Sooners Shut Out Tulsa, Advance to Supers

^23/23 Tulsa

^6/6 Oklahoma

Quotes

Inning-by-Inning
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
OU	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	6	0
Tulsa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0

Pitching
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Parker (22-5)	7.0	8	0	0	1	10
L - Watson (30-6)	6.0	6	3	3	1	2
S - N/A	-	-	-	-	-	-

Individual Leaders
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Mendes	4	2	2	1	0	1
TU - Neal	3	0	2	0	0	0

Game Notes
OU became just the eighth team out of 416 since 2005 to advance to the Super Regional round after dropping their opening game of Regional play ... the Sooners will be making their eighth consecutive appearance in the Super Regional round and their 11th overall ... OU improved to 42-10 all-time against Tulsa, 4-4 versus the Golden Hurricane in Norman and 5-2 vs. TU in Regionals ... Oklahoma is 68-19 in the NCAA Regionals and 103-45 during postseason play in its history ... OU is 14-9 in Regional elimination games ... attendance was 1,944, a facility record at Marita Hynes Field ... the shutout was the 21st thrown by the Sooners this year and the fifth by Paige Parker ... Parker's 10 strikeouts were her highest ever in a postseason game; it was also the 11th double-digit strikeout game of her career and her sixth of the season ... Parker's complete game was the 69th of her career, tying Jill Most for sixth in program history ... Nicole Mendes extended her hitting streak to 20 games and her on-base streak to 36 consecutive games ... the hit streak is the longest by a Sooner since at least 2006, while the on-base streak is the longest since Lauren Chamberlain had a 38-game stretch between 2014-15 ... Mendes' leadoff home run was the second of the season for OU (Nicole Pendley vs. Ole Miss) and the third HR in just seven pitches for the team dating back to Sunday's 10th inning

Game Notes

OU became just the eighth team out of 416 since 2005 to advance to the Super Regional round after dropping their opening game of Regional play ... the Sooners will be making their eighth consecutive appearance in the Super Regional round and their 11th overall ... OU improved to 42-10 all-time against Tulsa, 4-4 versus the Golden Hurricane in Norman and 5-2 vs. TU in Regionals ... Oklahoma is 68-19 in the NCAA Regionals and 103-45 during postseason play in its history ... OU is 14-9 in Regional elimination games ... attendance was 1,944, a facility record at Marita Hynes Field ... the shutout was the 21st thrown by the Sooners this year and the fifth by Paige Parker ... Parker's 10 strikeouts were her highest ever in a postseason game; it was also the 11th double-digit strikeout game of her career and her sixth of the season ... Parker's complete game was the 69th of her career, tying Jill Most for sixth in program history ... Nicole Mendes extended her hitting streak to 20 games and her on-base streak to 36 consecutive games ... the hit streak is the longest by a Sooner since at least 2006, while the on-base streak is the longest since Lauren Chamberlain had a 38-game stretch between 2014-15 ... Mendes' leadoff home run was the second of the season for OU (Nicole Pendley vs. Ole Miss) and the third HR in just seven pitches for the team dating back to Sunday's 10th inning

NORMAN – Freshman Nicole Mendes gave No. 10 seed Oklahoma the lead on the first pitch of the game and the Sooners (54-9) never looked back as Paige Parker tossed a 3-0 shutout to defeat Tulsa (41-17) Monday in the Norman Regional final.

With the victory, the Sooners advanced to the Super Regional round for the eighth consecutive season and the 11th time in program history. OU will travel to face No. 7 seed Auburn starting Friday at Jane B. Moore Field in rematch of last season's Women's College World Series Championship, won by the Sooners.

Friday's game at Auburn will start at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2, while Saturday and Sunday's “if necessary” game will start at noon on ESPN.

Oklahoma overcame long odds to win the Regional after dropping the opener against North Dakota State. According to ESPN research, the Sooners are just the eighth team out of 416 since 2005 to advance to the Super Regionals after losing their opening game of the postseason.

Parker, who recorded a postseason-best 10 strikeouts against Tulsa, allowed eight hits, but kept the Golden Hurricane off the scoreboard throughout the entire game. The junior moved to 16-2 in postseason play with the victory and 22-5 overall on the season.

Mendes finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and concluded the NCAA Regionals as OU's top hitter with a .579 average (11-for-19). She had at least two hits in every Regional contest this weekend to extend her hitting streak to 20 games and her on-base streak to 34 contests in a row.

Mendes' on-base streak is the longest for a Sooner since Lauren Chamberlain reached in the final 25 games of the 2014 season and the first 13 of 2015 for a 38-game streak and her hit streak is the longest since at least 2006.

She provided all the run support Parker would need on the very first pitch of the game, hammering the offering from Tulsa's Emily Watson into the right field stands. It was her fifth home run of the season and was the Sooners' second leadoff shot, joining junior Nicole Pendley who hit one against Ole Miss on Feb. 17.

Tulsa had scoring chances throughout the early innings but couldn't cash in.

Tori Stafford hit a two-out double in the first, but Parker got Haley Meinen to strike out looking to end the frame. In the second, with one out and one on, Shannon Hughes hit a drive to the gap in left center. Senior Macey Hatfield couldn't make a diving catch, but Pendley picked up the ball and fired to second to nail Hughes as she tried to stretch the play into a double.

In the third, Julia Hollingsworth singled with one out and eventually reached second on a wild pitch but a strikeout of Stafford by Parker kept OU on top 1-0. Then in the fourth, Neal doubled to right center with two outs, but Parker fanned Rylie Spell to strand yet another runner.

Oklahoma extended its lead to 2-0 in the fifth when Hatfield lined a 3-2 pitch from Watson just over the wall in left field. It was the third home run of the season for the team's lone senior.

Playing in her final game at Marita Hynes Field, Hatfield came through with her glove in the bottom of the inning. Tulsa put a pair of runners on with back-to-back two-out singles. Stafford stepped in and fouled a pitch to left field, but Hatfield came racing in to make a diving catch.

Mendes showed off her power in the first inning and used her speed to score an important insurance run in the sixth.

She led off by singling through the right side and moved up to second on a groundout. Two batters later, sophomore Sydney Romero blooped a single into left field and Mendes hustled home from second to extend OU's lead to 3-0.