Mathis Leads OU to 6-1 Victory

NORMAN, Okla. OU sophomore pitcher D. J. Mathis put on a show in OU's 6-1 victory over Centenary (13-12) as the lefty threw a career-high nine strikeouts and only gave up one hit and one walk. It marked the most number of strikeouts by any Sooner this season.

Mathis did not allow an earned run in the contest as one of Oklahoma's three errors accounted for Centenary's only run of the game. Coming into the game the Sooners led all Big 12 schools in fielding percentage.

Mathis improved her record to 7-1 on the year while the No. 5 Sooners extended their record to 26-1 after two straight victories on Friday at the OU Worth Invitational. Oklahoma shut out Evansville, 6-0, in its first game of the doubleheader.

OU 6, Centenary 1 | OU 6, Evansville 0

“D.J. came out and took total control of the game,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “She was solid all the way through and really had her curve ball working on both sides of the plate tonight. Another aspect that I was very fired up about tonight was Susan Ogden at the plate. She is seeing the ball so well right now and has been a huge contributor for us. The one thing we do need to work on is our defense because I thought we had some breakdowns there.”

Offensively, catcher Susan Ogden had a perfect night at the plate in both games combined. The junior went 5-for-5 in the two contests and added an RBI double in the second game.

Sophomore Traci Dickenson also added an offensive spark as her three-run homer gave OU its first lead of the game.

Centenary scored first and took the 1-0 lead in the top of third. Lindsey Virdell led off the inning and reached first after an error by OU third baseman Norrelle Dickson. Virdell moved to second after Lauren Flowers walked and Mathis struck out the next batter. On the ensuing play, Emerald Doria's fielder's choice retired Flowers and placed runners at first and third for Centenary. Next, Centenary's Doria attempted to steal second and was picked off for the third out, but not before Virdell stole home to give Centenary the 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma responded in the bottom of the fifth as Susan Ogden led off with a single and was moved to second on Amber Spaulding's sac bunt. Next, Mariee Mena walked as the Sooners had runners at first and second and Savannah Long got the Sooners on the board with her RBI single to right field to tie it up. Next, Dickenson highlighted the inning with her three-run towering homer over the left field fence that gave OU the 4-0 lead. It marked the nine-hole hitter's fifth homer of the season.

Ogden kept the offense alive in the bottom of the sixth as her RBI double off the center field wall brought Ricketts across the plate, who had reached on walk. Mena kept it going with a one-out RBI single to left field that scored Ogden to give OU its final run of the game.

The Sooners will round out the tournament on Saturday with a 2:30 match up against Centenary (13-12) and 4:45 meeting vs. UMKC (1-13).

A recap of the first contest follows below:

GAME 1: OU 6, EVANSVILLE 0
Led by Susan Ogden's 3-for-3 performance at the plate, the No. 5 Oklahoma softball team wrapped up its first win in the OU Worth Invitational with a 6-0 shut out over Evansville Friday afternoon. The Sooners improved to 25-1 while Evansville fell to 13-3, with all three of its losses coming to top-25 teams.

In addition to Ogden's performance, Norrelle Dickson, Samantha Ricketts and Amber Spaulding added two hits a piece for the Sooner offense that recorded 10 hits total. Ricketts and Spaulding also contributed two RBI each.

OU pitcher Lauren Eckermann pushed her perfect record to 14-0 after throwing her fifth shut out of the season. The junior struck out five and only surrendered five hits in the seven-inning contest.

Oklahoma, the visiting team, wasted no time getting on the board as leadoff batter Dickson opened the game with a walk and moved over to second on a passed ball. Next, Dickson advanced to third on Savannah Long's sacrifice bunt and scored on Amber Flores' sacrifice fly to right field as OU owned the 1-0 lead after the top of the first.

The Sooners added their second run of the game in the top of the fourth as catcher Ogden led off with a single and scored on Jamie Fox's RBI double. However, the Sooners couldn't put any more on the board as Fox was caught stealing at third and Evansville retired the next two OU batters.

Dickson recorded a single in the top of the fifth and moved over to second on Long's ground out to the third baseman. Two batters later, Ricketts' RBI single drove in Dickson and OU held the 3-0 lead.

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