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Oklahoma Softball: Tiare Jennings' Heroics Lift Sooners to Series Sweep Over Baylor

It took all seven innings, but Oklahoma was able to stay perfect after Jennings' three-run shot to walk it off.
Ross Lovelace|
Oklahoma Softball: Tiare Jennings' Heroics Lift Sooners to Series Sweep Over Baylor
Oklahoma Softball: Tiare Jennings' Heroics Lift Sooners to Series Sweep Over Baylor

NORMAN — Tiare Jennings stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with all the pressure in the world. The Sooners’ bats had gone ice cold.

With two outs, and runners on first and second, Jennings miraculously launched the ball into orbit, securing a three-run homer and a 3-1 win for the Sooners.

No. 1 Oklahoma (29-0, 3-0 Big 12) completed the sweep over Baylor (17-13, 0-3) in the most improbable way Sunday in the final game of their Big 12 Conference opening series.

The big hit of the day for Oklahoma came from Tiare Jennings, who went 1-for-3 with a strike to right field. Other than that shot from Jennings, the Sooners were silent on the offensive end.

For the Sooners, this marks the 29th straight win of the season. Previously, OU had 13 straight run rules, with 24 of their wins on the season coming by run rule.

"What a game and what a pitching duel," said Sooners head coach Patty Gasso. "Both pitchers threw lights out. I give credit to Orme, she stopped a really explosive offense. We haven't been stopped like that so I give her credit."

Hope Trautwein pitched for the first time all series on Sunday, marking the third different pitcher for OU in three days. She started off on an absolute roll, striking out eight batters in the first three innings.

Trautwein finished the afternoon with 13 strikeouts, only allowing one hit and one run. 

"It was trusting myself and trusting the coaches to call the pitches that I'm confident in," said Trautwein. "And I mean we practice pressure like this all the time. And so it was pressured, yes, but it was something that I've been able to come out on top and so I wasn't really sweating it." 

For the third game in a row, the Sooners struggled offensively out of the gates. Friday, OU was held scoreless in the first inning and on Saturday, it took the Sooners until the third inning to bring home any runs.

Sunday afternoon, the game was scoreless after the fifth inning. The Sooners couldn’t find any rhythm offensively and struggled to build momentum. Strong pitching from Trautwein, along with sturdy fielding, powered the Sooners the entire game.

In the sixth inning, things got dicey for the Sooners. McKenzie Wilson drilled a shot to right center for a double, eventually advancing to third. A sac fly from Kaci West brought Wilson home. The Sooners were able to get out of the inning, but not before trailing 1-0.

Jayda Coleman tried to rally the Sooners in the seventh inning. She hung in late in a full-count and made perfect contact on a ball, smoking it to left field. If it was any farther right, it would've found a gap. Instead it found a Baylor mitt, erasing any potential momentum.

After Alyssa Brito struck out on the next at-bat, Kinzie Hansen fired a single to right field, giving the Sooners a runner on base. Then, Mackenzie Donihoo dropped a perfectly placed ball for another single, giving the Sooners runners on first and second.

Jennings then continued with her heroics, completing the comeback and drilling a three-run shot to center to seal it.

"I just trusted myself to stick to my game plan and do whatever I could to either get on base or pass it off to Jocelyn, that was my mindset," said Jennings.

From here, Oklahoma will take a week off from conference play, starting with a home battle against Wichita State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Sooners’ next conference series will be against Texas Tech, as Oklahoma travels to Lubbock April 8-10.

"I will be honest, we don't want to run rule everybody," said Gasso. "Because right now, counted up, our pitching staff is missing over 40 innings that they need to pitch to get work. We needed this more than anything you could ever imagine."

"And we're athletic enough to find ways to win. If we would have lost this game, It would have helped us more than it hurt us and I knew that."

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Ross Lovelace
ROSS LOVELACE

Ross has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Oklahoma Sooners since 2018. He's made guest appearances on various radio stations and the Sooners On SI podcast. Ross enjoys public speaking and has done so at multiple churches and high schools across the OKC metro area. In addition to writing, Ross has been the Play-by-Play announcer for Crossings’ basketball and football programs since 2020. In high school, Ross started with Thunder Digest, where he discovered his passion for writing. From there, he worked for the OU Daily as a women's basketball reporter and worked for Sooners On SI and Thunder On SI. Ross holds a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and a minor in Communication from the University of Oklahoma. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Ross played basketball and wrote for his own Thunder blog at Crossings High School in OKC. He enjoys reading, New York Jets football and a week at the beach. Ross and his wife live in New Orleans, where he is a Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator at the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee. His Twitter handle is @Rosslovelace.

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