Softball Survives Day Two of Worth Invitational

March 10, 2001

Louisiana-Lafayette Box
Louisiana-Monroe Box

NORMAN, Okla. - The fifth-ranked Oklahoma softball team had to hold off rallies and mount a few of its own in day two of the OU Worth Invitational on Saturday at the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners needed extra innings to defeat Louisiana-Monroe 3-2 and used a four-run fifth to come back and defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 7-5. With the wins, OU raised its record to 20-3 on the year.

"We're still getting used to people coming out at us," head coach Patty Gasso said. " We're still working on getting better. We're not even close to where we were at the end of last year. There have been some highlights and there have been some lowlights."

In the first game, OU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Ashli Barrett singled through the right side to score Christy Ring. The lead held until the bottom of the sixth when ULM's Lori Tande homered to right center to tie the game.

In the top of the eighth with Kelli Braitsch placed on second for international tie-breaking rules, Lisa Carey sacrificed her over to third with a fly out to center. But Barrett recorded her third hit of the day with a two-run homer out to center field.

The Indians (14-9) answered in their half of the eighth on an Amy Dietz RBI-single to right field that scored Kathy Garcia. After Kristy Dietz singled to right center with only one out, Gasso brought in Jennifer Stewart to close the deal. The junior ace got Priscilla Camilang to pop up to Carey and struck out Tande to end the game for her first save of the year.

Freshman Adrianne Ratliff picked up her eighth win of the year after giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits in 7 1/3 innings. She walked only one while fanning six. ULM's Annie VanOosbree (8-2) pitched the complete game where she gave up three runs on seven hits.

Louisiana-Lafayette (15-3), who received votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25, jumped out quickly, scoring a run in the first. The Sooners answered in their half of the second when Mandy Fulton, who reached on an infield single, scored on a base hit by Jennifer Stump.

The Lady Cajuns put another three runs up in the third only two have OU answer with two of its own. Senior LaKisha Washington led off the inning with a single to center field and rounded for home when Kelli Braitsch doubled to right center. Carey had an RBI-double to the exact location to score Braitsch and cut the lead to 4-3.

Both teams scored in the fifth, but while ULL managed only one run, Oklahoma had a four-run four-hit rally to break the game open and seal the win. Fulton closed the gap to one run with an RBI single through the left side. Sophomore Erin Evans' gave OU its first lead of the game with a two-run triple off the center field wall and Stump brought her home with a single up the middle for the insurance run.

"We got timely hits even though we left six on base," Gasso said of the second win. "The timely hitting broke the game open. I was proud of the way we rallied to win the game tonight and I thought Stewart really came in and closed down the game."

Stewart scattered nine hits and gave up five runs (two earned) in the outing. She struck out six and walked none in the complete-game outing.

The OU Worth Invitational wraps up on Sunday with another five games. The Sooners will play the final two games, taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2:30 p.m. and Southwest Missouri State at 4:45 p.m. Other games include North Carolina vs. Louisiana-Monroe (10 a.m.), Southwest Missouri State vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (12:15 p.m.) and North Carolina takes on Louisiana-Lafayette (12:15 p.m. at Reaves Park).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Survives Day Two of Worth Invitational

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors