Softball Sweeps Series with 11-1 Win

March 29, 2008

Oklahoma 11, Nebraska 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Oklahoma	0	0	2	1	0	5	3	11	11	0
Nebraska	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	3

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Eckermann (10-3)	7	6	1	1	1	4
L - Hupp (6-7)	6	9	8	2	2	5

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

Sooner Softball Central

2008 OU Softball Media Guide

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 12 Oklahoma softball team recorded a sweep of Nebraska on Saturday after downing the Huskers, 11-1, Saturday afternoon in the second game of the twin bill in Lincoln. Earlier in the day, the Sooners shut out Nebraska, 6-0, in the first game of the doubleheader.

OU's sweep of Nebraska marked the first time in the 13-year history of the Big 12 Conference that the Sooners have swept the Huskers in Lincoln. The Sooners improved to 30-8 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12 while Nebraska fell to 13-15 and 0-4 in league play.

"Nebraska is always a tough place to play so we really wanted to come in here and take game one and have that momentum carry us into game two," head coach Patty Gasso said. "Our team really bought into that and did a great job of coming out here and getting the job done. Our pitching staff did an excellent job in the circle and our hitters really came through with timely hits so it was just an all around great performance."

Offensively, the Sooners tallied 11 runs on 11 hits, including eight runs in the final two innings. The Sooners, who entered this week as third in the nation in home runs, tallied four home runs in the first game and two in the first game. Oklahoma recorded more home runs in the two games than Nebraska has on the season (5). Currently, OU owns 57 home runs this year.

Savannah Long recorded her second home run of the day in the second game against the Huskers while Amber Flores, Samantha Ricketts and Jessica Legendre each notched a home run in the second game. In addition to the home runs, Lindsey Vandever recorded a game-best three hits while Legendre led the way with three RBI.
"I thought Jessica Legendre took it to a new level today," Gasso said. "She really sparked us and it was great to see that eight-hole come alive today."

Senior pitcher Lauren Eckermann improved to 10-3 in the circle after throwing the complete game and only giving up one run on six hits while striking out four.

Similar to the first game, OU got on the board first with a two-run homer. With two outs in the top of the third, Ricketts recorded a two-run home run to right center field that scored Traci Dickenson, who reached on a fielder's choice. Ricketts' seventh home run of the year gave OU the 2-0 lead before Susan Ogden struck out to end the frame.

The Huskers tried to rally in the bottom of the third as Heidi Foland led off with a single to right. An out later, Meghan Mullin recorded an infield slap single as NU had runners at first and second with one out. However, Eckermann retired the next two batters to escape and head to the top of the fourth.

Legendre put together a highlight with two outs in the bottom of the fourth as she recorded her first home of her career, a solo shot down the left field line, to extend the Sooner lead to 3-0.

Nebraska rallied again in the bottom of the fourth as Crystal Carwile led off with a double off the left field fence. Next, Haley Long ripped an RBI single to right to score Carwile as the Huskers cut the lead to 3-1. On the next play, Julie Brechtel tried to bunt Carwile over, but popped up to Vandever who recorded the double play after throwing down to first. Next, Whitney Barrett lined out to shortstop Savannah Long to end the frame.

The Huskers put together another rally in the fifth as Darcy Rutherford recorded a one-out single to center and Meghan Mullin followed and was hit by a pitch as the Huskers had runners at first and second with one out. However, Eckermann retired the next two to end the inning.

The Sooners answered back in the sixth as Ogden led off and reached second on a throwing error by the NU third baseman. Next, Vandever ripped a single up the middle as the Sooners had runners at the corners with no outs. Iver McDonald, pinch running for Vandever, stole second on the next play as OU had two runners in scoring position with Wendy Trott at the plate. The freshman struck out, but Legendre came through again as the junior notched a two-RBI single to left field to extend the OU lead to 5-1. An out later, Flores pounded her team-leading 12th home run of the year, a two-run shot over the deepest part of the center field wall, as OU now led 7-1. Long followed that with her second home run of the day, a solo homer to left center that pushed the advantage to 8-1.

Heading into the top of the seventh, NU's Tori Tyson entered the circle, replacing starter Alex Hupp. Krystle Huey walked and Vandever followed that with a double down the left field line as the Sooners had two runners in scoring position. Pinch hitter Chana'e Jones ripped a double down the right field line that scored two runs and extended the lead to 10-1. Legendre followed Jones and reached on an error by the Nebraska shortstop as pinch hitter Dani Dobbs stepped to the plate. Dobbs' fielder's choice recorded the first out of the frame as Huey was out on the force out at third. Flores followed that with a groundout to shortstop for the second out. Next, Long was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Dickenson walked to earn the RBI and push the lead to 11-1 before the Sooners ended the inning.

Eckermann retired the side in the bottom of the seventh as OU took the sweep.

Next, the Sooners will head to Stillwater on Wednesday for part one of the Ford Bedlam Series. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised in the state of Oklahoma by Fox Sports Southwest (Cox Ch. 37 in OKC).

Game Notes: OU's 11-1 win marked Nebraska's worst home loss since 2000 when it fell to Arizona, 13-0, in the NCAA Regional ... Nebraska gave up double-digit runs for the first time since last season when it lost to Oklahoma in Norman, 10-9 ... Oklahoma is 4-0 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2005.

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