Oklahoma Softball: Sooners Blast Past Iowa State in Game 2 of Double Header
NORMAN — Oklahoma didn’t need to stage any sort of comeback in Game 2 of Friday night’s double header.
The No. 1-ranked Sooners dominated the contest from the onset, as OU run ruled the Iowa State Cyclones 9-0 at Marita Hynes Field.
Patty Gasso’s offense fired on all cylinders, as the Sooners (41-1) notched run rule victory No. 33 for the season.
"That was one of the most fun games they they played (this season) because it was very passionate," Gasso said after the game. "It was almost postseason-like, and it was good for us to feel that."
OU jumped on Iowa State (21-23) early, plating two runs and loading the bases before the Cyclones recorded their first out of the contest.
Tiare Jennings was responsible for the first run of the game, as she singled to drive in Jayda Coleman.
Grace Lyons followed up Jennings by laying an inch-perfect bunt up the first base line which froze the Iowa State defense, allowing Jocelyn Alo to score while Lyons reached base safely.
"There's nothing worse than getting squeezed on by somebody," Gasso said. "You can't defend it. You don't know what to do with it.
"... It's really difficult with this team because you want to call things, but they are so powerful that you're taking the bat out of their hands... So sometimes I have conversations in my own mind like, 'what are you doing?'"
Alyssa Brito scored the third run of the first inning, grounding into a fielder’s choice that plated Lyons.
Oklahoma’s offense picked up right where it left off in the second inning.
Right fielder Rylie Boone led off the second inning with a moonshot that cleared the bleachers in right field, which was just the junior’s second home run of the year.
Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners
Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners
Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners
"There's nothing better than watching Boone run around the bases like that," Coleman said after the game. "It just makes your heart full."
Boone was so consumed with her home run trot that she didn't even look to see the ball sail over the bleachers as it exited the stadium.
"I'm looking at the dugout," Boone said with a smile after the game.
Later in the inning, Jana Johns continued her productive Friday night with an RBI single of her own to push the lead to 5-0.
Senior caption Lynnsie Elam added to her home run total with a solo blast in the third inning. The blast was Elam’s 12th homer of the season, which moved her to fourth on the team in long balls.
Lyons was the beneficiary of the gusting winds in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Turiya Coleman reached second base after Gasso had the freshman pinch run for Alo, and Lyons popped a ball up to left field that landed in the grass after Iowa State’s Carli Spelhaug misplayed the ball. Coleman had no trouble rounding third and heading home to score, extending the lead to 7-0 at the end of the fourth.
Brito walked the game off in the bottom of the fifth inning when she smashed a two-run shot to center field, capping off an explosive win.
Hope Trautwein dominated the Cyclone offense while the Sooners lit up the scoreboard.
The senior only faced 16 batters across five innings of work, striking out three Iowa State batters and only allowing one hit.
Oklahoma will look to sweep the Cyclones on Saturday back at Marita Hynes Field.
First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SoonerSports.TV.
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