Scaglione Slugs Softball to Sweep

LUBBOCK, Texas Senior Heather Scaglione and her eight RBI powered the No. 6 Oklahoma softball team (40-7, 8-1) to a doubleheader sweep of Texas Tech (22-15, 2-6) on Monday night in Lubbock. OU took the opener, 8-5, and the nightcap, 9-2. The pair of wins put the Sooners one win ahead of No. 7 Texas A&M (36-3, 7-1) for first place in the Big 12.

The Sooners wasted no time in the opener. The first six batters reached safely on five hits and an error. After those six batters the Sooners had four runs on the board and a new opposing pitcher, Sarah Losleben. The TTU starter Erin Crawford (13-8) did not record an out and was credited with five runs (four earned) on five hits.

Box Scores: Game One | Game Two

The five first inning runs were driven in by Jessica Leslie (RBI single), Heather Scaglione (two RBI double), Christina Enea (RBI single) and Alison Horne (sacrifice fly).

Leadoff hitter Kristin Vesely scored her second run of the game on a Tech error in the second to put OU ahead 6-0. The Sooners reached the run-rule minimum (8-0) in the fourth inning when Scaglione hit a two-run, opposite field home run.

The blast is the eighth for Scaglione this season and puts her in sole possession of No. 2 on the OU career home run charts with 38. She is eight HR shy of career record holder Ashli Barrett (1998-01), who hit 46. It also marks the second consecutive game that the Sooner signal caller has hit a two-run home run.

Kami Keiter was pulled in the fourth inning with the victory in hand. She returned with one out in fifth when the Lady Raiders had cut the OU lead to 8-5. Relievers Nicole Denes and Jadyn Smith allowed all five Tech runs on five combined hits.

Keiter worked 5.1 innings of three-hit softball to earn the victory and improve to 22-4 on the season. The Sooner ace has not allowed an earned run in the last 30.1 innings of work.

In game two the Sooners coupled a dominant pitching effort from Stacy Braddock with four of RBI from Scaglione to top the Lady Raiders.

Braddock limited the Tech bats to two runs on five hits, while striking out a career high 13 batters. It is her first win in just her second start since facing Valparaiso on March 10. By improving to 7-2, she becomes the third Sooner pitcher with at least seven wins. Keiter has 22 wins and Denes has eight.

OU posted four runs in the seventh inning, two in the third and sixth, and one run in the fourth.

Scaglione picked up her fifth RBI of the day with a third inning double. She added No. 6 with a RBI single in the fourth. She then added No. 7 and 8 on a two-run single in the seventh. Scaglione's double gave her 12 for the season, which is new career high. She also improved her season RBI total to 46, which is three shy of her 2004 total of 49.

Enea and Leslie, who both had three RBI, also had multiple RBI on the doubleheader. Leslie hit her 20th double of the season in the late game, which leads the Big 12, and is the tied for the second best single-season total in OU history. She is also tied with Ashli Barrett. Becky Burroughs owns the record with 24 two-baggers in 1994.

Game Notes: In 47 contests this season, OU has scored a Big 12-high 304 runs, which is equal to the run total of 2004 team ... It took the 2004 team 68 games to reach 304 ... OU is 24-2 when it scores in the first inning and 36-2 when it scores first ... Scaglione tied a career high in both games with four RBI ... It marks the third and fourth times in her career and the second and third times this season that she has reached the mark ... She has 10 RBI in the last three games ... OU reached the 40 win plateau for the 12th straight season, 11 of those have come under Gasso ... All but one of Braddock's strike outs were swinging ... Vesely moved to No. 9 on the single-season charts in hits (79) and No. 6 in runs (50).

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