Sooners Draw Ducks In Regional 14 Championship

NORMAN, Okla. -- When the Oklahoma softball team (49-15) needed a clutch hit on Saturday afternoon, it was two freshmen who stepped up and led the Sooners to a 6-3 win over Louisiana-Lafayette (51-9). The win sent the Sooners to the Sunday Regional Championship, where they will face Oregon.

OU starting pitcher Kami Keiter was wavering on the brink of dehydration in the 100 degree heat when she allowed a game-tying, three-run homer to ULL center fielder Jill Robertson in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Sooners needed a big hit in the worst way. Providing the heroics was freshman Alison Horne, who pinch hit for Keiter and laced a two-run double in the Sooners next turn at the plate. The run-scoring two bagger put the lead back in her team's favor at 5-3.

Norman Regional Central | Box Score

“It was obvious that Kami (Keiter) was fading out in the fifth inning,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “She was getting woozy and we had to make a decision if she should bat or not. Thankfully, Alison Horne came through for us in a big way stepping in for Kami at the plate. We desperately needed it from her in a clutch situation. It was a great answer back for the Sooners and for Kami after Lafayette came back and tied it up. That was huge for us.”

Horne is hitting .386 (5-for-13) as a pinch hitter this season.

“I just did what I was supposed to do,” said Horne. “We needed to give Kami (Keiter) a break and I just wanted to back her up and do what she would have done at the plate. I was looking to hit it on the ground because a base hit would have scored the run at second. Obviously it worked out a little better.”

Putting the game away was fellow rookie and Lafayette native Tayl'r Hollis. Hollis crushed a solo home run to centerfield in the top of the seventh to run the score to its final tally of 6-3. It was the second HR for Hollis in two games against the Ragin' Cajuns this season.

“It always feels good to hit a home run against any team,” said Hollis. “I was leading off the inning so I wanted to hit it hard. It felt especially good to hit a home run against my hometown (team).”

It was quite an afternoon for Keiter (31-6), who earned the 100th win of her career in the sweltering heat. Keiter allowed three earned runs on just three hits. She persistently worked the outside corner en route to 12 strikeouts, which tied a season high and is just two off her career best.

The Sooner offense was able to accomplish something that no ULL opponent could all season. They defeated unblemished freshman Heather Bobbitt, who entered with an 18-0 mark and was 15-0 with a 0.64 ERA since the two teams met at the KIA Klassic on March 17.

The win places the Sooners in the driver's seat on Regional Championship Sunday, where Oregon will have to beat them twice to claim the title. OU is 22-1 in the regional format since 2000, when the Sooners won their first and only National Championship. On regional Sunday OU is 5-1 since 2000.

No. 2 seed Oregon (36-24) advanced to the title game after eliminating Wichita State and UL Lafayette in back-to-back afternoon games.

The game/s will be broadcast throughout the state on KOKC (1520 AM) with the voice of OU softball Brian Brinkley on the one-man show. Live stats will provided solely on NCAASports.com.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Draw Ducks In Regional 14 Championship

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors