Late Rally Keys Extra-Innings Win

March 14, 2008

Oklahoma 5, Cal Poly 4

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H
Oklahoma	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	5	8
Cal Poly	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	4	11

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Mathis (16-2)	5	5	2	2	1	5
L - Pena (4-5)	2.1	1	1	0	0	1

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	TB
OU - Ricketts	4	1	2	3	0	5
OU - Dickenson	3	1	1	2	0	4

Sooner Softball Central

2008 OU Softball Media Guide

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The No. 8 Oklahoma softball team rallied to beat Cal Poly, 5-4, in eight innings Friday afternoon in the first game of the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif.

The Sooners recorded five unanswered runs to earn the win and improve their overall record to 22-6 while Cal Poly fell to 9-12.

Trailing 4-0 after five frames, the Sooners rallied with four runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game and eventually send it to extra innings. Samantha Ricketts recorded OU's game-winning hit with her RBI ground-rule double in the top of the eighth.

Ricketts was key for the Sooners offensively as she went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and three RBI. Junior Traci Dickenson also came up huge for the Sooners in the top of the fourth with her two-out two-run homer that tied the game. It marked Dickenson's fifth homer of the season.

The Mustangs out hit the Sooners, 11-8, but once again the OU defense was solid as Cal Poly stranded 14 runners on base compared to OU's four.

OU starter D.J. Mathis earned the win and improved to 16-2. The junior lefty earned the start and pitched the first 2.1 innings before being replaced as OU trailed 2-0. However, Mathis reentered the game and pitched the final 2.2 frames to secure the win. Mathis allowed two runs on five hits in five complete innings while striking out five.

Junior Jadyn Smith relieved Mathis for 1.2 innings of work and gave up two hits and a walk before being replaced by Lauren Eckermann, who only pitched 1.1 innings and gave up two runs on four hits. Mathis replaced Eckermann with the game tied 4-4.
Cal Poly got on the board first as Stephanie Correia pounded a two-out solo home run over the left center field fence to give the Mustangs the early 1-0 lead.

The Mustangs added more in the third as Cristen Lee recorded a single up the middle with one out. Jenna Maiden followed that with an RBI single to right field that scored Lee all the way from first and gave Cal Poly the 2-0 advantage. Maiden's RBI single knocked Mathis out of the game. Smith came in for relief of Mathis. The reliever retired two of the next three batters to end the inning as OU trailed 2-0.

Cal Poly led off the fourth with another single and following a fly out and another single, the Mustangs had runners at the corners with one out. Next, Cristina Brox knocked a ball to first baseman Samantha Ricketts who threw home to get the tag play and the second out of the frame.   However, the next batter was hit by a pitch as Cal Poly loaded the bases. Smith settled and retired the final batter to end the inning.

Eckermann entered the circle for the Sooners in the bottom of the fifth. She retired the first batter, but gave up a solo home run to Sarah Iwata as the Mustangs took the 3-0 advantage. Cal Poly continued its momentum as it followed that with back-to-back singles to left field. Next, Cahn ripped an RBI single down the left field line that pushed the Cal Poly lead to 4-0. Eckermann followed that with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

Savannah Long sparked OU's sixth-inning rally with a leadoff single to centerfield. Iver McDonald followed that with a slap single up the middle. Next, Amber Flores grounded out to the second baseman for the first out of the inning while it moved the OU runners into scoring position. Next, Ricketts ripped a two-RBI triple down the right field line as OU closed the gap at 4-2. Lindsey Vandever followed that with a pop up to the second baseman for the second out. However, Dickenson stepped to the plate and pounded a two-run homer over left field on the first pitch to tie the game up at 4-4.   Ogden flew out to right field to end the top of the sixth and OU's rally but the Sooners had tied it up.

Eckermann gave up a walk in the bottom of the sixth and the batter was moved over after a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Mathis reentered in the circle for the Sooners as she replaced Eckermann. Mathis gave up an infield hit to the first batter she faced, but struck out the next two as both teams headed into the seventh.

The Sooners went three up, three down in the top of the seventh while Cal Poly threatened in the bottom of the frame. Cahn led off for the Mustangs and flied out to centerfield for the first out of the game. Next, Correia recorded a routine groundout to second base, but Dickenson's throwing error to first kept the runner on base. Cal Poly followed that with a single up the middle as the Mustangs had runners at first and second. Following a Cal Poly fielder's choice, the Mustangs had runners at first and third with two outs. However, Cal Poly's Lee lined out to OU third baseman Dani Dobbs to send the game to extra innings.

Due to the international tiebreaker rule, OU's Long started off at second base to open the innings. Long advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by McDonald. Next, Amber Flores struck out looking for the second out of the frame. However, Ricketts followed Flores and delivered her game-winning ground-rule double on an 0-3 count to left center field that scored Long and gave OU its first lead of the game at 5-4. Vandever flew out deep to centerfield to end the inning and head to the bottom of the eighth.

The Mustangs' Lee started off at second base and was sacrifice bunted over to third on the next play. The next Cal Poly batter fouled out to Dobbs at third base. With two outs, Mathis walked the next runner as Cal Poly had runners at first and third. The next batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Mathis remained calm and Cal Poly's Cahn grounded out to Mathis to end the game as OU took its first extra-innings victory of the season.

The Sooners continue Capital Classic action on Friday with a 5 p.m. (CT) game against Colorado State.

Next Event

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics