OU's Season Ends WIth 7-2 Loss

NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 14 seed DePaul (46-11) advanced to the Women's College World Series and ended No. 3 seed Oklahoma's (55-8) season with a 7-2 win on Sunday afternoon at the Norman Super Regional.

The Sooners finished one of the most successful seasons in program history two wins shy of the WCWS. OU posted a 55-8 overall record in 2007 and claimed the Big 12 Postseason Championship. The Patty Gasso led squad advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th consecutive season and the Super Regional round for the third time in the four year existence of the format.

“Give credit to DePaul," Gasso said. "They were outstanding again. They remind us of us when we are really on. They have good pitching, great defense and outstanding hitting. They had all cylinders working.”

DePaul struck first with a run in the opening inning. Second baseman Sandy Vojik led off the game with a triple and scored on a ground out by the next hitter, Amber Patton.

Box Score | Regional Central

OU, which was the visiting team in the contest, responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Solo home runs by Jame Fox (10th of the season) and Lindsey Vandever (sixth of season) gave the Sooners their only lead of the Super Regional.

The lead lasted until the third inning when the Blue Demons posted four runs off OU ace Lauren Eckermann. The go-ahead run scored on a double by designated player Jackie Tarulli-Fisher. That was followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Kate Sheaks (8th of season).

After USA Softball Player of the Year finalist Samantha Ricketts led off the fourth inning with a single, DePaul pulled starter Becca Heteniak and went to ace Tracie Adix.

Adix held OU hitless during the final four innings, allowing only two base runners, one on a walk and the other on an infield error.

Adix was credited with the win and improved to 21-2 on the season. Eckermann, the co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, was credited with the loss and finishes her junior campaign with a 37-5 record. Eckermann allowed five earned runs on six hits over 2.2 innings of work.

OU graduates six seniors - Norrelle Dickson, Jamie Fox, Mariee Mena, Jade Prather, Stacia Aleman and Amber Spaulding. Dickson, a two-time All-American, was the 2007 Big 12 Player of the Year and concludes her career as the OU career leader in hits, runs, stolen bases, batting average and on-base percentage.

“I am proud of this team and all their accomplishments," Gasso said. "It's a season I'll always remember. The seniors set a great example and precedence for our younger ones to follow. Nothing about what we did was very timely. We had a couple big home runs and a couple of others in scoring position and nothing came out of it. Coming from UMass into here, we were not really on fire. We tried, but I didn't happen. No timely hits, missed a pitch and they hit it hard. I was proud of the fact that they laid their hearts on the line. To make it to the College World Series you need a lot of things to work for you and it didn't happen.”

Sunday's game also broke the single-game attendance mark at the OU Softball Complex. The 1,646 fans broke the previous record of 1,623 (vs. Oklahoma State on April 28, 2004).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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