OU Opens Tourney with 10-3 Win

FULLERTON, Calif. The No. 6 Oklahoma softball team used a big five-run third inning and starter Lauren Eckermann struck out a season-high 10 batters as Oklahoma downed Pacific, 10-3, in its first game of the Judi Garman Classic on Thursday in Fullerton, Calif. The Sooners improved to 29-1 on the season while Pacific fell to 15-8.

The Sooners will return to tournament action with a match up against No. 5 Arizona, the defending National Champions, at 10:30 p.m. (CST) Thursday night.

Eckermann, the Big 12 leader in wins, pushed her perfect record to 16-0 as she threw her 11th complete game of the season, The junior only gave up four hits and notched a season high for any OU pitcher with 10 K's. Eckermann's three earned runs came in the top of the third with a Pacific three-run homer.

Boxscore

Offensively, the Sooners out hit Pacific, 9-4, as freshman Amber Flores had a strong day at the plate with a 3-for-4 outing that included a double and home run with three RBI. Sophomore Traci Dickenson was perfect with a 2-for-2 performance with five RBI that also included a double and an RBI.

Leadoff batter Norrelle Dickson got the Sooners going in the bottom of the first as she reached first after being hit by the pitch. Savannah Long moved Dickson to second on her sacrifice bunt. Next, Flores came through as she pounded an RBI ground-rule double to right center field that bounced over the fence and scored Dickson to give OU the early 1-0 lead.

The Sooners added to their lead in the bottom of the second as right fielder Mariee Mena led off with a single to center field and moved to second on a Jamie Fox sacrifice bunt. Freshman catcher Lindsey Vandever placed runners at the corners with her sacrifice fly to left field that scored Mena and gave OU the 2-0 advantage. OU had Dickson up to bat again, but Pacific ended the inning as it caught Vandever stealing second for the third out.

Pacific bounced back in the bottom of the third as Casey Goldsand led off with a single and UOP had runners at first and second after Brittany Hendrickson followed with a walk. Following a sacrifice bunt, the Tigers had two runners in scoring position as Jennifer Curtier pounded a three-run homer over the left field fence to give Pacific its first lead of the game at 3-2.

Dickson led off the third with a walk and the Sooners had runners at first and second after Long was hit by a pitch. It was Flores again as she pounded an RBI single up the middle to tie it up at 3-3. Flores advanced to second on the throw to home and OU had two runners in scoring position with no outs. Two batters, later Susan Ogden loaded the bases with a walk and two more batters later, Jamie Fox earned the RBI as she walked with the bases loaded and OU gained the lead back at 4-3 with two outs. Vandever followed with another walk to earn the RBI as OU extended it to 5-3.

Following Vandever's walk, Pacific made a pitching change as it replaced starter Chelsea Engle with Heidi Helberg. That didn't stop Dickenson as she pounded a bases-loaded two RBI double to left center to extend the Sooner lead to 7-3. Dickson loaded the bases again as she walked. However, Long's fielder's choice ended the inning as Dickenson was out at third.

Fox sparked the offense in the fifth as she led off the frame with a double down the left field line. Two batters later, Dickenson pounded her sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot over the left field foul pole, as the Sooners pushed the lead to 9-3.

Pacific followed that with another pitching change as designated player Briana Santos came in to pitch after relieving Helberg who went 1.2 innings and gave up four hits and two runs to the Sooners.

Flores opened the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff home run over the left field fence. It marked the rookie's fifth of the season and second in the last three games. The Sooners have hit a home run in their last four straight games.

UOP's Engle took the loss and fell to 6-6 after throwing 2.2 innings and giving up seven earned runs on four hits.