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Oklahoma Trounces Memphis as Kendall Wells Homers Again

The Sooners briefly stepped out of SEC play to run-rule the Tigers on Wednesday night.
Ryan Chapman|
Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells hits a home run at Love's Field.
Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells hits a home run at Love's Field. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma’s offense capitalized on numerous Memphis errors to punish the Tigers in a mid-week battle. 

The Sooners homered four times and scored on two wild pitches and a passed ball to run-rule Memphis 15-0 in five innings at the Tigers Softball Complex. 

Freshman sensation Kendall Wells belted her 22nd home run of the year in the third inning, a towering shot over the bleachers in left-center field, to retake sole possession of the national home run lead from UCLA’s Megan Grant. 

And while the offense continued to roll, Sydney Berzon built confidence with an excellent showing in the circle. 

The LSU transfer didn’t feature this past weekend in the Sooners’ sweep of Auburn, but she threw four scoreless innings and allowed just three baserunners. 

She was only really stressed in the fourth when Jasmine Mack reached on a one-out triple, but Berzon was able to induce a groundball and a shallow popup to keep the Tigers off the board and stay clean on the night. It was Berzon’s longest scoreless outing of the season.

Final Box Score
Final Box Score | OU Stat

The Sooners improved to 29-2 on the year with the win, while the Tigers fell to 7-20.

The Memphis struggles started in the first inning.

Kasidi Pickering reached on a leadoff walk, then Gabbie Garcia got aboard after a fielding error in the infield. 

A wild pitch saw both runners move up 60 feet, and Wells drove in her first run of the game by grounding into a fielder’s choice. 

Garcia then doubled the lead after another wild pitch, but the Sooners only took a 2-0 lead to the second inning after stranding a pair of runners in the first. 

Isabela Emerling led the second inning off with a solo shot to put the Sooners up 3-0, then OU loaded the bases by drawing a trio of walks. 

Wells stepped in with a chance to hit a grand slam, but a third wild pitch scored a run and left an open base at first, which Wells eventually claimed with a walk of her own. 

The Tigers swapped pitchers, and freshman Taylor Caton stepped in and did a nice job to retire the side and hold OU to a 4-0 lead. 

OU dialed in on Caton in the third, however. 

Ailana Agbayani singled to give the Sooners a leadoff runner, then Emerling reached on another fielding error that also allowed Agbayani to get to third. 

A passed ball brought Agbayani home, then Wells’ bomb extended the lead to 8-0. 

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Fellow freshman Allyssa Parker followed Wells’ homer with a solo shot of her own, moving her season total to 10 and extending the OU lead to 9-0. 

Pickering and Sydney Barker added two more runs to the tally in the fourth with a pair of RBI-singles, but the damage could have been worse as the Sooners left the bases loaded. 

Abby Dayton poured another three runs on the Sooner victory with a two-out laser straightaway center in the top of the fifth. 

Ella Parker put the cherry on top with an RBI-single to plate Pickering and close out the fifth.

Freshman Berkley Zache entered the game in the fifth to close out the win for Berzon. Berzon finished with two strikeouts and surrendered two hits and one walk. Zache added a strikeout in her cameo as well.

Emerling went 3-for-4 at the plate on the night and freshman Lexi McDaniel went 2-for-4 for the night. 

The Sooners will step back into SEC play this weekend. 

Oklahoma opens a three-game series with Ole Miss at 2 p.m. on Saturday (SEC Network+) in Oxford. 

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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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