Sooners Win Pair Of Games In Golden Panthers Invitational

March 1, 2002

Box Score Game 1Box Score Game 2

MIAMI, Fla. - The seventh-ranked Oklahoma softball team opened played in the Golden Panthers Invitational on Friday afternoon with two wins over host Florida International and Auburn. Senior Jennifer Stewart came within three outs of pitching her second perfect game of the season in a 9-0 win run-rule victory over FIU in the first game and OU scored four unearned runs in the fourth inning to break a 2-2 tie and defeat the Tigers, 6-2. The two wins improve OU to 16-3.

Against FIU, Stewart (6-1) did not allow a ball to reach past the infield in the first five innings before giving up the lone hit. Junior third baseman Leah Gulla (2-for-3) was the offensive star of the game as she hit two home runs in consecutive at bats. It was the second two home run game of the season for Gulla.

In the second inning, junior shortstop Kelli Braitsch (2-for-3) hit a two-out RBI single to plate freshmen Heather Scaglione (0-for-2) and Jessica Leslie (2-for-4) to score OU's first two runs. OU scored three more runs in the top of the fifth inning when Gulla (2-for-3) hit the first of her two home runs, a two-run shot, to left-center field to put the Sooners up 4-0. Junior pinch hitter Tiffany Weight (1-for-2) made it a 5-0 ballgame when she hit a two-out single to bring home junior centerfielder Erin Evans (1-for-4), who had singled and stolen second base. Weight eventually came around to score the fourth run of the frame.

Solo home runs accounted for OU's final runs of the game. West Palm Beach, Fla., native Jennifer Stump (2-for-3) led off the sixth inning with a home run and Gulla followed with a solo shot of her own to complete the back-to-back effort. Two outs later, Leslie sent a solo shot to center field to end the scoring for OU.

In the Auburn game, the Sooners plated two runs in the second inning to jump ahead early. The Tigers tied the game up with two in the top of the fourth frame before OU broke the tie with four unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. The first three Sooner baserunners of the inning got on base and a walk to Weight pushed the first run of the frame across. With the bases still loaded, a three-base error by the Tiger shortstop, on a ball put in play by senior leftfielder Christy Ring (1-for-3), cleared the bases to give OU the 6-2 lead.

Freshman Kami Keiter (4-1) pitched the final 3.2 innings of the contest to pick up the win. Keiter held the Tigers to one hit and one unearned run during her stint.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Win Pair Of Games In Golden Panthers Invitational

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