Sooners Dominate in Exhibition Wins

NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma softball team kicked off its eight-game fall schedule with a pair of exhibition wins at its annual Fall Festival Friday night.

The Sooners scored in five of the six innings and senior Kelsey Stevens combined with freshman Brittany Finney to throw a four-hit shutout as Oklahoma opened the fall with a 14-0, six-inning victory over Northern Oklahoma College. Oklahoma then trounced Oklahoma Wesleyan, 17-1, in six innings as it pounded out 16 hits.

Combined for both games, Oklahoma tallied 31 runs on 32 hits (nine for extra bases) as OU posted a .478 batting average. Conversely, the team's opponents combined for one run on eight hits and a .182 average.

The Sooners close out their opening weekend Saturday with games at 4:45 against Seminole State and 7 p.m. versus St. Gregory's.

Oklahoma 14, Northern Oklahoma College 0 (6 innings)

Oklahoma wasted little time in getting on the board as the first three batters all reached, resulting in the game's first run. Sophomore Nicole Pendley led off the game with a walk and moved to second on senior Erin Miller's bunt. Freshman Sydney Romero then delivered the go-ahead RBI with a single back up the middle.

The Sooners tacked on five more runs in the second. Senior Whitney Ellis started the scoring with a squeeze bunt to drive in freshman Fale Aviu before Pendley followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in sophomore Kelsey Arnold. Romero picked up her second RBI single of the game later in the inning, while sophomore Lea Wodach drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single to left field.

Four more runs came across in the third. Senior Paris Townsend delivered a run-scoring double, while Aviu stepped in next and added an RBI triple. Sophomore Kelsey Arnold kept the hits coming with a single back to the pitcher, scoring Aviu. Arnold then stole second before coming home on Pendley's single through the right side.

After a scoreless fourth, OU added three more runs in the fifth, including a two-run single by freshman Raegan Rogers. A fielding error in the sixth allowed the Sooners' final run to come across.

Stevens was sharp for the Sooners, allowing just two hits in four innings while striking out eight and walking none. Finney entered for the final two innings and faced just one batter above the minimum.

Romero led the offense, which tallied 16 hits, by going 3-3 with two runs batted in and a run scored, while Aviu scored a game-high four runs. Four different Sooners drove in two runs.

Oklahoma 17, Oklahoma Wesleyan 1 (6 innings)

Like in their first game of the day, the Sooners scored in the first inning. Freshman Shay Knighten led off with a single and Pendley doubled her home to stake OU to an early lead. Two more runs came in during the second inning when Townsend's liner to left field hit off the fielder's glove to enable one run to score and Ellis came home on a wild pitch.

A four-run third then broke the game open. After a leadoff walk by Pendley, Romero cranked a two-run homer to straightaway center field, extending the lead to 5-0. Later in the inning, junior Macey Hatfield blooped a single to center field, pushing the advantage to 7-0.

A bases-loaded walk got the Eagles on the board in the top of the fourth, but OU countered in the bottom of the frame when senior Tori Nirschl hit a sacrifice fly.

OU then posted a five-run fifth inning to make it a 13-1 lead. A walk and double started the inning before Townsend plated both runners to make it 10-1. Back-to-back run-scoring doubles from Pendley and Romero pushed the lead to 11-1 before Miller's single up the middle brought in the final run of the inning.

For good measure, OU added four more runs in the sixth as Rogers hit an RBI double and sacrifice fly in the inning, while Hatfield and Ellis each added run-scoring singles up the middle.

Freshman Jayden Chestnut got the start for OU and threw the first 3.1 innings. She finished with four hits and one run allowed to go with four strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore Paige Parker came on in relief to throw the final 2.2 innings, walking two and striking out five but not surrendering any hits.

The OU offense, which had 16 hits and drew nine walks, was led by Romero and Ellis with three hits each. Five different Sooners drove in at least two runs, including three each for Romero and Hatfield.

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Arnold

Jayden Chestnut

Brittany Finney

Macey Hatfield

Shay Knighten

Erin Miller

Tori Nirschl

Paige Parker

Nicole Pendley

Raegan Rogers

Sydney Romero

Kelsey Stevens

Paris Townsend

Lea Wodach

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University of Oklahoma Athletics