No. 7 Oklahoma Suffers, 6-5, Loss To No 20 Florida Atlantic

March 2, 2002

MIAMI, Fla. - No. 20 Florida Atlantic rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning to come-from-behind and defeat seventh-ranked Oklahoma, 6-5, in a Saturday matinee in the Golden Panthers Invitational. The Sooners entered the final inning of play clinging to a 5-3 lead before the Golden Panthers rallied for three unearned runs to take the lead for good. FAU's Nicole Myers entered the game to pitch the bottom of the seventh inning and sit down the final three OU batters. Despite the loss, the Sooners enjoyed their best offensive outing of the tournament as they tagged FAU starter Candice Freel (8-1) for 14 hits. OU starter Jennifer Stewart suffered the loss on the mound dropping her record to 6-2. Oklahoma fell to 17-4 on the season, while FAU improved to 18-3.

After Florida Atlantic got on the scoreboard with three runs in the sixth inning, the Golden Panthers took advantage of several Oklahoma errors to score the decisive runs. With one out secured and one FAU baserunner at first base, two Sooner errors and a passed ball kept the inning alive and allowed the winning runs to score.

Timely hitting scored OU's first two runs of the game as the Sooners pushed the runs across with two out in the inning. With two outs and pinch hitter Kaycee Clark (for Leah Gulla) on first base, junior rightfielder Jennifer Stump (3-for-4) stepped to the plate and laced a double to place both runners in scoring position. Junior centerfielder Erin Evans (1-for-3) then followed with a two-RBI single to bring the runs home.

OU scored two more runs with two out in the fourth inning as junior shortstop Kelli Braitsch (1-for-4) reached base on an error by the FAU second baseman and scored on senior leftfielder Christy Ring's (3-for-4) two-run homer, the first of the season for Ring.

After FAU pulled to within a run at 4-3 entering the bottom of the sixth frame, Stump singled home Braitsch, who had led off the inning with a fielder's choice, to give OU a 5-3 lead entering the final inning of play.

Oklahoma will look to avenge the loss tomorrow morning with an 11 a.m. (EST) rematch with Florida Atlantic in the final game of the tournament for both teams.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 7 Oklahoma Suffers, 6-5, Loss To No 20 Florida Atlantic

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