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Oklahoma softball: OU records 4th straight shutout, defeats No. 12 LSU 3-0

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma pitcher Jordy Bahl (98) celebrates after an out during a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Monday, March 13, 2023. Oklahoma won 8-0 in five innings.Ou Sotfball
Oklahoma pitcher Jordy Bahl (98) celebrates after an out during a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Monday, March 13, 2023. Oklahoma won 8-0 in five innings.Ou Sotfball /
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Oklahoma softball starter Jordy Bahl struck out 13 and Alyssa Brito blasted a two-run home run in a three-run second inning as the top-ranked Sooners posted their fourth straight shutout, defeating LSU 3-0 on Tuesday.

The Sooners (37-1, 9-0) managed just two hits and four base runners off of four LSU pitchers. Three of those base runners reached home in the second inning, and it turned out that was all that the Sooners would need to win to extend their winning streak to a nation-best 29 games.

Kinzie Hansen singled in the second inning scoring Jocelyn Erickson, who had reached on a throwing error the hitter before. Alynah Torres grounded to third for the second out, but Alyssa Brito launched a home run over the right center-field fence to put the Sooners up 3-0, and that was it offensively for OU.

Jayda Coleman drew a walk in the third inning, but that was the last Sooner to reach base in the contest.

The OU starter Bahl was brilliant again in the circle, as she has been all season, allowing the 12th-ranked Lady Tigers just three hits and striking out a season-best 13 batters in a complete-game performance. It was Bahl’s fifth shutout of the 2023 season and Oklahoma’s nation-leading 23rd of the season.

LSU used multiple pitchers in the game, no one hurler seeing the potent OU lineup more than one time through. It seemed to work as the OU bats were uncharacteristically silent after the third-inning outburst.

The Tigers only real threat in the game came in the bottom of the sixth. A single and a catcher interference call put runners on first and second with one out, but Bahl worked out of it with a strikeout and a hard line-out to third baseman Britto.

This was the 14th game in the 38 played by the Sooners this season that they have faced a ranked team. OU is now 14-0 in those games.

The Oklahoma pitching staff has not allowed a run (earned or unearned) in 31.2 inninngs.

Takeaways from a huge road win a future top-25 SEC opponent

  • Oklahoma leads the country in four major offensive categories and is second in a fifth. What makes the Sooners so incredibly dangerous is that they also are No. 1 in Division I softball in fielding and starting pitching. Three OU starters have ERAs lower than 1.50. When the Sooners are held to just two or three hits, their outstanding pitching still gives them a way to win.
  • Oklahoma is 8-0 this season against SEC teams. The Sooners will begin play in softball as a member of the SEC Conference in 2025.
  • The past two opponents to face OU (Texas Tech and LSU) have used multiple pitchers in an attempt to give the lethal OU lineup different looks and not allow the Sooners to adjust to any one pitcher. The strategy seemingly has worked to slow down the Sooner offense, OU can expect to see more of this approach from opponents going forward.
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