Ogden's Walk Off Beats Kansas, 3-2

March 21, 2008

Oklahoma 3, Kansas 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Kansas	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	3	1
Oklahoma	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	8	1

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Mathis (17-3)	7	3	2	1	4	7
L - George (11-2)	6.1	8	3	3	3	3

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	TB
OU - Flores	4	1	2	0	0	2
OU - Ricketts	1	1	1	1	2	4

Sooner Softball Central

2008 OU Softball Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 11 Oklahoma softball team opened conference action in dramatic fashion as senior Susan Ogden recorded a walk-off RBI single in the seventh to edge Kansas, 3-2, Friday night at the OU Softball Complex.

Tied 2-2 with one out and the bases loaded, Ogden crushed a hit off the centerfield wall to score the winning run.

"We have had a really productive week so there couldn't have been a better ending tonight," head coach Patty Gasso said. "This team has really been focusing on working together and picking each other up when they get on base and that is exactly what happened tonight. This was a hard fought game by both teams and both teams really put it all on the line in this first conference game."

The Sooners improved to 26-8 overall and are now 1-0 in Big 12 play. Kansas, who is receiving votes in both polls, fell to 23-7 and 0-1 in conference action.

Kansas and Oklahoma will close out the two-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Marita Hynes Field.

OU senior D.J. Mathis earned the win and improved to 17-3 after giving up one earned run on three hits and striking out seven. However, the lefty also walked four and hit three different batters in her 13th complete game of the season.

Kansas pitcher Valerie George recorded only her second loss of the season as she fell to 11-2 after giving up three earned runs on eight hits.

In addition to Ogden's seventh-inning heroics, Samantha Ricketts also added a key home run in the bottom of the fourth to give OU the 2-1 lead. Traci Dickenson's sacrifice fly provided OU's only other RBI while Amber Flores was the lone player in the game to record multiple hits (2-for-4).

Oklahoma wasted no time getting on the board as Flores led off the bottom of the first with a single to left and was moved over to second on Savannah Long's sacrifice bunt. Next, Dickenson ripped an RBI single to left field that scored Flores and gave OU the early 1-0 lead. Ricketts followed that with a walk, but the next two batters flew out to end the inning.

The Jayhawks responded in the third as Stevie Crisosto led off with a double to right field and was moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt. Next, Amanda Jobe walked as the Jayhawks had runners at the corners with one out. Jobe stole second on the next play on a close play at the bag. Dougie McCaulley followed that with a fielder's choice RBI as the Sooners tried to get the tag play at the plate, but Crisosto was safe. However, Jobe also tried to advance home on the same play and was tagged out for the second out of the frame. Next, Val Chapple was hit by a pitch, but Brittany Hile followed that with a fielder's choice that got Chapple out at second to end the inning as both teams were tied 1-1.

The Sooners took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth as Ricketts led off with a solo homer over the left field fence as OU took the 2-1 advantage. It marked the first baseman's sixth homer of the season. An out later, the Sooners continued to threaten as Lindsey Vandever and Wendy Trott recorded back-to-back singles. However, OU couldn't take advantage as the next two batters were retired to end the inning.

Heading into the top of the seventh, the Sooners owned the 2-1 lead. However, Jobe led off and hit a line drive to OU centerfielder Iver McDonald, who had the ball in her glove but dropped the ball as the error advanced Jobe all the way to second to lead off the inning. Next, McCaulley recorded a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run to third as the Jayhawks had one out. KU's Chapple, the reigning National Player of the Week, was intentionally walked by the Sooners as KU had runners at the corners with one out. On the next play, Chapple stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Next, Hile notched a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jobe and tie the game up. The next batter flew out to left field to end the top of the seventh.

The Sooners had the last at bat in the bottom of the seventh with Flores leading off. The left fielder grounded out to the third baseman, but Savannah Long followed that with a single to left. Next, Dickenson reached on an error by the KU shortstop as the Sooners had two runners on with Ricketts stepping to the plate. Ricketts was hit by a pitch on a 0-2 count to load the bases. Ogden then delivered her game-winning RBI that hit the center field wall and scored Long to win the game.

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