Texas 1, Oklahoma 0 (Final)

May 2, 2003

Top-seeded and defending Big 12 Tournament champion Texas scored only one run, but league pitcher-of-the-year Cat Osterman made it stand as she one-hit No. 4 seed Oklahoma at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Texas shortstop and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Chez Sievers laced a leadoff solo homer over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth for the game's only run. The Sooners posed a seventh-inning rally but Kelli Braitsch struck out swinging with runners on first and third to end the contest.

Osterman was near perfect in improving to 24-4 on the season. The sophomore didn't allow a hit over the first six innings and fanned 15 OU batters without issuing a walk. Oklahoma sophomore Kami Keiter was exceptional as well, giving up just three hits over six innings of work. Keiter, who pitched nine innings earlier in the day in a 4-0 OU win over Texas A&M (she hit the game-winning grand slam) struck out three Texas batters.

Texas, now 41-7 on the season, advances to a Saturday semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. while Oklahoma, which fell to 39-11, will play 10th-seeded Baylor Saturday at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.

Texas Head Coach Connie Clark
On OU's rally in the final inning:
"That's why you play the game, to get to a seventh inning like that. The excitement level was through the roof. The fun part is seeing how they compete in that situation. I liked what we did. I think we reset well. We had a couple of errors in the game and specifically late. It took a little extra time to reset but I think they did a good job of that."

On Chez Sievers' solo homer:
"We saw her have three game-winning hits in conference. She has put up tremendous numbers but she has also come up with that big hit when we need it. She thrives under pressure. As goofy as she appears and loose as she appears, she is a fierce competitor and is all about business on the field. She likes those situations."

Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso
On OU's rally in the seventh inning:
"We really didn't do too much prior to that. We put Kelli Braitsch up there right-handed because (Cat) Osterman is so tough against left-handed hitters. Kelli felt like she was seeing it better from the right side. She had more success from the right side than the left."

On facing Cat Osterman:
"She is a great pitcher and we are just going to keep plugging away. I know we are very frustrated but she does that to many teams - frustrates them to death. It is a just a matter of getting a base hit or walk. We had our chances, it just didn't work out for us. Kami (Keiter) threw outstanding. I thought she was just great tonight."

On Christina Enea's collision with Lindsay Gardner at first base in the third inning:
"I don't know exactly how it happened. I think she took a knee to the head. She was out for about 15 seconds. She was not responding at all and then she slowly came to. She got knocked pretty good. We are going to see how she does overnight and if she'll be ready for tomorrow."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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