Oklahoma Softball: Sooners Dominate Iowa State in Big 12 Tournament Semifinals
Oklahoma wasted no time getting started in the semifinals of the Big 12 Softball Tournament.
The Sooners used a first inning grand-slam from Lynnsie Elam en route to a dominating 5-0 win over Iowa State Friday afternoon at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
"I'm really pleased with how we played today and especially the way we came out," said Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso. "We attacked early and scored early. The story of the game for me was Hope."
"Having a little bit of control problems last weekend, just a little, to see her come back in and play the way she did was fantastic. And we fed off of that."
The Cyclones (28-27) came into Friday’s contest winners in six of the last seven. They beat Baylor 2-1 in extra innings to earn a chance at the Sooners.
Oklahoma (49-1) swept the regular season series with Iowa State, going a perfect 3-0, but the Cyclones put up one of the best fights OU had seen in their first matchup. The Sooners held on to win 6-4 on April 22.
Hope Trautwein got the start for the Sooners, improving her record to a perfect 16-0 on the season. She had one of her most impressive outings of the season, allowing just two hits and recording 14 strikeouts.
"This week, we worked a lot on mentality, and just playing free," said Trautwein. "Working on getting that solid and just going into postseason is so important for a pitcher, because pitchers are kind of a little bit of a mental game. Being able to establish my process and execute it when I needed to is something that we really worked on this week."
Patty Gasso’s squad couldn’t have drawn up a better start. Trautwein struck out the first three Iowa State batters setting the Sooners up for a huge inning. After Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings both notched singles, the bases were load with Elam stepping up. She fired one deep to left field for a grand slam, giving OU a 4-0 lead heading into the second.
In the second inning, the Sooners extended the lead.
After Kinzie Hansen’s lead-off double, Rylie Boone’s shot up the middle scored OU another run to put the Sooners up 5-0.
Oklahoma was quiet offensively across the next two innings, but the stifling defense continued.
In the top of the fifth inning with a runner on first, Jennings ran from second base to center field to make sure no Cyclones made it to scoring position.
The Sooners didn't put any points on the board past the second inning, but it didn't matter. Trautwein finished up the game with two strikeouts in the top of the seventh inning to bring home the victory for Oklahoma.
The Sooners are set-up to play the winner of Oklahoma State and Texas in tomorrow’s championship game at 2 p.m.
OU swept the Cowgirls and went 2-1 against the Longhorns on the season.
"We needed to make better adjustments," said Gasso. "We looked like we were kind of melting in the sun a little bit. So it's good, it's a good learning lesson. We got the win going into the championship game."