Grand Slams Power SB to 14-1 Win

NORMAN, Okla. Led by Stacia Aleman and Samantha Ricketts' grand slams, the Oklahoma offense took off on Friday afternoon and run ruled Birmingham Southern in its first game of the OU/Nike Classic, 14-1, in five innings at the OU Softball Complex. The 12th-ranked Sooners improved to a perfect 6-0 on the season with the victory while Birmingham Southern fell to 2-1.

The Sooner offense combined for 11 hits with Ricketts and Aleman leading the way. Ricketts, the squad's top hitter with a .500 season batting average, went 2-for-3 from the plate with a double, grand slam and five RBI. Aleman also recorded two hits while senior Mariee Mena and freshman Amber Flores also added two each.

“Our offense got hot today,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “I thought we had great at bats all the way down the lineup. We started off slow, but Mariee Mena got us going in the second with her single and our offense took off from there. Our offense combined with our defense, which owns a great .993 fielding average, has really been a great combination for us and I'm really pleased with the way we played today.”

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Birmingham Southern was the first to make noise as Blaes Schmissrauter and Brooke Reed connected on back-to-back singles with one out. Eckermann struck out Fox to get the second out. However, Melissa Taunton's double to center field scored Schmissrauter and the Panthers took the 1-0 lead before Eckermann retired the next batter.

The Sooners picked it up in the bottom of the second as Mena started the Sooner rally with a single to center field and Savannah Long reached base after being hit by a pitch and the Sooners had runners at first and second. Aleman loaded the bases with her single blooper to right field as Traci Dickenson came to bat.

Dickenson reached base on the shortstop's error and the Sooners tied it up at 1-1, but it was just the beginning of the seven-run inning. Norrelle Dickson followed that with a bases-loaded single to right field and OU took its first lead at 2-1. After a Jamie Fox strikeout, the Sooners went on a two-out offensive rally.

Flores' bloop RBI single to the pitcher scored another run and Oklahoma held the 3-1 lead. Next, clean up hitter Ricketts followed that with a grand slam over the right field fence and Oklahoma took the commanding 7-1 lead. It marked her first of the season and 10th of her career.

The Sooners turned it on again in the fourth as Norrelle Dickson led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Flores' hit another infield single and OU had runners at first and second. An RBI double by Ricketts scored two more runs and two batters later, Mena pounded a two RBI single to right field and Oklahoma had pushed its lead to 10-1.

Similar to the second inning, Oklahoma wasn't finished as Long hit a hard single to center field to load the bases for Aleman. The senior outfielder connected and hammered a grand slam over the left field fence. It marked the fifth home run and third grand slam of her career as the Sooners took their final lead 14-1.

Heading in to the top of the fifth, junior Jadyn Smith was brought in for relief work and the Newcastle, Okla., native retired all three batters she faced as the Sooners won the game by virtue of the eight-after-five run rule.

“It's really nice to know you can count on someone to come in and finish out the game for our pitching staff,” Gasso said. “Jadyn did a great job today and it's nice to know you can rely on her to get the job done.”

Smith relieved Eckermann, who now owns a perfect 5-0 mark. The starter only gave up four hits and one earned runs in four complete innings of work. The junior college transfer owns an impressive 0.77 ERA.

Next, the Sooners will play a doubleheader on Saturday in the OU/Nike Classic. The previous game times have been moved to accommodate the dropping temperatures in the early morning. The Sooners will now take on Northwestern State at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and wrap up the doubleheader with a 3:30 p.m. meeting against Minnesota.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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