Oklahoma softball: No. 2 Sooners post 25th run-rule win 10-2 over Houston
By Chip Rouse
Senior Nicole May won her 12th game of the season and captain Kinzie Hansen drove in three runs as No. 2 Oklahoma softball made short work of last-place Houston in a 10-2 run-rule victory on Saturday at Love's Field in Norman.
It was Oklahoma's third straight win after a 9-4 loss a week ago to BYU and clinched the Sooners 58th series win in the last 60 Big 12 series.
The Sooners (41-4, 17-3) scored four times on four hits in the first inning and six more times in the third to take a 10-0 lead. Veteran OU hurler Nicole May faced 16 Houston batters over 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four. Paytn Monticelli, a transfer from Wisconsin, recorded the final two outs to secure the win.
With the win, Oklahoma preserved a half-game lead over Texas atop the Big 12 standings despite ranking No. 2 behind the Longhorns in the national rankings.
Hansen went two-for-three at the plate and freshman Kasidi Pickering and Rylie Boone each contributed a couple of hits to the Sooner attack, the No. 1 offense in the country.
In three games this week, all wins, Oklahoma has scored 26 runs to two for the opponents and allowed just six total hits, including a no-hitter by sophomore Kierston Deal over Tulsa on Tuesday.
Houston and OU play again on Sunday in the series finale. The run-rule wins in the first two games in the series give the Sooners 25 for the season in 45 games.