OU Softball: Oklahoma Overpowers Miami (OH)
Oklahoma closed out its trip to Ohio in style on Saturday night.
The top-ranked Sooners capped off their second contest of the day with a victory over the Miami (OH) Redhawks.
Home runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings set the tone for OU, as Patty Gasso’s team strolled to a 13-1 victory in six innings at Miami Softball Stadium.
The win pushed OU to 39-1 this year, while Miami fell to 24-16 in defeat.
Oklahoma’s offense didn’t come alive until the third inning.
Cydney Sanders continued her strong Saturday showing with a leadoff double, and then Rylie Boone reached on an infield single.
Jayda Coleman broke the deadlock with a bouncer up the middle, bringing Sanders home from second.
Tiare Jennings then cleared the bases with a hard-hit double to center field, putting the Sooners up 3-0.
In the bottom half of the third, the Redhawks got one run back.
Maddi Banks annihilated the first pitch she saw, just the fourth home run OU pitcher Nicole May has allowed all season.
Miami couldn’t generate anything else in the third inning, and Alynah Torres pushed the lead back to three runs with a solo shot of her own in the fourth.
It was Torres’ second homer of the year, matching Sanders, who hit her second of the season in OU’s earlier run rule victory over Louisville.
The Sooners showed off more firepower in the fifth inning.
Sophia Nugent cashed in on Haley Lee’s leadoff double, hammering a two-run shot to left field to extend Oklahoma’s lead to 6-1.
The lone home run was all the trouble May really had to deal with.
She continued her excellent season by striking out five Redhawk batters, allowing just four hits and one walk.
Jordy Bahl entered in the fifth inning for Gasso to close out the victory. The righty struck out a pair, allowing two hits in 1 2/3 innings of action.
Jennings lifted another deep ball in the sixth inning, lining home run No. 10 on the year over the wall and scoring Coleman to push the lead to 8-1.
After Jennings’ bomb, Lee drew a walk to bring Alyssa Brito to the plate.
Brito doubled, and Gasso waved Lee all the way home from first, making the game 9-1 and putting the Redhawks in danger of getting run-ruled.
But it didn't stop there.
Kinzie Hansen added to the damage later in the sixth with a two-run blast of her own, all before Miami registered an out.
Quincee Lilio capped off the dominant performance with a one-out single that plated Jocelyn Erickson and Bahl.
The Sooners return home before heading back out on the road next weekend to take on the Baylor Bears in a Big 12 Conference series in Waco, TX.
For OU, it's a chance to avenge its only loss of the season.
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