Photo credit Ty Russell/OU Athletics
With all due respect to Wichita State, Oklahoma has bigger fish to fry. The Sooners are just days away from opening a series against Oklahoma State in Stillwater. A series win over the Cowgirls keeps multiple streaks alive including the current run of eight consecutive conference championships. Should the Sooners win Bedlam that streak grows to nine consecutive. The last team to win the regular season not named Oklahoma was Missouri in 2011. The last team not named Oklahoma to win the Big 12 tournament was also Missouri but you’ll have to go back to 2009 for that. To be fair though, the conference tournament was suspended from 2011-2016.
It’s understandable then that Wichita State, despite being ranked #25, was just a bump in the road on Tuesday night. The Sooners blasted their way past the Shockers in run-rule shortened final that didn’t see WSU cross home plate until the game was well in hand.
Grace Green hit a grand slam home run as the Sooners blasted the Shockers to the tune of 14 runs on 13 hits. Tiare Jennings and Mackenzie Donihoo each had a multi hit night, Jennings went 3-for-4 from the plate and Donihoo 2-for-2. The trio accounted for 11 of Oklahoma’s 13 RBI with Green and Jennings knocking in four each. Green did it on one swing of the bat though.
From the pitching circle Shannon Saile relied on the defense behind her to keep Wichita State off the board through her four innings of work. She faced just 15 batters in the four innings of work and struck out just one while not letting any runs come across the plate. Saile gave way to Nicole May in the fifth but had done more than enough to secure the win and improve her season record to 13-0.
Top ranked Oklahoma improved to 40-1 on the season with just the Bedlam series remaining in the regular season. The first game against Oklahoma State is Friday night with a start time of 6:00 (CT).
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