Keiter Eliminates Kansas In Final At Bat

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma junior pitcher Kami Keiter kept the Sooners alive in the Big 12 Tournament with her pitching and with her stick in the final at bat of the game. The lefty's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Sooners a 1-0 win over Kansas on Friday night at the Don E. Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

“You just have to keep fighting.,” said Gasso. “That's one of the lessons we've had to live with all season long. You can't quit and have to keep working to get it done. As long as you keep yourself in the game, you'll always have a chance. We were not sharp again, but we just kept plugging away and waiting for an opportunity. I'm proud of us coming back from a very tough and hard-to-accept game against Nebraska. Many teams would just roll over and die, but these guys said we are sticking with our goal and that is to play on Saturday.”

The Sooners advance to play No. 3 seed Missouri at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. Missouri is 2-0 in the Big 12 Tournament after defeating No. 2 seed Texas A&M (1-0 on Friday) and No. 6 Oklahoma State (4-3 on Thursday). For the Sooners to advance to the Big 12 Championship game they must defeat MU twice. If OU wins the first meeting, the rematch will take place at 12:30 on Field 4 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on local radio station KREF (1400 AM) with Brian Brinkley pulling the one-man show.

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Keiter and KU freshman Kassie Humphreys battled throughout. When Keiter stepped in the box, Humphreys was winning the pitching duel. She had allowed just three hits, while Keiter gave up four in seven innings of work.

Keiter got the last laugh and sealed the victory with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Arvada, Colo., native ripped a two-strike screw ball to left field to plate Jamie Fox, who reached on a double.

“This was nice to see Kami take care of her own business at the plate,” said Gasso. “It's always fun to get the game-winning hit. For her to be the pitcher of record and to be pitching well, it was a good ending.”

Fox finished the game 2-for-3 and was the only Sooner with two hits. The hit was the first of the tournament for Keiter.

Keiter's hit was the fourth allowed by Humphreys, who also struck out three batters and walked two. The Jayhawk freshman dropped to 14-12.

Keiter did not allow a KU runner past second base in the game. She turned it up a notch in the final five frames when she faced the minimum 15 batters. Ironically, Keiter hurled her first shutout since April 10, when she dealed one-hit shutouts to Missouri on both ends of a conference doubleheader. The win improves her season record to 17-11.

Friday's heroics was not a first for Keiter, who won the Sooners opening game (May 2) of the 2003 Big 12 Tournament with a ninth-inning grand slam to defeat Texas A&M, 4-0.

Oklahoma rebounded from a 7-0 loss to Nebraska in its first game of the day. Big 12 Player of the Year Peaches James tossed a perfect game, while OU committed four errors in the loss.

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Keiter Eliminates Kansas In Final At Bat

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Keiter Eliminates Kansas In Final At Bat

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