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No. 1 Oklahoma Stages Late Rally to Continue Historic Win Streak vs. No. 7 Washington

Oklahoma senior Rylie Boone delivered the decisive blow in the top of the eighth inning to extend OU's streak to 56 games at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.
Ryan Chapman|
No. 1 Oklahoma Stages Late Rally to Continue Historic Win Streak vs. No. 7 Washington
No. 1 Oklahoma Stages Late Rally to Continue Historic Win Streak vs. No. 7 Washington

Championship teams fight to the bitter end.

On the first weekend of the 2024 season, No. 1 Oklahoma showed why its finished three straight seasons as national champs.

After trailing 3-2 most of the night to No. 7 Washington at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Mexico, the Sooners took care of business late.

Furman transfer Riley Ludlam delivered a game-tying RBI in the sixth inning, and Rylie Boone finished the job in extras.

The OU senior lifted a ball to left field, plating true freshman Kasidi Pickering, to put the Sooners on top 4-3 with two outs.

A transfer knotted the game up for OU, and another one of Patty Gasso’s offseason acquisitions finished the game.

Oklahoma Sate transfer Kelly Maxwell came up huge with a pair of outs with a runner on third to close out the win over the Huskies on Friday night.

Oklahoma (3-0) extended its record winning streak to 56 games, and notched the program’s fourth-straight win over Washington (2-1).

Though the Sooners fought from behind most of the night, Gasso’s squad actually got off to a fast start.

Right out of the gate, Jayda Coleman’s leadoff single first appeared to be a non-factor after Ella Parker and Tiare Jennings quickly recorded the first two outs of the game, but Oklahoma settled in.

Instead of attacking early as Parker and Jennings did, senior third baseman Alyssa Brito let the game come to her.

Washington pitcher Lindsay Lopez, who started instead of ace Ruby Meylan, walked Brito, bringing Kinzie Hansen to the plate.

And the OU catcher delivered.

Hansen rocketed a one-hopper back up the middle, giving Coleman plenty of time to round third base and score the first run on the game.

Shortly after, true freshman Kasidi Pickering continued the stellar start to her OU career.

She dropped a ball into shallow left field, doubling Oklahoma’s lead after Brito made it all the way home from second, registering Pickering’s seventh RBI through the first 15 innings of her stay in Norman.

Cydney Sanders then drew a walk to load the bases, but second baseman Alynah Torres popped up to keep the lead at 2-0 headed into the bottom of the first.


Oklahoma starter Nicole May issued a pair of free passes in the first inning, but the free baserunners wouldn’t come back to bite her until the second inning.

Washington’s Avery Hobson drew a leadoff walk, setting up a big inning for the Huskies.

After Brooke Nelson singled to center, Brooklyn Carter came up huge with a two-out single.

Jennings tried to make a diving play on the ball from shortstop, but she was unable to stop the ball, allowing it to roll out to Coleman in center field.

Coleman’s throw actually beat Hobson home, but Hansen was deemed to have blocked the plate early, allowing Washington to get one run back.

Then the Huskies took the lead.

Second baseman Jillian Celis ripped a delivery from May down the right field line, clearing the bases and putting OU in a 3-2 hole, the first deficit the Sooners have faced in the young season.

A stellar defensive play kept the Huskies on top in the third inning.

With two runners aboard and two outs, Torres smashed Lopez’s delivery to the deepest part of the park in center field.

But Torres needed a few more feet of distance.

Carter made a highlight reel catch at the wall, pulling the ball back into the field of play, ending the inning and stranding Oklahoma’s fifth and sixth runners of the night.

Clinging onto a 3-2 lead, Washington coach Heather Tarr turned to her ace Ruby Meylan in the fourth inning.

The hard-throwing right-hander frustrated OU’s hitters. Coleman was the only base runner for the Sooners in either the fourth or the fifth innings, coming off a dropped third strike.

That all changed in the top of the sixth inning.

Sanders fouled off a pair of strikes to battle Meylan, eventually drawing a leadoff walk to start things off on the right foot for the Sooners.

Torres advanced Maya Bland, who was called upon to pinch run for Sanders, to second with a hard-hit ball to the wall in foul territory down the left field line, setting Ludlam up in a big spot to pinch hit.

And the graduate transfer delivered.

She lifted a ball into center field, plating Bland and knotting the game up at 3-3 to give the Sooners new life in Mexico.

Then the pressure was put upon OU pitcher Karlie Keeney, who took over after Paytn Monticelli issued a walk to lead off the sixth.

Monticelli only faced four batters, as she relieved May in the fifth inning, but she fired OU’s dugout up with a roar after firing a strikeout to close the fifth inning.

Keeney got an out, but Gasso again went to the bullpen, this time bringing in Maxwell, with runners on the corners.

And Maxwell delivered.

On her first pitch, Kinsey Fiedler bounced the ball back to Maxwell. A strong defensive pitcher, Maxwell pounced on the ball and fired home to Hansen, throwing out Jing Gardner.

Then Avery Hodge made a great play at second base, charging on Carter’s slow-roller to get the Sooners out of the inning still tied with the Huskies.

Brito’s one-out single in the seventh inning amounted to nothing, sending Maxwell back to the circle to keep OU in the game.

Extra innings were no guarantee, however.

An error and a walk put runners on first and second for the Huskies with just one out, but Maxwell was unbothered.

A force out at third retired the second Washington batter of the inning, and then Maxwell fired her second strikeout of the night to send the game to the eighth inning.

International rules were in play for the event, putting Pickering on second to start the eighth inning.

She moved over to third on a sacrifice, allowing Boone to drive her home with a single.

Maxwell had to deal with Washington’s Jadyn Glab on third base with one out as well after the Huskies employed a sacrifice of their own, but the graduate transfer induced a popup and a slow trickling grounder to Brito to end the game. 

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is co-publisher at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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