All Sooners

OU Softball: Nicole May Dazzles to Power Oklahoma Past Northwestern in OKC

The junior pitcher struck out 10 Northwestern Wildcats to help the Sooners win 2-1 on Friday night.

Ryan Chapman

OKLAHOMA CITY — If Oklahoma’s first contest on Friday was a soft opening, the nightcap proved to be a grand return to the lineup for Grace Lyons.

The Sooner captain missed seven games with an undisclosed illness, and returned to action against Weber State off the bench in OU’s first game of the Hall of Fame Classic.

Patty Gasso gave the super senior the start against Northwestern, and she delivered.

Lyons broke the tie for the top-ranked Sooners, blasting a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning as OU notched its 16th straight victory in a 2-1 win over the Wildcats at Hall of Fame Stadium.

The Sooners moved to 24-1 on the year, while No. 24 Northwestern dropped to 10-8.

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Until Lyons’ swing sent the ball well beyond the fence in left field, it was Northwestern who looked more likely to score.

Unfazed by the large crimson crowd at Hall of Fame Stadium, the Wildcats almost struck first to open the game.

A two-out double from Hannah Cady put runners on second and third for Northwestern — who last faced the Sooners in Oklahoma City to open last year’s Women’s College World Series — threatening Nicole May’s scoreless start to the season.

But the OU junior rallied.

May’s 3-2 delivery was perfect, and Angela Zedak’s swing made no contact, striking out to end the frame.

“I feel like I wasn’t really thinking about the runners (in that moment),” May said after the game. “It was moreso just focusing on that batter and that specific pitch. … So I wasn’t really thinking too much about the runners and where they were at.”

From there, the right-hander mostly shut Northwestern down.

May struck out 10 batters, which finished one short of her career-high, while only allowing three hits and a single walk.

“A good game. A close game,” Gasso said after the game. “It’s something that we always need. Nicole May carried us tonight. She was fantastic.”

Typically, a showing in the circle of that caliber means May only needs to put in a five-inning shift, but Oklahoma’s offense also sputtered.

Lyons’ homer in her first at-bat was a welcome return.

“I was excited,” she said after the game. “Thankful to be back in the dugout atmosphere, being able to be kind of in the locker room setting with everyone. So it was fun.

“I feel great and I’m thankful to the Lord that I’m healed and everything is going great. So I’m super thankful just to be back with my team because that’s — I don’t want to be any other place than in this dugout having energy, doing cheers, all that. So it was an awesome game. Nicole May did amazing. Fun to be behind and backing up.”

In total, the Sooners mustered just three hits, as Northwestern righty Lauren Boyd kept the runs at bay.

The top of the Oklahoma lineup especially struggled, as Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Haley Lee and Alyssa Brito went a combined 2-for-11 at the plate with two strikeouts.

Both of those hits came from Coleman, who added a triple in the bottom of the sixth inning to end her night.

Jennings brought her center fielder home with a sacrifice fly to double the lead, giving May an extra run to work with to close the game in the seventh inning.

“I thought that Northwestern’s pitching staff and pitcher did a really outstanding job,” Gasso said. “Gritty, gutsy. And we just kind of kept doing the same thing over and over. And we’re better than that.”

The insurance turned out to be necessary, as Cady led the seventh inning off with a solo shot to shrink the OU lead back down to 2-1.

Cady’s homer finally broke May’s scoreless streak, as it was the first run she’d surrendered this year — a stretch that spanned 49 straight innings.

If May was rattled by giving up the run, she didn’t show any jitters. She retired the next three batters to close out the game.

For Gasso, she wasn’t overly concerned about May’s streak ending.

“In a weird way,” Gasso said, “and maybe she feels this way too, just glad that it got over with, right? So we’ve been, you know, everybody behind the scenes talking like, ‘Her ERA is 0.00.’ I think she’s not regretful for it.

“Probably allowed her to wake up and learn something from it like we always do when we give up something to someone or we strike out or what have you. … But if you look at the linescore I’m not looking at the one run, I’m looking at the 10 strikeouts.”

The Sooners return to action for another pair of games on Saturday.

Oklahoma matches up against Weber State again at 4 p.m. before taking on future SEC foe Auburn at 6:30 p.m.

Both contests from Hall of Fame Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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