Oklahoma Softball: Sooners Shell the Aggies, Stroll into Super Regionals
NORMAN — On Saturday, Oklahoma looked as if it would blow Texas A&M out in the first inning.
But a timely play at the plate flipped the momentum, and the Aggies limited the damage to just two runs and stayed in the game.
But on Sunday, the top-seeded Sooners never let off the gas, hammering Texas A&M 20-0 at Marita Hynes Field to win the Norman Regional and advance to next weekend’s Super Regional round — also at home.
“Very proud of this team today,” OU head coach Patty Gasso said after the game. “Probably one of our best complete efforts in all phases of our game top to bottom.
“The fans were on fire. We were fired up. The fans really came out today, so we just felt good momentum from the start.”
Per ESPN, it was the biggest shutout win in a Regional Final since 2005.
Sending 14 batters to the plate, OU (52-2) erupted for nine runs on five hits in the first frame.
Jocelyn Alo hit the only home run of the inning as six other Sooners registered RBIs to keep the turnstiles moving on the bases.
“I think we really came into this game prepared,” Alo said after the game. “… We had seen all three of their (starting pitchers) yesterday, so that gave us a really good idea of what they were going to do.
“But overall, just as an offense we were zoned in and just controlling the strike zone and hitting the ball hard.”
Texas A&M (31-28) didn’t do anything to help the cause, committing three errors in the opening inning alone.
“It was definitely passing the torch,” Gasso said. “… Top to bottom, there’s RBIs throughout. There’s hits throughout. It was just suffocating offense today. And it felt really good because that’s who we are.”
A majority of the carnage came after Grace Lyons’ sacrifice fly scored the first run of the game.
Doubles by Lynnsie Elam and Jana Johns both scored runs, while Alyssa Brito reached on an error to score all before there were two outs.
Even when Snow recorded the second out of the inning, she plated Johns by bouncing into a fielder’s choice, ensuring the Aggies wouldn’t be able to grab any semblance of momentum while the Sooner fans at Marita Hynes basked in the blowout.
Despite the game being well in hand, Oklahoma’s offense didn’t relent.
Another Snow groundout added a run in the second inning, then Lyons drove in another run with a single in the third inning.
The single by Lyons set the table for Brito to launch a ball into the third row of the left field bleachers, as the three-run shot put the Sooners up 14-0 to close out the third inning.
Jennings added another three-run shot in the fourth inning to extend the advantage to 17-0.
“(We were) passing the bat,” Jennings said after the game. “Even in the dugout, we were all just locked in. So that helped a lot too. And just saying, ‘hey, what did you see?’ And keeping that going.
“And that just gave us a lot of momentum throughout our at-bats.”
Alo narrowly missed a second home run of the day in the fifth inning, but she settled for an RBI single to polish off the 20-run day for the Sooners.
In Saturday’s semifinal win, OU put plenty of traffic on the base paths, but Patty Gasso’s team only hit 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Fast forward to Sunday, and OU was much more efficient.
Oklahoma batted 8-for-19 with runners in scoring position in the second contest against the Aggies.
As the offense lit up the scoreboard, Nicole May kept the Texas A&M bats in check.
“(May was) a boss,” Gasso said. “… I thought Nicole did just a really great job of keeping them off balance.
“… Just really felt her in complete control from the start.”
The sophomore pitcher struck out six Aggies, allowing just two hits and no walks in 4 1/3 innings of work. Tuttle, OK, native Macy McAdoo came on in relief of May to close out the win.
With the offensive explosion to start the game, May had to bide her time in the dugout before throwing her first pitch of the contest. The long top half of the first inning didn’t break her focus, however, as she stayed locked in while the offense produced run after run.
“I still am loose in the dugout, so I’m having fun with everybody,” May said. “… Once we got two outs I stared moving my body a little bit, started getting warm again. And then I was locked in once we (took the field).”
Oklahoma now awaits the winner of the Orlando Regional, which will be either the 16-seeded UCF Knights or the Michigan Wolverines. The Sooners
will host whoever emerges from Orlando next weekend in Super Regional play from Marita Hynes Field.
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