Softball Starts Big 12 Season With A Sweep

NORMAN, Okla. The No. 7 Oklahoma softball team (33-6, 2-0) started the Big 12 season with a doubleheader sweep of Iowa State (9-15, 0-2) in Friday night action at the OU Softball Complex. Sophomore Jamie Fox led the attack with four RBI in the 7-3 opening victory, while solo home runs by senior Kami Keiter and Heather Scaglione powered the Sooners to the 2-0 win in the nightcap.

“It feels good to begin the Big 12 season with a pair of wins,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “No one in the locker room was satisfied with our play tonight, but we fought hard and came out with two wins. We need to be more forceful on offense if we want our success to continue throughout the conference season.”

Game One: OU 7, ISU 3 | Game Two: OU 2, ISU 0

The Sooners pulled ahead 3-0 through four innings in the first game. Kristin Vesely put the first run on the board with an RBI single in the third inning. Starting pitcher Kami Keiter put the advantage at three with a two-run double to left field in the fourth inning.

Despite the 3-0 lead, Keiter was unable to stave off the Cyclone bats. ISU loaded the bases for Kim Rodgers, who tripled to the left field wall to clear the bases.

OU headed into the home half of the fifth inning in a 3-3 tie. The Sooners finished the frame with a 5-3 frame. Both runs were driven in by sophomore Jamie Fox on a bloop single to center field. Fox fattened up in the seventh inning with another two-run single.

For Fox it was the second time this season that she has driven in four runs in a single game. She also accomplished the career-best feat on Feb. 11, in a 12-2 lead over Sam Houston State.

Keiter improved to 17-3 on the season after throwing her 11th complete game of the season. The Colorado native allowed three runs (all earned) on five hits while also tallying four strikeouts.

“We need to make some adjustments when we look at video of this game,” said Gasso on Keiter's outing. “She was okay today, but we are all very accustomed to her being great. She'll get back to that level soon, I am confident in that.”

Keiter was a hero in the second game as well. Her fifth inning solo home run was the game winner and gave OU a 1-0 lead. Scaglione padded the lead with a monster mash that cleared two fences and left the softball complex to put the Sooners. Scaglione's homer put OU ahead by the final margin of 2-0 and placed her in a tie with Fox for the team lead in home runs with six apiece.

Freshman Jadyn Smith improved to 3-1 with a five inning, three hit outing in the night cap. The freshman from nearby Newcastle, Okla., has won three consecutive starts and lowered her team-leading ERA to 0.93.

“I was pleased with the pitchers in the second game,” said Gasso. “They both did exactly what we wanted them to do. They executed the game plan to near perfection.”

Smith was relieved by Nicole Denes, who worked flawlessly through the final two frames for her second save of the season.

Game Notes: In the first game, Scaglione moved into third place on OU's all-time total bases list by passing Lisa Carey ... She now has 356 total bases in her career ... In the first game of the twin bill, OU totaled 15 or more hits for the fourth game time season ... The second game marked the 14th time this season that the Sooners have shut out an opponent ... Kami Keiter's fifth inning solo homer gave her a new career-season high in RBI with 19 ... Kristin Vesely has now hit safely in 31 of her last 32 games ... Game one of the doubleheader also saw Vesely collect her 12th two-hit game of the year, she now has 23 games where she has had two or more hits this season ... Senior Jessica Leslie has now played in 114 consecutive games without committing an error ... Game two marked the sixteenth time this year OU has held opponents to three or less hits ... OU now leads the all-time series against ISU 49-24.

Softball Starts Big 12 Season With A Sweep

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Softball Starts Big 12 Season With A Sweep

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