Sooners Chill South Florida, 4-1

Feb. 7, 2003

Gainesville, Fla. - The Oklahoma softball team defeated South Florida, 4-1, on a chilly Friday evening in Gainesville, Fla. The Sooners (2-0) will face host Florida (7-3) at 1:30 p.m. (12:30 CT) on Saturday afternoon to determine the final seedings for the GRU Tournament championship.

After departing Norman on Thursday in snowy conditions, the Sooners enjoyed slightly warmer temperatures for their games in Florida. However, the sun only made sporadic appearances on Friday and many Florida fans in attendance at UF Stadium were wrapped in blankets.

Duplicating their earlier effort against UIC on Friday morning, OU scored quickly in the game and then clamped down on the Bulls for the 4-1 win.

Senior Kelli Braitsch (Broken Arrow, Okla.) doubled to center field in the first stanza and plated Oklahoma's first run when Christina Enea (Woodland Hills, Calif.) singled up the middle.

Sophomore lefty Kami Keiter (Arvada, Colo.) blanked USF in the top of the second inning but the Bulls returned the favor against OU and the game went into the third with the Sooners up, 1-0.

South Florida got on the board and tied the game in the third when Holly Groves singled down the left field line to drive in Stephanie Roberts. The Sooners were quick to answer the challenge. Kelli Braitsch (2-for-3) again led the rally with a single to third base. Braitsch advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Christina Enea and scored her second run of the night when Leah Gulla (Huntington Beach, Calif.) singled up the middle.

With Jessica Leslie (Raytown, Mo.) pinch running for Gullah, Sooner catcher Heather Scaglione (San Diego, Calif.) homered to right center to extend the Oklahoma lead to 4-1. The Sooners would finish off the Bulls with that score in the top of the seventh.

Kami Keiter (2-0) pitched five innings before freshman Dana Askins (Moore, Okla.) recorded action in her second game for the Sooners in the final two.

OU faces Florida, also 2-0 in the tournament, on Saturday afternoon with the No. 1 seed up for grabs. The winner of the OU-UF tilt will play No. 4-seed UIC at 4 p.m. (3 p.m. CT) while the loser faces No.3-seed South Florida at 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CT). The winners of each of those games will square off for the tournament title on Sunday.

Live stats and radio are available through the University of Florida web site at http://www.gatorzone.com.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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