Inside Parker?s Perfect Game

By Karl Anderson

History was made on Feb. 7 when freshman Paige Parker threw the ninth perfect game (and 40th no-hitter) in Oklahoma softball history. She faced 15 batters in an 8-0, five-inning win at Hawaii and not one of the Rainbow Wahine players were able to reach base.

But to explain Parker's success on that first Saturday in February, one needs to go back a day earlier to when Parker made her collegiate pitching debut.

Facing Saint Mary's, Parker, a native of Independence, Mo., got her first taste of what she'd be facing in the college game. She said there was a noticeable difference between the college and high school levels.

"It's a lot different because it's much more competitive,” Parker said. “You're surrounded by all these incredible athletes at all times, whereas in high school, it's not really like that so much. The intensity and competitive nature of college games are a lot higher than high school games."

Entering the contest against the Gaels, Parker admitted that she was excited more than anything, but also confident thanks to the hitters she had faced during practices.

“I think that since at practice I face the best hitters in the country every single day that helps me get into the mindset of how I need to be for games all the time,” she explained. “I feel like I was just really excited to get there, and I was excited to throw against people other than my own teammates."

Though it was her first game, the three-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Missouri showed she could more than hold her own at this level. She faced just two batters over the minimum and didn't allow a hit until a leadoff double in the fourth that bounced out of the glove of a leaping Nicole Pendley in center field.

Parker finished with eight strikeouts in five innings of work and allowed just one hit and one walk as OU routed Saint Mary's, 17-0. She needed only 57 pitches to get through the game and felt strong afterward.

"I do feel like I got a boost of confidence by getting that first game out of the way,” she said. “It was a big thing and it calmed any of the nerves I had. Being surrounded by such a great defense, that gives me a good sense of calmness because I know that they'll be there to back me up no matter what.”

The very next day, Parker earned a save in the semifinals of the Oceanic Time Warner Paradise Classic as the Sooners defeated No. 25 DePaul, 11-3 in six innings. She was then given the start in the tournament championship against host-Hawaii.

Prior to the game, Parker said she didn't feel different from any other start she's made. But her battery mate, catcher Whitney Ellis, called her pregame warmup 'phenomenal.'

“She looked really crisp,” Ellis said. “Everything was nice and clean, and she looked very confident. It was her second game; she already had one under her belt. It didn't look like she had any nerves or reservation.”

Parker, who throws a change up, multiple off-speed pitches, a drop, a rise and a curve, wasted little time exerting her dominance. She struck out the side in the first inning on just 13 pitches.

Perfect Games in OU History
Player	Date	Opponent	Score	IP	K
Jill Most	3/9/97	Baylor	W, 3-0	7.0	8
Lana Moran	2/13/99	Northwestern	W, 4-0	7.0	7
Jennifer Stewart	4/6/99	Wichita State	W, 7-0	7.0	8
Adrianne Ratliff	2/18/01	Wichita State	W, 9-0 (5)	5.0	2
Jennifer Stewart	2/8/02	UT-Arlington	W, 4-0	7.0	10
Lauren Eckermann	2/12/08	St. Gregory's	W, 10-0 (5)	5.0	4
Michelle Gascoigne	2/11/11	Appalachian St.	W, 8-0 (5)	5.0	8
Keilani Ricketts	3/30/12	Kansas	W, 8-0 (5)	5.0	10
Paige Parker	2/7/15	Hawaii	W, 8-0 (5)	5.0	9

"I could tell probably after the first batter that her ball was moving,” Ellis said. “Usually that first batter you trust (to get on base) but Paige made her whiff and the batter didn't touch anything. I could tell then we were in for a game because she gave them that one look and she still had other looks to give.”

Parker then continued her run in the second inning with a fourth straight strikeout and a pair of groundouts.

"I felt very calm and very loose,” Parker said of those early innings. “I felt like I was just going out and throwing my game. I felt like myself when I was out there and I had an overwhelming sense of calmness and relaxation and I was just ready to go after the batters."

After a three-run home run by Pendley in the bottom of the second, Parker faced her longest at-bat of the game to start the top of the third. After getting ahead 0-2, Sarina Jaramillo evened the count at 2-2 before fouling off a pitch and working it to a full count. Parker won the at-bat, though, by getting Jaramillo to fly out to right field.

"With those kind of at-bats, I'm trying to get them to do something to let my defense work,” Parker said. “We have such a strong defense that I know if I can get her jammed or roll over on something then I know that my defense will take care of it for me.”

The Jaramillo at-bat took seven pitches, but Parker needed only six pitches to strike out the following two batters of the third inning.

The fourth inning started with another seven-pitch at-bat, but again, Parker came out on top as she struck out Lindsey Willmon.

"We try to change their speed, take them early and bring them back,” Ellis explained. “When you have someone that's just getting a piece every time it gets a little frustrating. There's not much I can do for the pitcher other than give signs; she has to buckle down and find that extra oomph behind a curveball or riseball or whatever the pitch is and put it in that one place the swings can't touch. Paige did a really good job of that.”

Oklahoma's lead doubled to 6-0 after four innings, but Parker started the fifth with what she called the toughest at-bat of the game.

Cleanup hitter Leisha Liilii got ahead 3-0 on Parker and appeared to be on the verge of being the first Hawaii baserunner. After a called strike, Liilii connected on a pitch and hit a line drive that appeared to be going for the right field corner.

However, first baseman Lauren Chamberlain jumped and lunged to her left to snare the liner and keep the perfect game intact. Parker admitted she got nervous when the ball left the bat.

“But then Lauren jumped up and caught it so I was like 'Whew, she got me on that one.' Lauren made an amazing play on that ball, so she really had my back on that one. After she caught it, I was like 'Okay, we're good.'"

After Parker's career-high ninth strikeout, the final Hawaii batter flied out to left field after a six-pitch at-bat. In the bottom of the fifth, Oklahoma scored two runs to enact the run-rule. As a result, the customary sequence of events where a pitcher is in the circle for the final out of a no-hitter was missing. Instead, the team just walked out of the dugout to participate in the traditional postgame handshake with the other team.

It was during the handshakes that it dawned on Ellis that she was part of a perfect game. For Parker, she said that senior Georgia Casey was the first to congratulate her.

"Georgia came over to me and was like 'Way to go,' Parker said. “She knew and then it hit me, 'Oh, I did this.' It was great to get that hug from Georgia after the game. It felt really good."

Parker admitted that since she could see the scoreboard she was aware she had a no-hitter going and she had a feeling she had a perfect game, as well.

Of the 15 batters she faced, Parker was able to get ahead of 11 of them. She said that was part of her success.

"Just being able to get ahead of batters and being able to work all parts of the zone was going really well for me,” she said. “At some points I was able to get my changeup going pretty well, so I was trying to keep batters off-balance."

Ellis explained Parker's success in even simpler terms.

"There wasn't anything that wasn't working. Her curveball had good break; her rise, her drop, she brought the whole kitchen sink at them. Everything was on."

The uniqueness of her accomplishment wasn't lost on Parker, either.

"It's a pretty special feeling,” she said. “At OU, we've had so many great pitchers come through here so it feels pretty special to be one of the nine perfect games that's ever been thrown because we've had such phenomenal pitching here."