Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma softball: Sooners fall behind early but storm back for 8-3 Bedlam win

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Cydney Sanders (1) celebrates after hitting a home run in the second inning of a Bedlam college softball game between the Oklahoma State University Cowgirls (OSU) and the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) in Stillwater, Okla., Friday, May 5, 2023. Oklahoma won 8-3.
Oklahoma's Cydney Sanders (1) celebrates after hitting a home run in the second inning of a Bedlam college softball game between the Oklahoma State University Cowgirls (OSU) and the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) in Stillwater, Okla., Friday, May 5, 2023. Oklahoma won 8-3. /
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Sophomore Jordy Bahl pitched a complete game and Cydney Sanders hit a go-ahead three-run.  home run in the second inning as No. 1-ranked Oklahoma softball defeated No. 6 Oklahoma State 8-3 in the series opener of the Bedlam series on Friday night.

It was Oklahoma’s 39th consecutive win and nation-best 18th win without a loss this season against ranked teams.

Bahl gave up a three-run home run to Oklahoma State super senior Cheyenne Factor in the first inning, but settled down after that, retiring 18 of the final 24 batters she faced and allowing no more runs on five total hits and striking out eight on the way to her 15th win of the season.

The OU right-hander was her own worst enemy in the opening inning, issuing two walks before Factor’s home-run blast. Both starting pitchers had control issues in the first inning. Bahl walked three in the first inning, and Kelly Maxwell issued three free passes, including walking in the first Oklahoma run with the bases loaded in the top of the first.

The Cowgirls took an early 3-1 lead in the first before OU responded with three of their own in the second on Sanders’ fence-clearing blast to right-center field. The Sooners took a 4-3 lead after that and never looked back. Alyssa Brito launched a solo home run top half of the sixth, her 13th of the season and second in as many games, to give OU a 6-3 lead, and the Sooners added two more insurance runs in the seventh off of junior Ivy Rosenberry, the third Oklahoma State pitcher of the game.

Sanders, an Arizona State transfer, had a big game for Oklahoma, collecting three hits in five at bats and driving in three runs. Rylie Boone also had a pair of hits. The two of them combined for half of the Sooners’ 10 hits.

Oklahoma State pitchers combined for nine walks and multiple three-ball counts and threw a total of 189 pitches in the game. In addition to the eight runs scored, the Sooners left 14 runners stranded on base.

The Sooners (47-1) have now won 27 of their last 29 games against in-state rival Oklahoma State.

Game 2 of the series will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. CT at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater. The game will be televised on ESPN. The series finale will be Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday’s game will be available on ESPN+

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