Oklahoma Softball: Sooners Clinch Series Victory in Lubbock With Run Rule of Texas Tech
Hope Trautwein’s dominance in the circle continued on Saturday.
The Oklahoma pitcher completed yet another shutout as the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma Sooners run ruled the Texas Tech Red Raiders 11-0 in Lubbock.
Trautwein struck out seven Red Raiders (19-18), only surrendering four walks and one hit while getting plenty of run support to push OU to 35-0 on the year.
While the Sooner pitcher cruised in the circle, her offense steadily put runs on the board for the second day in a row.
A pair of solo homers in the second and third innings opened the scoring for Oklahoma.
Grace Lyons was the first to launch the ball out of the park, as the standout shortstop hit her 16th home run of the season to lead off the second inning.
Not to be outdone, Kinzie Hansen smashed a bomb of her own in the third inning, doubling OU’s lead.
After Hansen’s home run, Lyons got on base again in the third after she was hit by a pitch.
Jayda Coleman then drew a walk, advancing Lyons into scoring position with Rylie Boone stepping into the batter’s box.
Boone was able to capitalize, as her bloop single hung in the air long enough to drive Lyons home and put the Sooners up 3-0.
Tiare Jennings tacked on another pair of runs in the top of the fourth as she sent a line drive over the left field fence that also plated Mackenzie Donihoo.
Jocelyn Alo, Hansen and Lyons all got on to juice the bases for Coleman, who came through with a bases-clearing double to extend the lead to 8-0.
Grace Green added some insurance to the run rule in the top of the fifth inning. Stepping in to pinch hit with two outs, Green uncorked a three-run bomb to put her team up 11-0.
Boone closed out the contest in style in the bottom of the fifth inning, covering a huge expanse of grass in right field to make an impressive diving catch for the final out.
The victory extended Oklahoma’s incredible Big 12 series streak, as the Sooners are now unbeaten in their last 63 conference series dating back to 2011.
OU will look to complete the sweep of the Red Raiders Sunday when Oklahoma and Texas Tech take the field at noon.
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