Hope Trautwein dominated the Iowa State lineup from start to finish on Friday afternoon. The super senior fanned a season high 14 batters in route to a 5-0 Sooner victory that returns Oklahoma to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament. Trautwein struck out the first four batters that she faced and then seven of the first eight. In all she faced twenty-four Cyclone batters in the game with fourteen of them returning to the dugout having struck out.
The majority of Oklahoma’s offense came in the opening frame. After Jayda Coleman grounded out as the leadoff batter, Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings reached base on back-to-back singles. Grace Lyons lined out to right field to give the Sooners a second out, but then Alyssa Brito drew a walk to load the bases. In the next at bat, Lynssie Elam sent a 1-1 pitch down the left field line and over the wall to clear the bases and score four of Oklahoma’s five runs.
Oklahoma’s fifth, and final run, came in the bottom of the second when Rylie Boone knocked in Kinzie Hansen with a single to centerfield. From the third through the seventh innings the Sooners and Cyclones traded excellent defensive plays and fantastic pitching from the circle as they battled evenly to wrap up the first semifinal game of the tournament.
The Sooners will face the winner of the second semifinal game in tomorrow’s championship. Oklahoma State and Texas will square off late Friday afternoon for the opportunity to dethrone Oklahoma.
Saturday’s Big 12 championship game is set to start at 2 PM and will be televised on ESPN 2.
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