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OU Softball: Oklahoma Handles Mississippi State at the Bulldog Invitational

Oklahoma pitcher Nicole May still hasn't allowed a run this season as the OU offense bashed its way past Mississippi State on Friday night.
Ryan Chapman|
OU Softball: Oklahoma Handles Mississippi State at the Bulldog Invitational
OU Softball: Oklahoma Handles Mississippi State at the Bulldog Invitational

Oklahoma’s explosive showing at the Bulldog Invitational continued on Friday night.

Hours after smashing Southeastern Louisiana 13-0, the top-ranked Sooners steadily beat their hosts, Mississippi State.

Nicole May continued her shutout start to the season, powering OU to a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs in Starkville.

May struck out six batters and allowed just two hits and three walks as the junior right-hander still hasn’t allowed a run all season.

Oklahoma moved to 19-1 on the year, and Mississippi State fell to 17-6 with the defeat.

The Sooners wasted no time putting pressure on the Bulldogs.

Jayda Coleman battled a full count and pulled out a single to start the game, and then took second base on a wild pitch.

The extra movement on the base paths paid immediate dividends, as Coleman was able to round third and score off Haley Lee’s single into right field.

Mississippi State was unable to answer, as May struck out two of the three batters the Bulldogs sent to the plate, bringing OU’s opportunistic offense back to bat.

Kinzie Hansen and Rylie Boone both struck out to start the second inning, but Cydney Sanders wore a pitch to take first base.

Quincee Lilio took advantage of the free baserunner, driving Sanders all the way home with a double that hugged the foul line in left field all the way into the wall.

A fielding error then cost Mississippi State, allowing Coleman to reach and Lilio to score to put the Sooners up 3-0.

The Sooners kept applying pressure in the third inning.

Lee led things off with a single, and she was moved over to second base with a Sophia Nugent ground out.

Alyssa Brito continued her stellar Friday, roping a double up the left field line to put OU up 4-0.

A Hansen single put runners on the corners, and then Brito pounced on a Mississippi State mistake.

Alynah Torres popped up to left field, which started out as a family routine play. Left fielder Chloe Malau’ulu made the grab for the Bulldogs, but with Brito tagging up at third, she rifled the ball toward home.

Unfortunately for Malau’ulu, her throw sailed well over the catcher’s head, and Brito dashed down the third base line to slide in safely at home and extend the lead to 5-0.

Mississippi State’s best threat came in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Bulldogs put two runners aboard with one out.

But a double play combination between Tiare Jennings and Quincee Lilio up the middle infield helped May get out of the jam and end the inning.

Brito put the exclamation point on the victory with a moonshot in the top of the seventh. The towering home run scored Jocelyn Erickson as well, putting OU up 7-0.

Oklahoma will return to action on Saturday against Mississippi State at 3 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network. 

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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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