OU Softball: Kierston Deal, Oklahoma Take Care of Business Against San Diego State
After a late night at the ballpark on Friday, Oklahoma pitcher Kierston Deal let her teammates sleep in a little on Saturday.
Figuratively speaking, of course.
The Sooners’ sophomore left hander was dominant for the second straight weekend, this time in a 7-0 victory over San Diego State at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, CA.
It was Oklahoma’s 65th consecutive victory, extending the Sooners’ all-time, all-divisions NCAA record.
OU improved to 12-0 on the season and 3-0 at the Mary Nutter following two impressive wins Friday night — 9-3 over No. 25 Mississippi State and 10-2 over Wisconsin. SDSU fell to 8-6.
The Sooners seemed to come out a little sluggish on Saturday — they didn’t get back to the team hotel until well after midnight Pacific Time following their challenging doubleheader — and coach Patty Gasso expressed concern on the pregame show that the team didn’t have a chance to get off its feet much Friday.
That underscored the importance of a big day from Deal, who allowed two baserunners in the first inning, then retired 16 straight Aztec batters. That stretch included five strikeouts for Deal, who recorded 10 Ks in her previous outing in a win over Lamar last week in Louisiana.
Deal did get a little run support early as Cydney Sanders drew a one-out walk and Rylie Boone singled to left. Boone and pinch-runner Maya Bland each stole a base, and Jayda Coleman delivered a two-out, two-run single to center that scored both runners and put the Sooners up 2-0.
The batting order was mostly quiet after that until the fifth inning.
That’s when OU players came out of the dugout before the bottom of the fifth, giving their multitude of fans a rousing “BOOMER SOONER” cheer that seemed to inject an emotional spark into the team.
Alyssa Brito immediately led off with a single to center, and co-captain Tiare Jennings belted a one-out line drive over the wall in straightaway center field to put the Sooners up 4-0.
The other co-captain, Kinzie Hansen, singled up the middle and hustled to second base on a bobble in the outfield. Sanders then walked behind Hansen to put runners at first and second with two out but Riley Ludlam took a called third strike to end the rally.
That was enough for Deal, however, who became the first Sooner starter to pitch in the sixth inning this season with the longest outing of her career. She finished with a complete game and allowed just three hits and zero walks with six strikeouts.
The length of Deal’s start might not have mattered, however, as the Sooner bullpen hasn’t given up a run yet this season, and OU pitchers haven’t allowed even a single a run after the fifth inning through their first 12 games.
Pinch-hitter Hannah Coor came in with two out and Brito on first in the sixth inning and banged a grounder deep into the hole at shortstop — her first career hit. Jennings then smashed a two-run double to the wall in left-center, bringing both runners home for a 6-0 lead, her third hit and fourth RBIs of the day.
Jennings scored to make it 7-0 on a flare single to shallow center field by Ella Parker.
Deal started the seventh with her sixth strikeout, but a fielding error by Quincee Lilio and a single off Deal by Makena Brocki created a moment of late drama, but Deal got out of it with a couple of fly balls.
Hansen and Pickering each had two hits for OU.
OU returns to Wrigley Field on Sunday for a pair of games Seattle (11 a.m. CT) and Loyola Marymount (1:30 p.m. CT).
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