OU Softball: Oklahoma Smothers Illinois-Chicago to Close OU Tournament

NORMAN — Oklahoma closed its portion of the OU Tournament in style on Saturday night.

The top-ranked Sooners bashed their way past Illinois-Chicago, beating the Flames 9-0 in five innings at Marita Hynes Field.

Friday, UIC (0-16) hung tight with OU (17-1), losing 5-0 in Oklahoma’s home opener.

But Patty Gasso’s team wasted no time on Saturday night taking the fight to the Flames, a change she was happy to see.

“When you get down to it and you look at the entire weekend I think we outscored our opponents (39-1),” Gasso said after the contest against UIC on Saturday. “I mean that’s a dominant performance… They cleaned everything up.

“… That first game of the first day was not good. And they answered the call since then. So really happy with how we played. And got to see a lot of new faces. I think they really stepped up as well.”

Jayda Coleman drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, and Tiare Jennings immediately drove her home with a double that bounded off the wall in center field.

Back-to-back-to-back singles from Haley Lee, Alyssa Brito and Alynah Torres extended the lead to 2-0 and loaded the bases for Jocelyn Erickson, who then put OU up 3-0 with a ground out to first base.

A towering fly out to right field from Cydney Sanders added another run, also advancing a pair of runners into scoring position.

Defensive issues then struck UIC.

Avery Hodge laid down a surprise bunt that Flames catcher Emma Crowley initially fielded, but her throw down to first place was off the mark. With runners already in motion, OU scored a pair of runs on the error to cap off the six-run first inning.

Jennings said the team focused on getting back to the basics after the uncharacteristic performance against the Flames on Friday, and it paid off against both Kentucky and UIC on Saturday.

“I think just having the mindset of just being aggressive,” Jennings said. “Go out there, swing at good pitches earlier in the counts. That’s kind of just our mindset.

“Keep it simple, be aggressive and good things happen.”

Another error helped the Sooners out in the second inning, allowing Sophia Nugent to safely cross home off an errant UIC throw.

The Sooners couldn’t scratch anything across in the third inning, but Nugent ensured OU wouldn’t suffer the same fate in the fourth.

Stepping in with runners at second and third, Nugent smoked a line-drive that hugged the left field line. The ball one-hopped to the outfield wall, giving Hansen and Quincee Lilio ample time to round the bases and score while Nugent got the red light at second base with her team now up 9-0.

𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡 stayin' hot 💥

2-run double and it's 9-0, #Sooners!@SophiaN2021 | 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/WYNJnIwxUR
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) March 5, 2023

Nicole May was stellar in the circle for the first four innings of the contest.

The talented right-hander finished with nine strikeouts — one short of tying her career high — while allowing just one hit from the Flames.

True freshman Kierston Deal took over in relief of May in the fifth inning to close out the victory.

Oklahoma finished the pair of Saturday games without any errors, which was even more impressive considering Gasso deployed plenty of position changes with the Sooners’ everyday shortstop in Grace Lyons missing the day for rest.

Jennings started the contest against Kentucky at shortstop before moving back to second base against UIC.

Quincee Lilio slotted in at second base against the Wildcats, and Hodge played shortstop in Game 2.

“Really important,” Gasso said of getting players in-game experience at different spots on the field. “There’s certain athletes I really need to use because they’re a great matchup for the pitcher we’re facing.

“They’re gonna have to play a position well. And if they all play the same position well then we have a problem. So we’ve really been trying to do a good job of giving them reps in a lot of different places and it’s starting to really pay off.”

OU’s stay in Norman was short lived, as the Sooners will head out to Starkville next weekend to participate in the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Mississippi State.

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