Mathis Throws One-Hit Shutout

March 8, 2008

Oklahoma 8, Drake 0

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

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Mathis (14-2)	7	1	0	0	2	8
L - Dordel (5-3)	5.2	4	7	4	5	4

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	TB
OU - Ricketts	4	1	2	2	0	6
OU - Flores	4	1	2	3	0	5

Sooner Softball Central

2008 OU Softball Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. -- OU starter D.J. Mathis threw a one-hit shutout against Drake Saturday night as the No. 9 Oklahoma softball team blanked Drake, 8-0, in its second game of the OU Worth Invitational.

The Sooners improved to 19-5 overall and 2-0 in tournament action after beating McNeese State, 9-1, in the first game of the tournament doubleheader Saturday.

Drake fell to 8-9 on the season while Bulldog starter Brynne Dordel took the loss and fell to 5-3.

OU will round out tournament action on Sunday with another doubleheader as OU will host Drake at 1:15 p.m. followed by a 3:30 p.m. contest against McNeese State. All games will be played at the OU Softball Complex.

"It was great to get back on the field today after our loss against Tulsa earlier this week," head coach Patty Gasso said. "I thought D.J. (Mathis) did a great job of getting back in rhythm in the circle tonight and I was also very pleased with Lauren Eckermann's complete-game effort in the first game today. Our offense is still learning when to attack so we still have some things to work on."

Mathis pushed her record to 14-2 after throwing her seventh shutout of the year. The junior lefty didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning and it was the only one she gave up all game.

Mathis struck out eight Bulldogs and walked two in the complete-game victory.
Offensively, the Sooners tallied five hits with Amber Flores and Samantha Ricketts leading the way. Flores recorded her second home run of the day against Drake after hitting one in the earlier game against McNeese State. The sophomore left fielder went 2-for-4 with three RBI while Ricketts added two RBI on a 2-for-4 outing with a double and a home run.

Traci Dickenson led off the top of the first for the Sooners, the designated visiting team, and pounded a double off the center field wall. After Savannah Long was hit by a pitch, Flores pounded a three-run homer over the center field wall, that gave OU the 3-0 lead. Ricketts followed that with a solo home run over right center field as OU took the 4-0 advantage with back-to-back homers.

The Sooner offense didn't make much noise until the top of the sixth when pinch hitter Wendy Trott walked with two outs. Pinch hitter Chana'e Jones followed that with a walk as the Sooners had runners at first and second. Next, the Drake shortstop notched a fielding error on Jessica Legendre's at-bat and OU scored its fifth run of the game. The Sooners added two more runs after a throwing error by the Drake catcher and a wild pitch as OU took the 7-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Mathis had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the sixth, but Elena Leon recorded the Bulldogs first hit of the game, a single to centerfield. However, Mathis remained calm and kept the shutout as the Sooners headed to the final inning leading 7-0.

Ricketts added more for the Sooners in the seventh as she pounded an RBI-double off the centerfield wall that scored Long, who reached on a walk. Long's run pushed the lead to 8-0. With two outs, Dani Dobbs was hit by a pitch and Haley Anderson followed that with a walk to load the bases. However, the Sooners couldn't plate any more runs as Jessica Legendre struck out to end the inning.

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