James Perfect As Nebraska Beats Softball, 7-0

OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma softball team had no answer for Nebraska starter Peaches James, who hurled the first perfect game in the history of the Big 12 Tournament, and led the Huskers to a easy 7-0 win against the Sooners at the Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City on Friday afternoon.

The loss drops the fifth-seed Sooners (39-18-1) into the loser's bracket where they will face seventh-seed Kansas (33-27-1) at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Southwest with Bill Land on play-by-play and Tracy Warren on color commentary.

““All I know is that we're not out of the tournament so we have to let it go and come out and get ready to play Kansas, “ said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “We've got to get through them to get to Saturday. Anything can happen if you're left standing on the final day.”

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Nebraska's top two hitters, Anne Steffan and Jessica Yoachim, haunted the Sooners for the third time this season. Kami Keiter retired the first two batters in the third inning before infield singles by Steffan and Yoachim ignited a Husker rally. NU center fielder Nicole Trimboli followed with an RBI single. After a base on balls, a two-run error by Sooner first baseman April Valdez gave the Huskers a 3-0 advantage. Peaches James upped the lead to 4-0 with another RBI single.

The defensive struggles continued in the fourth inning as the Huskers added another three unearned runs off freshman reliever Jessica Johnson. The big blow was a three-run double by Trimboli that set the Sooners back 7-0.

The Sooners committed four errors for the third consecutive time against Nebraska this season. It is the fourth time this year that OU has had a season-high four errors. The errors led to six of NU's seven runs being unearned.

The Sooners struggles against Nebraska mirrored their difficulties in Lincoln during the regular season (April 17, 18). OU committed eight errors while being swept by the Huskers. Of the five runs Nebraska scored in the two games, only one was earned.

“I don't think we played real well, nothing really seemed to go our way,” commented Gasso. “Nothing really seemed to click. It was very similar to how we played at Nebraska. We just have to turn around and come back and see what type of character and heart we have to get through to Saturday. If we dwell on this game, we're going to go home.”

James hurled the third no-hitter in the history of the Big 12 Tournament. It marked the first time that OU has been on the receiving end of a no-hitter since Christa Williams of Texas shut down the Sooners on April 18, 1999. The OU record books do not distinguish between no-hitters and perfect games. OU has only gone hitless three times during the 10-year head coaching stint of Patty Gasso.

It was also the largest margin of defeat against a conference opponent since NU run-ruled OU 8-0 on March 20, 2003.