Miscues Cost Softball Against No. 4 Texas

AUSTIN, Texas Four unearned runs came back to haunt the No. 6 Oklahoma softball team (37-7, 5-1) in a 4-2 loss to No. 4 Texas (30-5, 5-1) on Saturday afternoon at McCombs Field in Austin. The Longhorns handed the Sooners their first conference loss of the season and pulled into a three-way tie for first place with OU and Texas A&M.

After scoring two first inning runs on UT ace Cat Osterman, Kami Keiter was chared with four unearned runs in the first three innings to decide a game that didn't produce the expected pitcher's duel.

“We had some opportunities and I felt like we could have won this game,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “You can't give an Osterman led team extra outs and that hurt us today.”

Box Score

“We are not happy about the results but I was pleased with our approach and the way we attacked them. We made some great strides against the best pitch in the country. You'll see a confident and urgent team tomorrow.”

The Sooners had something brewing early. USA Softball Player of the Year candidate Kristin Vesely became just the third left-handed batter of 101 this season to get a hit off Osterman. Two batters later, she scored from first base on a double by fellow USA Softball Player of the Year candidate Jessica Leslie.

With two outs, Christina Enea drilled a single back at Osterman. As the ball richocheted off her glove towards first base, Leslie wheeled around from second to give OU a 2-0 lead. The run was unearned because Osterman's throw home sailed past the catcher.

Leslie, who is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, upped her weekly RBI total to four. She hit a walk-off three run homer to seal a 9-0 run-rule victory over Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

Texas followed the Sooners lead and posted a pair of first inning runs. Singles by freshman Desiree Williams and sophomore Megan Willis were vital in the rally, although a throwing error by Christina Enea and a bobble by Jamie Fox were crucial miscues that led to both unearned runs.

Willis gave the Longhorns the lead with a two-out drive to left field. Leslie, the Sooners' left fielder, was sprinting back to the warning track and appeared to have the ball in her grasp, only to have it pop out of her glove. It was Leslie's first error since her sophomore season, a span of 117 games.

Keiter took the loss to fall to 20-4 on the season. She work four innings and allowed four runs (none earned) on seven hits. She did not record a strikeout or issue a walk.

OU threatened on numerous occasions against Osterman and scored more runs off the Texas ace than they have in the last four meetings with her. All totaled, Osterman is 6-1 in her career against OU after throwing a complete game six hitter. She struck out 10 batters and walked three.

The Longhorns and Sooners will wrap up the Big 12 series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The contest will be televised on CSTV with Kevin Eschenfelder on play-by-play and Ann Schatz on color. A radio broadcast of the game is also available through Yahoo! audio.

Game Notes: Vesely (2-for-4) got another hit off Osterman in the third inning, making her the first left-handed batter to get two hits in a game against the UT ace ... OU leads the all-time series with Texas, 15-14 ... Keiter is 2-6 against Texas ... Five of her losses have come in match ups with Osterman ... The only Sooner regular without an error this season is center fielder Kristin Vesely, who only has five errors in 171 career games ... Her current errorless streak is at 45 and dates back to the 2004 Women's College World Series.

Miscues Cost Softball Against No. 4 Texas

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Miscues Cost Softball Against No. 4 Texas

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