Softball Continues Roll in Leadoff Classic

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- The No .13 Oklahoma softball team (15-4) held off upstart Seton Hall (4-5) by a score of 4-1 on Saturday evening to extend its winning streak to 13 games and improve to 4-0 in action at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. Junior Nicole Denes dominated in relief for the top seeded Sooners and senior Jessica Leslie contributed two crucial RBI to help down the eighth-seeded Pirates.

If you want to beat OU this season, it's best to stop them in the first frame. The Sooners are 12-0 when they score in the opening frame and have outscored opponents 34-2 in the inning. That formula held true to form on Saturday.

Igniting the early rally on this occasion was sophomore Norrelle Dickson, junior Kristin Vesely and senior Heather Scaglione, who all reached on singles. Seton Hall starter Megan Meyer settled down and allowed just one Sooner run, which came on a fielder's choice from Jessica Leslie.

Box Score | OU 3, Florida State 0 | Championship Bracket

Seton Hall's Laura Taylor answered quickly with a leadoff solo home run in the second inning. The single run was the first allowed by OU's staff in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, which snapped a scoreless streak of 22 innings.

SHU loaded the bases with one out in the third inning and Gasso decided to pull starter Stacy Braddock after 2.1 innings of work. Gasso made the right call for two reasons.

First, Denes came in and ended the SHU rally with a strike out and a pop up into foul territory. Then in her first at bat in the bottom of the fourth she crushed a 0-2 rise ball over the left field fence for her third home run of the season.

OU manufactured its second run in the third inning. Junior Kristin Vesely's double off the right field wall to put two Sooners in scoring position for senior Christina Enea. Enea's ground out to the pitcher plated Norrelle Dickson and put the Sooners ahead 2-1.

Leslie added an insurance run and her second RBI on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning. Leslie leads the Sooners with 17 RBI this season.

Oklahoma will meet No. 16 Georgia (No. 5 seed) Saturday morning at 11 a.m. (EST). The game time may be moved up to due to rain showers that are expected in the area tomorrow. Forecasters are predicting up to an inch of rain with the downpour expected to begin at 11 a.m. (EST).

Game Notes: By hitting her third HR of the season Denes pulled into a three way tie with Scaglione, Leslie and Tayl'r Hollis for the team lead ... OU's regular batters in the 2-6 spots have a minimum of 10 RBI and a maximum of 17 RBI on the season ... OU advanced into gold bracket play as the No. 1 seed out of a field of 24 teams, that includes 11 ranked squads and 20 that reached the 2004 NCAA postseason.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Continues Roll in Leadoff Classic

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors