Coleman Hits Walk Off, Sooners Stay Undefeated

Saturday, February 26

Cathedral City, Calif.

12 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

13-0

Arizona

10-4

Arizona

Oklahoma

Coleman Hits Walk Off, Sooners Stay Undefeated

February 26, 2022 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Highlights vs. Arizona Highlights vs. Tennessee Box Score: OU 10, UA 2 (5)Box Score: OU 9, TENN 8 (10)#LaunchPad Trophy Club Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — No. 1 Oklahoma (14-0) got its first real test of the season Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and passed with flying colors.

In a 10-inning battle against No. 17/17 Tennessee (9-5), the Sooners consistently battled back before sophomore Jayda Coleman walked the game off in the 10th on a two-run home run to left field.

OU topped the Vols 9-8 in 10 innings after a run-rule, 10-2 victory over No. 8/10 Arizona in the first game of the day.

Coleman was the hero on the day with her two-run walk off, but plenty Sooners had exceptional performances. Senior Jana Johns hit a combined three home runs across the two games, Tiare Jennings went yard twice vs. Arizona and junior Kinzie Hansen hit one home run in each contest. Freshman Jordy Bahl struck out a career-high 16 batters against Tennessee, while sophomore Nicole May fanned 10 in the day's first game vs. Arizona.

Bahl's 16 strikeouts were the most by a Sooner pitcher since Giselle Juarez stuck out 16 vs. Wisconsin in the NCAA Norman Regional on May 18, 2019.

On the day, the OU offense hit nine home runs and the pitching staff K'ed 27 batters.

In game one, Oklahoma hit five homers led by Tiare Jennings 2-for-3, two home run and three RBI performance. Jennings hit a leadoff blast on the first pitch of the game and finished the game with a walk-off, two-run home run in the fifth.

The Wildcats (10-4) punched back in the third inning, plating a run off an error to knot the game at one before Johns blasted a three-run shot to left center.

Following a solo shot from Arizona, Oklahoma rattled off a combined six runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Senior Jocelyn Alo laced a two-RBI single to left field prior to two-run home runs from Hansen and Jennings.

May went the distance, striking out 10 in 5.0 innings and surrendering two runs (one earned) on five hits to collect her fifth win of the season.

In an epic battle vs. the Vols, the Sooners hit five homers and needed every one of them to stay undefeated on the season.

After going up 4-0 through three innings courtesy of one home run from Grace Lyons and two from Johns, Tennessee fought back to tie the game in the fifth inning. An RBI single in the fourth and one home run and two RBI base hits in the fifth knotted the contest up at four.

Hansen hit her second blast of the day in the fifth to give Oklahoma the lead back before a sac-fly RBI and bases-loaded walk put the Vols back up one through the top half of the seventh.

Senior Taylon Snow sent the game into extras on a sac-fly RBI in the bottom of the seventh.

The teams exchanged RBI singles in the ninth, courtesy of the international tiebreaker rule placing a runner at second. In the 10th, the Vols plated one run via error to set the stage for Coleman in the bottom half of the inning.

Following a fly out and pop-up in the bottom of the 10th, Oklahoma was down to its last out when Coleman, with a 2-1 count, blasted the two-run home run to left to give the Sooners the walk-off win.

Coleman paced the team with a 3-for-5 performance including the two-RBI homer, while Johns went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.

Bahl K'ed 16 after starting the game and re-entering in the seventh, finishing with 8.1 innings pitched, allowing six runs (4 earned) on seven hits and four walks. May relieved for 1.2 innings and struck out one, walked one and gave up two runs on three hits.

The top-ranked Sooners close their weekend at Mary Nutter on Sunday morning with an 11 a.m. CT game vs. Utah.

The game is available to watch on FloSoftball and can be heard on The Franchise 2 (103.3 FM/1560 AM) in Oklahoma and nationwide on the TuneIn app with OU play-by-play announcer Chris Plank on the call.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.