Oklahoma Decks A&M, 12-5

April 27, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - No. 5 Oklahoma blasted No. 19 Texas A&M, 12-5, on the strength of a nine-run sixth inning at the OU Softball Complex in front of 773 fans Sunday afternoon. The victory gave the Sooners a sweep over the visiting Aggies in OU's final Big 12 regular season matchup of the year.

Oklahoma (38-9, 12-6 Big 12) enjoyed its most productive offensive frame since a nine-run third inning at Kansas on March 23. OU won that game, 10-0, in a run-rule of the Jayhawks. Against A&M, OU amassed eight hits, 12 RBI and three walks as the Aggies rotated through three pitchers. A&M committed three errors with two contributing to the Sooners' scoring surge in the sixth.

The teams traded scoreless innings until the bottom of the second. OU's Christina Enea (1-for-2) singled to lead off the inning and stole second before a Kelli Braitsch (3-for-4) groundout advanced her to third. Jennifer Stump (2-for-3) then hit her second homer of the season to plate Enea and OU was up, 2-0.

A&M's Cheryl Fowler put the Aggies on the board in the top of the third with a solo home run over the left field wall.

OU answered with a triple by Leah Gulla (2-for-3) that plated Kristin Vesely. Oklahoma took a 3-1 lead going into the fourth stanza.

The Aggies walked for two scores in the fourth to tie the game. With the bases loaded, OU ace Kami Keiter walked Cheryl Fowler to plate pinch runner Ashley Awalt and gave up another run when Adrian Gregory reached first on balls to push Jana James across home plate. The Sooners escaped the fourth with an Aggie flyout to centerfield but were unable to hold off Texas A&M in the fifth.

With one runner on, freshman Dana Askins, who replaced Keiter in the circle in the top of the inning, watched her pitch to Lindsay Wilhelmson get smacked over the wall. Texas A&M had their first lead in the game, 5-2.

Then the Sooners turned out the lights.

Every player in the lineup scored for OU in the bottom of the sixth.

A&M began the inning by replacing starter Lindsay Wilhelmson with Jessica Slataper on the mound. Slataper walked Christina Enea in OU's first at bat. Enea reached second on an error by Adrian Gregory as Heather Scaglione took first on the fielder's choice. Lori Shimasaki came in to pinch run for Scaglione and dashed to second as Kelli Braitsch plated Enea with a single to left field.

Another error by A&M, this time by Slataper, allowed Shimasaki to dart to third, Braitsch to second and Jennifer Stump to first on the fielder's choice. Dana Askins then drew a walk to push Shimasaki across home plate to tie the game, 5-5.

A&M coach Jo Evans changed her pitcher yet again in an effort to stem the Sooner advance. Lindsey Rippee took the mound for the Aggies but hit Jessica Leslie on her second pitch to give OU the lead, 6-5, as Braitsch waltzed home. Kristin Vesely reached on a fielder's choice as the runners advanced and Stump took her turn crossing home plate.

Another fielder's choice allowed Erin Evans to move to first and the scoring carousel turned yet again for Oklahoma with Askins running home. A two-run single by Leah Gulla finally opened up a base for A&M as Leslie and Vesely both dashed across home plate. Kelli Braitsch singled to drive in Erin Evans and Jennifer Stump doubled to plate Gulla before the Aggies finally got their third out.

Checkmate. Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 5.

A&M was unable to chip away at the seven-run Sooner lead before bowing out with three runners stranded in the top of the seventh.

Dana Askins took the win for Oklahoma to improve to 7-4. Jessica Slataper suffered the loss to fall to 12-13. Kama Keiter struck out six batters in 4.1 innings with two walks, seven hits and three earned runs. Askins finished with one strikeout, one walk, three hits and onarned run in the final 2.2 frames.

Oklahoma notched the 999th win in the program's history with the victory over the Aggies. The Sooners have a chance for 1,000 when OU hosts the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Monday, April 28, at 7 p.m. Oklahoma will honor its departing players with Senior Night festivities.

The seeding for the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Regional information will be released on Monday as soon as it becomes available. Check with SoonerSports.com for the latest on OU Softball.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors