Sophomore Duo Dooms North Texas

The No. 4 Oklahoma softball team claimed both games of a Wednesday doubleheader against North Texas thanks to a come-from-behind rally in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game. The Sooners cruised to a 7-2 victory in the first game but couldn't duplicate the margin in game two. A clutch one-out single by sophomore Mariee Mena gave fellow sophomore Nicole Denes her second win of the day as the Sooners came back for the 5-4 win in game two.

“Mariee Mena hasn't gotten a lot of opportunities,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “For her to get a big hit and win the game is important. It is something that she can build on.”

Juniors Jessica Leslie and Heather Scaglione blasted their second and fourth home runs of the season, respectively, to put the Sooners up 5-0 after four innings in the opener of the twin-bill. Runs batted in by freshman Amber Spaulding, junior April Valdez and freshman Norrelle Dickson would push the advantage to 7-2.

Take away one swing and the opener may have been the most dominant pitching performance of Nicole Denes' short career. She struck out a career-high 10 batters, while allowing seven hits and walking one batter. Denes' only blemish was a two-run home run off the bat of Mean Green shortstop Brittiny Chapman.

No. 4 Oklahoma 7, North Texas 2 (Boxscore)

In the second game of the twin bill Jessica Johnson made quick work of North Texas in the first three innings. In the fourth inning the Mean Green touched up Johnson for four runs (three earned) on three hits. Johnson was relieved by Denes who quickly put out the fire and would eventually improve her record to 6-0 on the young season.

A leadoff double by Leslie, followed by a single from Jamie Fox put two ducks on the pond in the second inning for soon-to-be hero Mariee Mena. Mena picked up her first RBI of the game on a fielder's choice and watched as freshman Stacia Aleman's double to the left field gap brought home Fox. OU added another run to its 2-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Fox, which plated junior Christina Enea who went 3-for-3 in the final game.

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Zeros filled the scoreboard on both sides through the fifth and sixth innings. Denes used two strikeouts to retire the Mean Green in order and put another zero up on the board for North Texas in the top of the seventh. Denes finished the day with 15 strikeouts in 10.1 innings of work.

“What I liked about Nicole, especially in relief was that she looked untouchable by hitting her spots,” said Gasso. “She really came through in the clutch and put us in position to win the game.”

In the bottom of the seventh a leadoff single by Enea and a walk to Scaglione put the winning runs on base. Fox was a foot short of winning the game as her double bounced off the wall, scored pinch runner Amber Spaulding and tied the game at 4-4. Mena picked up the game-winner with a single to center that scored Scaglione and clinched the game at 5-4.

“My job with runners in scoring position is to put the ball in play and see what happens,” said Mena. “I got a good pitch to hit and was able to drive it up the middle.”

No. 4 Oklahoma 5, North Texas 4 (Boxscore)

Oklahoma improved to 8-0-1 on the season, while North Texas fell to 2-12. OU hosts the OU/Nike Classic this weekend and opens tourney action Friday at 2:30 p.m., against Louisville. OU will also play the Cardinals again at 4:45 p.m., Friday.

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