No. 1/1 Sooners Record Sixth Shutout, Run-Rule UCA

Sunday, February 18

Lake Charles, La.

11:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

9-0

Central Arkansas

2-6

Central Arkansas

Oklahoma

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

No. 1/1 Sooners Record Sixth Shutout, Run-Rule UCA

February 18, 2024 | Softball

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. – No. 1/1 Oklahoma earned its sixth shutout of 2024 in an 8-0 run-rule win over Central Arkansas on Sunday in Lake Charles, closing the Cowgirl Challenge unbeaten.

Three OU (9-0, 0-0 Big 12) pitchers combined to one-hit Central Arkansas (2-8, 0-0 Southland) with redshirt freshman SJ Geurin earning her first collegiate win in relief. The Sooners extended their NCAA-record winning streak to 62 games with the win and finished their appearance at the Cowgirl Challenge 5-0.

Oklahoma tossed four shutouts on the weekend and outscored its opponents 36-1 with three run-rule wins.

Paytn Monticelli drew her first Sooner start and threw 2.0 scoreless innings. The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first then struck out the side in the second to close her day.

The Bears threatened early, loading the bases with one away in the top of the first. Jayda Coleman turned an incredible double play to escape the jam, running down a fly ball to left-center then firing a strike to home plate on the run to catch the runner from third attempting to score.

Back-to-back infield singles by Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen led off the Sooner second. Rylie Boone advanced them both with a ground ball, then Cydney Sanders laced a two-run single back up the middle to open the scoring.

SJ Geurin took over in the third and proceeded to retire each of the eight batters she faced. She struck out a pair and threw 22 strikes on 34 pitches (64.7%) to earn her first college win.

OU began the third with four straight hits, opened with a Coleman single followed by an Alyssa Brito RBI double and a Riley Ludlam run-scoring single into left-center. Tiare Jennings crushed a first-pitch two-run home run out to center, pushing the Sooner lead to 6-0. Three batters later, freshman Ella Parker clobbered a pinch-hit solo blast over the batter's eye in dead center for her first collegiate homer.

Geurin retired the side in the fourth and put away each of the two batters she was asked to face in the fifth. Kelly Maxwell entered with two away and promptly induced a groundout to end the frame.

The Sooners loaded the bases by drawing three walks in the fifth, bringing Coleman to the plate with an opportunity to end the game early. She watched four consecutive pitches miss the zone, clinching the run-rule win with a walk-off walk.

Up Next

OU returns to action on Friday, Feb. 23 with an appearance at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. The Sooners begin play with Mississippi State on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. CT start and will face Wisconsin, San Diego State, Seattle and Loyola Marymount over the course of the tournament.

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