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OU Softball: Oklahoma Run Rules Loyola Marymount to Close Mary Nutter

Nicole May was fantastic in the circle and the Sooners broke open the game early to win their record 67th consecutive game.

John E. Hoover

This time, Oklahoma’s bats got going early, and Nicole May was razor sharp.

The No. 1-ranked Sooners scored five times in the second inning to break open a 9-0 rout of Loyola Marymount in their final game Sunday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, CA.

No. 1-ranked OU improved to 14-0 on the season and ran its all-time winning streak to 67 consecutive games. LMU fell to 5-10.

Jayda Coleman opened the game with her first home run of the season, and Tiare Jennings finished the rally with a two-run double that gave OU a 5-0 lead early.

For May, that was more than enough run support.

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May finished four scoreless innings by only allowing a first-inning walk. She struck out seven of the 14 batters she faced and displayed pinpoint control, hitting the mark wherever catcher Kinzie Hansen lined up the blue tape on her chest protector.

Oklahoma’s bats had started slow for the most part in their first four games at the Mary Nutter, but not this time.

Jayda Coleman — down to seventh in the batting order for Game 2 — led off with a first-pitch home run to center field for a 1-0 lead.

Alynah Torres walked, and after Avery Hodge reached on a fielder’s choice, Rylie Boone ripped a double to right center field to score Hodge for a 2-0 lead.

Kasidi Pickering then delivered a single to center to bring home Boone to make it 3-0, and after Alyssa Brito’s single, Jennings slashed a double into the gap in left center to put OU up 5-0.

Jennings raised her season batting average to .447 with her two-run double.

In the top of the fourth, Brito hammered a two-run home run to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead. Brito’s bomb followed a single to right center by Pickering and put the game on the verge of run-rule territory.

After Coleman’s leadoff walk to start the fifth, Torres put it over with a solo home run deep over the wall in left field for a 9-0 lead — the Sooners’ sixth home run of the doubleheader.

Kelly Maxwell replaced May to pitch the bottom of the fifth and immediately gave up two singles before getting a groundout and a double play ball to end it.

The Sooners return to action on Friday as they officially open Love's Field at the OU Tournament against Miami-OH at 2 p.m Friday, followed by a 5 p.m. game against Liberty.

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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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