Oklahoma 3, Oklahoma State 2 (Final)

May 3, 2003

Fourth-seeded Oklahoma jumped to an early 3-0 lead and withstood a sixth-inning, two-run Oklahoma State homer to hold off the second-seeded Cowgirls, 3-2, in Saturday evening Big 12 Tournament play at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The OU victory means the teams will meet again on Sunday morning, at either 8:30 (if Nebraska beats Texas tonight) or at 10 (if Texas beats Nebraska).

The Sooners tallied a run in the top of the second when Heather Scaglione crossed home plate on a Lauren Bay wild pitch. OU added two more runs in the third on a Kelli Braitsch RBI single and a Scaglione double that scored Braitsch.

Oklahoma sophomore pitcher Kami Keiter was cruising along until the sixth inning when OSU catcher Ryan Realmuto belted a two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence to cut the OU lead to one. Keiter retired the next batter and shut down the Cowgirls in order in the seventh to seal the win.

The lefty improved to 29-6 on the year and 3-1 in the Big 12 Tournament this weekend (she shut out Baylor earlier today). Keiter gave up just four hits and a walk while fanning seven Cowgirl batters.

Bay, the Big 12 Player of the Year, pitched two innings and gave up one run (unearned) on one hit and three walks. She struck out three Sooners but took the loss to fall to 24-8 on the year.

Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso
On OU's defensive performance:
"We needed some help for (Kami) Keiter today. Tiffany Weight was big-time. She made some tremendous plays all throughout the game. I have a new first baseman over there, Katie Overton, who did a nice job. The defense throughout did a nice job."

On the game:
"Offensively we did it early. We had an opportunity to blow this game open early and we didn't. So it was just nice to hang on. One of our goals was to be one of the two last teams standing on Sunday, but this team isn't satisfied with just getting there and doing it one time and being done. They got there and now they are ready to take care of business."

On whether she felt Kami Keiter began to tire late in the game:
"I think so, but Kami brought us here and we are going home with her either way. The air seems real heavy today and balls didn't really seem like they were traveling. You could see that she was really taking the heat around the fifth and sixth. I thought about going somewhere else but it came back to the fact that she brought us here, we are going to finish with her."

Oklahoma State Head Coach Margaret Rebenar
On pulling pitcher Lauren Bay in the second inning:
"Lauren wasn't on her game today and I just felt instinctively that it was a good idea to get her out of there. Lauren and I have been around each other for four years and I can read her pretty well. And as it turned out, it was a good experience for Sarah (Seagraves) because she did a nice job. She's a very good pitcher, but sometimes she gets off to a slow start."

On playing Oklahoma tomorrow:
"We've been in a good position all tournament but just have to say, `Hey let's see what this team's up for in terms of adversity.' No one wants to play at 8:30 in the morning but we'll do whatever it takes. It's the last day of the tournament. We'll go home and get a good night's rest and get after Oklahoma again tomorrow."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors