OU Softball: Jordy Bahl Silences LSU in Baton Rouge

The Sooner sophomore fired in 13 strikeouts to help lift Oklahoma over its future SEC foes.

Make mistakes and Oklahoma will pounce.

That’s exactly what LSU learned on Tuesday night.

The top-ranked Sooners downed the No. 13 Tigers 3-0 at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, and the party got started in the second inning.

OU capitalized on an error from LSU first baseman Raeleen Gutierrez, who dropped a routine out that would have retired Jocelyn Erickson and brought Kinzie Hansen up with two outs.

Instead, Erickson took second base and Hansen brought her home five pitches later with an RBI single.

Alynah Torres grounded out — which should have ended the inning — but instead Alyssa Brito got to come to the plate.

The Sooner third baseman delivered, launching a two-out rocket to put OU up 3-0, with all three runs credited as unearned.

Oklahoma rode the second inning wave to extend its winning streak to 29 games, pushing the Sooners to 37-1 overall and dropping LSU to 33-8.

Screen Shot 2023-04-11 at 9.03.46 PM

A three-run lead was all right-hander Jordy Bahl needed, as OU’s star pitcher frustrated the Tigers all night long.

"Yeah, Jordy was outstanding," Patty Gasso said. "Definitely needed some big-time help on the mound. And our defense was on point."

LSU center fielder Ciara Briggs got to second base in the first inning, and the Tigers didn’t get another runner in scoring position until the bottom of the sixth.

Unbothered by the extra traffic, Bahl responded by battling back from a 3-1 count to induce a line-out from LSU designated player Georgia Clark and end the inning, which was indicative of her night.

Dominant across seven innings in the circle, Bahl struck out 13 Tigers, allowing just three hits and one walk.

Oklahoma needed every bit of Bahl’s magic to win the contest, as the Sooners again struggled with the quick-change pitching strategy.

Facing four different Tiger hurlers, OU’s lone two hits came in the second inning.

The Sooners hit just 2-of-6 with runners on base, as the LSU pitching staff did a great job containing Oklahoma’s explosive offense.

"Offense sputtered a bit," Gasso said. "And it's been happening for the past couple of weeks. But that's not unlike different parts of the season when you run into that. So this team's gonna have to work hard. We're planning to work hard to get out of this and get back on track offensively."

Jayda Coleman, Haley Lee, Tiare Jennings and Grace Lyons, the top four batters in the OU lineup, combined to go 0-of-11 at the plate, with Coleman drawing the Sooners’ lone walk.

The OU defense silenced the 3,073-person strong LSU crowd for good in the bottom of the seventh.

After almost registering the first out of the inning on a diving play, Lyons turned two with a quick relay by Jennings.

Bahl then capped the performance off with one more strikeout to close out the victory over the Sooners’ future SEC foe.

Oklahoma’s reprieve from Big 12 play will continue into the weekend.

The Sooners will head to Oxford, OH, to participate in the Miami Tournament, with contests against Oakland, Louisville and host Miami on the docket.

Action will start Saturday at 10 a.m. against Oakland. 


Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!

Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!

Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.


Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners 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.