Photo credit Josh Gateley/OU Athletics
Things got heated, Patty Gasso got tossed, and the Big 12 will have to wait one more day to crown its 2021 conference champion. If that’s not an accurate description of Bedlam then I really don’t know what is.
The Sooners struck first when a third inning single by Jayda Coleman scored Jana Johns, who had reached base by drawing got a walk. Jocelyn Alo was the next Oklahoma batter to approach the plate and she drilled an RBI double to right center field to score Nicole Mendes and give OU a 2-0 lead.
Two innings later Lynnsie Elam brought in two more runs with a single to center field, pushing the lead to 4-0. Oklahoma State scored its first run of the game in the bottom half of the frame due to a throwing error by Johns. A sac-fly by OSU shortstop Kiley Naomi scored the Cowgirls second run of the game to pull within 4-2 with two innings remaining.
Things got really crazy in the top of the sixth when Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso was ejected when she argued a call at third base that was grossly misjudged. After a series of questionable calls went against the Sooners Gasso had reached a boiling point with this one. ColemanΒ reached base with a single up the middle and then made it to third on a single from Taylon Snow, but was then called out when OSU third baseman Sydney Pennington intentionally pushed her hand off the bag.
That sent Gasso rushing to defend Coleman and state her case, which was not well received, and ultimately led to her ejection.
Despite the bad call at third base, Oklahoma was still able to produce in the sixth inning. Mendes launched a solo home run, that bounced off the scoreboard, to make it a 5-2 Oklahoma lead.
Oklahoma’s sixth, and final, run came in the seventh when Grace Green sent Elam home on an RBI double. Green was legitimately tagged out at third trying to stretch it into a triple but the Sooners were in a good spot leading 6-2 heading towards OSU’s final at bat.
A solo home run from Oklahoma State’s Karli Petty showed that the Pokes weren’t going away quietly. A hit by pitch and pair of walks but the Cowgirls in position to steal the game, sow up the series and conference championship. That’s when Nicole May entered the game to save the day. She did and surrender a walk and sac-fly RBI, to pull OSU to within 6-4, but she also produced the final two outs of the game via flyout and strikeout to close the game and send us to an epic Sunday rubber match that will determine the conference title.
Shannon Saile picked up the win to improve her season record to 14-0. She threw six innings and was responsible for all four of Oklahoma State’s runs but she also struck out six batters and held the Cowgirls to just four hits. May’s seventh inning heroics allowed her to pick up the first save of her young career.
The hero of this game was undoubtedly Jayda Coleman. Not only did she go 2-for-3 at the plate, with an RBI and a walk drawn, she also made play after play in center field. On the day she accounted for five putouts and several of them were spectacular.
The third and decisive game in the Bedlam Series is set to get underway at 11:00 am Sunday morning and will be televised on ESPNU.
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