Paige Parker only needed one run to secure her twenty-second win of the season but thanks to the generosity of her teammates she got six. Four of those runs game off the bat of Shay Knighten who blasted a grand slam home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Sooners got the scoring started in the bottom of the first when Jocelyn Alo took a 2-2 pitch to deep left-center field.
WATCH: #Sooners take a 1-0 lead in the first as @78jocelyn_alo drills her 21st homer of the season! pic.twitter.com/uQclfM8H1p
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 27, 2018
The score would remain at 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth when Knighten took Texas pitcher Brooke Bolinger out of the park for the grand slam. Leah Wodach led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch. Then Nicole Mendes reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners at first and second for the Sooners. With two outs, Alo was intentionally walked to bring up Knighten. Bad decision!
WATCH: #Sooners grow their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth as @shay_1715 drills the second grand slam of her career! pic.twitter.com/fReDbVpYCa
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 28, 2018
Oklahoma’s sixth, and final, run of the night came in the bottom of the sixth when Mendes singled to left-center to bring in Wodach.
Paige Parker did her part from the circle by producing one of her usual dominating performances. Oklahoma’s senior went the distance by tossing all seven innings. She held the Longhorns to just five hits and struck out eight batters to preserve the shutout win.
WATCH: @paigeparker008 was DEALING in the circle tonight. #ChampionshipMindset
Full highlights: https://t.co/3W2KrzmMoh pic.twitter.com/6ddy5pTber
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 28, 2018