sooners their 19th win by run rule this season in 34 games and 25 consecutive wins, the longest active win streak in the nation. They have won 52 consecutive home games and 68 consecutive Big 12 series (64-0-4). Forty-two of those 68 consecutive series wins resulted in a series sweep.

Next up on the OU softball calendar is another three-game series at Marita Hynes Field, Thursday through Saturday (because of the Easter holiday) with Texas Tech.

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