Oklahoma hammers Kansas, climbs to 26-0
NORMAN — No. 1-ranked Oklahoma launched three home runs and sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning and the Sooners rode Shannon Saile’s dominant pitching performance in a 14-0 run-rule victory over Kansas on Thursday hight at Marita Hynes Field.
OU improved 26-0 overall and 4-0 in Big 12 play, while Kansas fell to 17-12 and 1-3.
Saile only went four innings but improved to 8-0 on the season by striking out eight. She walked one and scattered two hits, but twice got out of minor trouble with strikeouts.
“I think most people were expecting us to throw to Giselle (Juarez),” said head coach Patty Gasso, “but Shannon has really earned this opportunity and we wanted to pay her for that. And she came up flying colors — threw really well tonight.”
elam
Lynnsie Elam
Ty Russell / OU Athletics
“Yeah, she gave us a lot of momentum, honestly, that first inning,” said teammate Lynnsie Elam, who hit two home runs. “She walked out there like the boss lady that she is, and we are so excited to see that. …
“We just love being able to back up our pitchers, and especially when they go out so confident. It fires us up in there on the offensive side so it gets us really excited and that's what she did tonight.”
That was bad news for Kansas pitchers.
The Sooners wasted no time getting their latest hit parade started. Tiare Jennings led off with a single to left, Jocelyn Alo beat out an infield single to second base and Kinzie Hansen hammered a three-run home run to right field for a 3-0 lead.
Alo’s hustle down the first base line allowed her to extend her school-record hitting streak to 39 games. The all-time NCAA mark is 43, set by Coastal Carolina’s Sara Graziano from 1993-94.
Grace Lyons sent her first offering deep to center, but it was caught for the first out. After Jayda Coleman drew a one-out walk, Elam then hit a two-run homer to left center to make it 5-0.
That would hardly be all for the Sooner lineup. Jana Johns drew first base when she was hit by a pitch, and Mackenzie Donihoo laid down a bunt single. That set the table for Jennings, who blasted a two-out, three-run homer to straightaway center field for an 8-0 Oklahoma lead.
Meanwhile, Saile mowed through the Jayhawks, striking out six of the first 11 batters she faced.
Alo delivered her nation-leading 22nd home run of the season to lead off the fourth inning, a deep smash to straightaway center field that put the Sooners up 9-0.
With one out, Grace Lyons rolled a double to the wall in left field, and Jayda Coleman followed with a bunt single. Elam then mashed her second home run of the night, a mammoth three-run shot to left-center field that put Oklahoma on top 12-0.
A two-out double by Donihoo and a fielding error on Nicole Mendes’ ground ball extended the Sooners’ lead to 13-0, and Jennings tacked on another RBI with a flare to right that scored Mendes.
Elam homered twice and finished with five RBIs and two runs scored on a 2-for-3 night. Jennings went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, Alo was 3-for-3 and scored two runs, and Hansen was 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Donihoo also had two hits and scored twice.
Alanna Thiede pitched a perfect fifth, but Gasso would have liked to see more innings in the circle from her staff.
“I love run rules but I hate run rules,” Gasso said. “Keeps taking innings away from us. … They all want opportunity, and we're continuing to take innings away from us, because we keep on rolling teams — which is a wonderful problem, but it’s tough. I never thought I would be saying what I'm saying right now. But it’s tough.”
Game two of the series with KU starts at 6 p.m. Friday.