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OU Softball: No. 1 Oklahoma Handles Seattle

The Sooners started slow again, but roared to life behind a pair of home runs from freshman Ella Parker and a strong start by Karlie Keeney.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma was pressed on Sunday in Cathedral City, but the Sooners got all they needed with the long ball from two newcomers.

Freshman Ella Parker hit two home runs and transfer Riley Ludlam hammered one to power the No. 1-ranked Sooners to a 8-0 run-rule victory over Seattle at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

OU improved to 13-0 on the season and won its NCAA-record 66th consecutive game. Seattle fell to 6-9.

Ludlam hit her solo shot in the bottom of the second inning, while Parker blasted a two-run shot in the fourth and a three-run smash in the fifth.

Karlie Keeney got the start in the circle and was sharp for the Sooners. Keeney threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings and gave up four hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Another transfer, Keeney improved to 2-0 on the season with a save. She’s pitched 17 1/3 shutout innings while allowing only 11 hits and four walks. Opponents are hitting just .176 against her this season.

Keeney gave way to Paytn Monticelli after getting two outs in the fifth. Monticelli issued a walk, but got out of trouble with a popup on the infield.

Monticelli then flashed some power and emotion in the sixth inning, striking out the side.

Ludlam’s solo shot put the Sooners on the scoreboard early, but it was Parker who gave Oklahoma some distance.

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Ludlam drew a one-out walk to open the fourth inning, and Parker pounded a 2-1 pitch that seemed to break the ice for OU’s lineup.

One inning later, Rylie Boone led off with a double off the wall in right center and came home on Alyssa Brito’s single to right. After Tiare Jennings reached on an infield single, Parker obliterated a 1-1 offering nearly out of the stadium beyond the right field wall for a 7-0 lead.

Avery Hodge ended it with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning that scored Maya Bland from third. 

It was a banner day for the Oklahoma defense, as well, with a diving catch by Jayda Coleman in center field and two runners thrown out on the bases, one at second and one at home.

OU re-takes Wrigley Field immediately to finish this year’s Mary Nutter slate with a game against Loyola Marymount.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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