Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma softball replay: Takeaways from Sooner redemption at Baylor

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Jocelyn Erickson (7) celebrates with Grace Lyons (3) and Cydney Sanders (1) after scoring a run in the fourth inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Texas Tech at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Thursday, April 6, 2023. Oklahoma won 3-0.Ou Softball Vs Texas Tech
Oklahoma's Jocelyn Erickson (7) celebrates with Grace Lyons (3) and Cydney Sanders (1) after scoring a run in the fourth inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Texas Tech at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Thursday, April 6, 2023. Oklahoma won 3-0.Ou Softball Vs Texas Tech /
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The one Oklahoma softball loss in 40 games this season had come on the same field and to the same team that the Sooners played on Friday night.

The Baylor Bears pulled out a 4-3 win over top-ranked Oklahoma back on Feb. 19 as part of the Getterman Classic, an early season tournament hosted by Baylor. Prior to that loss, OU had won 22 of the last 23 games against the Bears, including eight straight played at Getterman Stadium in Waco.

Friday night, the Sooners got a chance at redemption in the series opener against the Big 12 foe that had delivered that lone blemish on OU’s 2023 season record. And redeem themselves they did as OU starter Jordy Bahl and Nicole May combined to silence the Baylor bats, allowing no runs and just four hits, and the Sooners posted their nation-best 24th shutout of the season, 7-0, over the 19th-ranked Bears.

Meanwhile, eight Oklahoma batters got hits and accounted for five runs off of Baylor starter and ace Dariana Orme, the same pitcher who beat the Sooners back in February. Orme lasted just 3.2 innings, but the damage had already been done.

Arizona transfer Cydney Sanders, batting in the eighth position in the lineup. got the train moving for the Sooners with a solo home-run blast to left field in the second inning to put OU up 1-0. The Sooners followed that with another run in the third, three more in the fourth and a final run in the fifth.

Taking nothing away from the Baylor victory earlier in the season, Oklahoma’s recent softball dominance over Baylor continued on Friday night in the first game of the three-game series. The Sooners have now won 23 of their last 25 games against the Bears, with the opportunity to tack on two more by the end of the day on Saturday.

Because of inclement weather expected in the Waco area on Sunday, the two teams will play an afternnoon doubleheader on Saturday.

Takeaways as No. 1 Oklahoma avenges it one loss of the 2023 season

  • Sophomore right-hander Jordy Bahl was brilliant in the circle for the Sooners. Bahl went 5.2 innings and allowed no runs and just three hits, all singles. She struck out 10 of the 21 Baylor hitters she faced. It was her third double-digit strikeout performance in her last three starts.
  • Alyssa Brito, Grace Lyons and Cydney Sanders each had two hits for the Sooners. Sanders was two-for-two in the game with a home run, her second in three games, a double and a pair of walks in four plate appearances.
  • Oklahoma improves to 40-1 overall and 10-0 in the Big 12. The Sooners also extended their nation-best win streak to 32 games.
  • Oklahoma State lost at Texas on Friday, giving OU a two-game lead at the top of the Big 12 standings. The Sooners, with eight games remaining, are seeking an 11th straight Big 12 regular-season championship.
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