Oklahoma 4, Texas 0

May 4, 2002

Second-seeded Oklahoma lost both its regular-season games against top-seeded Texas this year, but the Sooners avenged the defeats with a 4-0 shutout of the Longhorns Saturday night to stay alive in the Big 12 Softball Tournament.

Freshman pitcher Kami Keiter kept UT at bay all night, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out five to move to 14-6 on the season. Keiter also threw four scoreless innings in OU's win over Kansas earlier in the day.

The Sooners plated two runs in the third inning thanks to Kelli Braitch's ninth homer of the year, and followed with two more in the third on an Erin Evans RBI triple and a Jessica Leslie RBI double.

Texas starter Amy Bradford fell to 13-2 on the year after giving up all four runs on six hits and a walk in 3.1 innings of work. Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Cat Osterman threw the final 3.2 innings for the Horns and allowed one hit while recording eight strikeouts.

The two teams will meet again Sunday at 10 a.m. to determine who will face third-seeded Nebraska in the 2:30 p.m. championship game.

Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso
On tonight's performance:
"I liked the way we jumped out early. We really wanted to come out and attack. Amy Bradford threw really well against us. I really liked the way Christy Ring led off and how hard she hit the ball and found a way to get on base. This weekend we have found a way to be contagious with each other. Kelli Braitsch has been on fire and Erin Evans has been seeing the ball well. I really like what we have done offensively. I also thought that Kami Keiter was great."

On tomorrow's game against Texas:
"We need to do a better job against Cat Osterman and find a way to make contact. We are just going to take tomorrow one game at a time and try to get to Nebraska. We're going to have our work cut out for us, even more than we did today."

Texas Head Coach Connie Clark
On the game:
"We came out tonight and Oklahoma was ready to play. I like what we did offensively. Early on, we hit the ball hard and we had other opportunities. I know Amy (Bradford) is disappointed with her performance. I think that she's a better pitcher than that."

On playing Oklahoma tommorrow:
"We just have to regroup and get ready for tommorrow. It's a double-elimination tournament for a reason. I think the best team wins a double-elmination tournament so I think we'll have our chances. We're going to go with our ace so Cat will start, obviously, and we'll put runs up and I feel good about our team going into tommorrow."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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