Softball Holds Off Late Tulsa Rally

NORMAN, Okla. Despite a seventh inning rally by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, the No. 10 Oklahoma softball team was able to beat Tulsa, 5-3, on Tuesday night at the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners pushed their record to 11-0 while TU fell to 3-8 on the season.

Oklahoma held a comfortable 5-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh, but Tulsa's three runs and five hits in the final frame made it a much closer game. Sophomore pitcher D. J. Mathis replaced OU starter Lauren Eckermann in the sixth, but struggled in the seventh as Tulsa pinch hitter Ashlee Lubniewski ended the shut out with a solo home run over the left field fence to cut into the deficit.

Following a Tulsa ground out, the Golden Hurricane strung together back-to-back singles before Mathis was replaced by junior pitcher Jadyn Smith. However, Smith was also pulled after giving up back-to-back RBI singles that cut OU's lead to 5-3 with the tying run on first base. However, Eckermann, OU's starter, returned to the circle and the OU defense fielded a double play to end the game.

Box Score: Oklahoma 5, Tulsa 3

“We had many missed opportunities tonight with our pitching and our hitting,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “We left too many runners on base in the second inning and we obviously have some pitching issues we need to work through before we head to Palm Springs this weekend. However, we did get the win tonight and I thought our team really hit the ball hard tonight, but we just couldn't take advantage of opportunities.”

Senior Norrelle Dickson led the offense with two hits and an RBI while Jamie Fox and Samantha Ricketts both connected on their third home run of the season. Dickson is currently on a nine-game hitting streak.

Fox ignited the offense in the bottom of the second with her lead off solo homer over the left field fence. It marked the center fielder's third home run in the last four days. Two batters later, designated player Mariee Mena hammered a single to right field and Traci Dickenson moved Mena to second with her single to left field. Tulsa's catcher tried to pick off Dickenson at first, but she advanced to second on the throw while Mena moved over to third on the same play. Norrelle Dickson followed that with an RBI single to bring in Mena.

Tulsa's Julie Fennell replaced starter Katie Lee after Savannah Long walked to load the bases. Fennell struck out Amber Flores to end the second inning, but the Sooners owned the early 2-0 lead.

OU added a run in the bottom of the third as Susan Ogden's RBI single to right brought Fox across the plate and gave OU the 3-0 advantage.

It was one more run in the fourth for the Sooners as Dickson led off the inning with an infield single. After Savannah Long was hit by a pitch and Ricketts walked, Oklahoma had the bases loaded with one out. Fox popped up to the shortstop for the second out, but Oklahoma added its fourth run after Stacia Aleman walked to bring in Dickson. Mena stepped to the plate and pounded a shot that looked like it would drop in deep left center field, but Tulsa's Lauren Lindsay made a backhanded catch to end the inning.

Ricketts pushed the lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth with her solo home run over right center field.

Eckermann earned the win for the Sooners and improved to 7-0 overall. The junior transfer allowed only three hits and struck out four in a combined 5.2 innings of work. Eckermann owns an overall ERA of 1.19 in 41.1 innings this season.

Tulsa's Lee fell to 1-3 on the season after surrendering four hits and two runs in 1.2 innings.

The Sooners will head to sunny Palm Springs this weekend for a tournament against some of the top teams in the country. Oklahoma will open the Palm Springs Invitational with a 12 p.m. match up against Notre Dame on Friday and follow that with a 3 p.m. meeting against Loyola Marymount. In Saturday action, the Sooners will top-25 teams in Cal (12 p.m.) and Oregon State (2:30 p.m.). OU rounds out the tournament with an 11 a.m. contest against Ohio State on Sunday.

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