Sooner Softball scores 9 runs in 1st / 7th to win 10-2 over UCF!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners opened and closed strong against Central Florida in Friday nights game in Orlando and won 10-2 to move to 43-4 overall and 19-3 in big 12 play.

The Sooners used an impressive first inning (4 hits, w 1 HR by Brito, 2 walks for 5 runs) and a game clinching 7th inning (4 hits, 2 walks for 4 runs) to win going away. In between the Sooners. In the middle five innings the Sooners had 3 hits and walks and scored a run on a solo HR by Coleman in the 3rd inning.

In the circle, the Kelly Maxwell pitched 6.1 innings of 1 run softball allowing 7 hits (6 singles and 1 double) with 2 walks and 5 Ks. She picked up her 15th win on the season and lowered her ERA to 1.59 on the season. Karlie Keeney came on in relief, probably because of the 121 pitches that Maxwell had thrown, to finish the game. She faced three batters getting two ground balls to SS for outs and allowed 1 solo HR to give up the second run of the game by OU.

If I did not know the score of the game, and read the majority of posts here, I would have thought the Sooners might have gotten beat by UCF. But they did win the game convincingly and there was almost no doubt they would not win the game after the top of the 1st. C'mon Sooner fans, I ask you to look for a few good things in a 10-2 win instead of finding every little thing you can to, well complain about, when the team wins by 8 runs. Yean they won by 8 runs. The other team is trying very hard to defeat the Sooners every game. The other team can play softball also. It game for the Sooners is never a cakewalk despite the Sooners sometimes making it look like that. Enjoy the victories in some way. Enjoy the fact that the Sooners won their 43rd win of the game. Enjoy the effort by Kelly Maxwell, Jayda Coleman (2 for 3, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 walks), Kinzie Hansen (3 for 4 with an RBI), Kasidi Pickering (2 for 3 with 2 RBIs with a walk) and Alyssa Brito (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBIs) played well for the Sooners offensively. There were many things to be positive about. Many.

Now, were there a few things that were not great, sure there were. It is a diamond sport where Hall of Famers hit .350 not .850. Even Ozzie Smith made a bone-head play at SS a few times. Expecting perfection is not realistic. Expecting effort is and if you think the Sooners did not give effort, I suggest you adjust your thinking a bit.

In the first inning the first out was made when with the bases loaded Hansen singled into center field. The single plated Coleman for a Hansen RBI. The CFer threw the ball to the screen behind home plate and Ella Parker tried to score from 3B after she moved from 2B on the single. In a very close play at the plate, Parker was tagged out by the 1B covering home plate. I thought that Parker's foot bounced up off the ground and was in the air as she got to the plate and as she lowered her foot to the plate she was tagged out. I did not think her foot was down on the plate yet. The play was very close. I think it was called correctly. But no one knows for sure, the call was that she was out. The play is instinctual by Parker and probably even coach Gasso at 3B. There is a minute moment in time where a play happens and the player goes or he player does not. It is difficult to call it a bad play. It is just a play.

I thought another key play was this. After UCF removed Halajian from the circle in the 2nd inning and brought in DeVoe, Halajian was placed in RF. With the bases loaded and 1 out. Brito hit a shallow popup to short RF (yeah, the ball found the pitcher playing RF) and Halajian just barely made the catch for the out. If she does not the Sooners likley score on run and have one more to play with in the inning. With the play made, the Sooners left 3 runners on base. (More on that later.)

i thought the UCF Coach Cindy Ball-Malone handled her pitching staff well with some nifty double-switches to use Felton (starting pitcher) twice in the game, use Halajian twice and DeVoe twice. That took some planning and thinking to do in the game. Kudos to her. But she might have gotten lucky on the popup to shallow RF too.

A couple of notes about the Sooner defense. The Sooners made 3 errors in the game. The way two of them were made is what concerns me, I think. Not the fact that they were made. The first error was made by Alynah Torres at 2B. With 2 outs and a runner on first base the ball was hit to her right towards the bag. As she got to the ball she reached to back hand the ball and it ticked off her glove into shallow CF. Torres had to chase done the ball as the runners ended up on 2nd and 3rd on the play. Torres should have made the play even though she covered some ground to get to the ball. She probably tried to sneak a look to see if she had a play at 2B as she reached for the base. It might have been a close play. The error was given because the runners picked up the extra bases on the play. It was the first error of the year by Torres. Errors just happen sometimes. Maxwell recovered to get a ground ball to 3B that Brito fielded and made the out to first. No real harm in the inning just an error. Torres also had another play in the 3rd inning where the ball was hit to her left, she got o the ball out in the grass to field the ball but the ball hit the end of her glove and stayed on the grass. This play was ruled a hit for Kotzelnick. I am not sure if there was a play or not on the ball as Torres would have had to picot and throw quickly to 1B to get the out. To me the only questions about the two plays is. "does Hodge make the play?". Who knows?

In the same inning, the 3rd, against the next hitter, the ball was put into play on a little looper to LF. As Rylie Boone charged the ball she really did not get fully to the ball as she reached for the ball, I think in effort to maybe make a play at 2B on the force. But the ball ticked off the end of her glove and went deeper into LF. The two runners ended up on 2nd and 3rd after the play and the error was given as the runners moved up. I will say that the first thing an OFer must do is get to the ball and make the initial play. I think that Boone might have been thinking too much about the next play, the throw to second base for the force and I am not sure there was a play there to make. The ball was not hit that hard. Maxwell once got out of trouble, this time with two ground balls, one to herself (nice play) and one to Torres at 2B. Again no real harm, but an error probably in judgement more than anything by Boone.

The last error was more of the same, poor judgement. After Maxwell had struck out the first two batters in the 5th, the hitter hit a hard single back at Kelly's head into CF (I think this was the hit). Jayda Coleman in a, shall I say foolish play, charged the play and then threw the ball to 1B trying to get a 8-3 force out. The ball was quickly into the screen and perhaps into the Sooner dugout and came back out on the field. The runner moved to second base on the overthrow. There was simply no need to make the throw. No need at all. With a runner on second after the error, the next hitter hit a double down the RF line that plated the runner on second base. I wonder if she would have scored from first base? I do not know. But she did score from second base. It was ruled an earned run for Maxwell,, I wonder about that.

Judgement about playing and throwing balls by the outfielders could have been better I think especially by seniors in the outfield.

I thought the umpires got the call right on the runners interference play to end the 6th inning when Jennings and the Kotzelnick collided between SS and 3B.

Overall, the Sooners had 11 hits, 8 walks and reached base on one error (Parker's fly ball to LF). The Sooners reached base 20 times in the game. That is very good. The Sooners scored 10 runs and left 8 runners on base. One runner was lost at home plate on the tag on Parker and one was lost on a double play. Yes, they left 8 runners on base. Five of them were runners that were walked and there were no hits after the walk. I will choose to be happy about the 20 base runners and not get hung up on 8 of 20 runners being left on base when five were by walks.

The Sooners had 2 HRs in the game by Brito, 2 run-HR, in the 1st inning and Coleman, sole shot, in the 5th. I will say good enough.

The Sooners had good games offensively by Coleman, Hansen and Brito ( 3 of the big 4 ) and also got a boost from Pickering (2 RBIs). That was what the Sooners needed in the game. The Sooners also got a nice effort by Maxwell as the starting pitcher. It was not her best effort of the year, but it was more than good enough.

Today, the Sooners look to win the second game for a series win. I think it will be Nicole May in the circle for the Sooners. I think UCF will start Willis today.

In today's game there is a BIG moment also possible if the Sooners win the game. Coach Patty Gasso can win her 1500th game of her career. That is a big milestone for her. I hope we get to see the celebration of that today after the game.

I hope the Sooners play smarter on defense, much smarter. I hope that the Sooners continue to get good offensive output from the four seniors and one of the other five starters. I also hope the Sooners get something from the 7th and 8th spots in the lineup tomorrow. They have been absent in the offense lately unless Torres has a good game in the batter's box. The Sooners could use better offense from the 8th spot lately.

I also hope that fans of the Sooners can watch the game and appreciate the good plays and not focus on a bad play here and there and expect a 23-0 shutout in five innings. If you look around, in just the Big 12 yesterday, OSU defeated Kansas twice by the scores of 5-2 and 6-5. Texas beat Iowa State 5-2. UCF is at least as good of a team as Kansas or Iowa State. Oklahoma won 10-2. A much larger win than by OSU twice or by Texas once. Smile and be happy! Sooners won! Sooner won!

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Sooner 10-2 won over UCF.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/4/26 ... st-knights

Boomer Sooner!

[TN Sooner]

If I did not know the score of the game, and read the majority of posts here, I would have thought the Sooners might have gotten beat by UCF. But they did win the game convincingly and there was almost no doubt they would not win the game after the top of the 1st. C'mon Sooner fans, I ask you to look for a few good things in a 10-2 win instead of finding every little thing you can to, well complain about, when the team wins by 8 runs. Yean they won by 8 runs. The other team is trying very hard to defeat the Sooners every game. The other team can play softball also. It game for the Sooners is never a cakewalk despite the Sooners sometimes making it look like that. Enjoy the victories in some way. Enjoy the fact that the Sooners won their 43rd win of the game. Enjoy the effort by Kelly Maxwell, Jayda Coleman (2 for 3, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 walks), Kinzie Hansen (3 for 4 with an RBI), Kasidi Pickering (2 for 3 with 2 RBIs with a walk) and Alyssa Brito (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBIs) played well for the Sooners offensively. There were many things to be positive about. Many.

This is very well said 56! Though, in fairness, I assume this was more directed at another board, as this board was pretty much silent yesterday. This certainly was true on another board I frequent, and has on occasion, been true here.

This was a great win by the Sooners and offers encouragement for developing a post-season mindset. After all - OU’s postseason effectively begins next weekend. I could argue it is already post season as the teams jostle for big 12 regular season title.

[OUBeliever56A]

This is very well said 56! Though, in fairness, I assume this was more directed at another board, as this board was pretty much silent yesterday. This certainly was true on another board I frequent, and has on occasion, been true here.

This was a great win by the Sooners and offers encouragement for developing a post-season mindset. After all - OU’s postseason effectively begins next weekend. I could argue it is already post season as the teams jostle for big 12 regular season title.

Yes, it was much more meant at another board. I am lazy though and post the same story both places often.

Yes, in effect the post-season has begun.

[AustinTXSooner]

Having coached baseball for a dozen years, I tend to look at games as a coach. Whether the official scorekeeper rules something is an error or not means nothing to a coach. You know when a player makes a mistake. There was a ball hit over Boone's head that she initially broke in on and then had to turn and run. She was able to keep it to a single, which it probably would have been even if she had taken a good first step. But that first step is what a coach looks at and works on.

Jayda's air mail to first base was a mental mistake. I don't know if Jayda has a history with that girl, or if something was said between them earlier, but there was no reason for that throw. That can be corrected by talking to her. She knows better, but what was going through her mind?

On the UCF side, their outfielder that air mailed one to the plate should have taken the sure out at 2nd base. When OU gives you a sure out, you have to take it.

[1KCSoonerFan]

In Defense of Chicken Little:

Defense 1.) I think it's the scoring lulls for multiple innings that get folks nervous, including myself at times. I think if OU had scored one or two runs each inning, the vibe of the game might have switched from "scoring drought" to "steady progress".

Defense 2.) The hot start also seemed to indicate the Sooners were about to destroy CFU....and the game would end early in a run-rule. The fact that the early fireworks stopped abruptly for the mid-part of the game killed the thrills to some extent. High-scoring games are like a party where the music never stops and your favorite songs keep playing one after the other. Silence is a buzz kill.

Defense 3.) Sports Talk and Coach this past week spoke about the team putting it all together and peaking during this last stretch. I think there was a degree of expectation and hope for a win that looked and felt closer to "peaking" than it turned out to be. Leaving runners on base and making defensive errors popped that bubble - as unrealistic as it may have been.

Defense 4.) There is no defense because Chicken is gonna Little sometimes. I think some of the biggest lovers of the program are the harshest critics because they want OU to win so badly - and probably associate the team's success with their own success. Fans!

I kept thinking that the defense and pitching was holding very well, and that 5 runs in the first inning was going to stick as "enough" for the win. I was very pleased to see some of our big hitters have great nights.

I was disappointed we missed some chances to really bury the Golden Knights because I wanted the ladies to get the confidence bump. I was really pulling for Jennings to get that big hit, for example. TRA could use a couple big hits right now.

Finally, it gets back to "This is a different team" - and they play, win and lose differently, too. They may never "come together" or "peak" in a way that we want or hope to see. This certainly does not mean they cannot win it all - they'll just do it their way.

[TropicalSooner]

UCF is a very veteran team. Only 1 sophomore has been able to break into the Jr/Sr/5th yr laden starting lineup. These girls have broken or set all kinds of records for the UCF Softball program. They are at home. They will be playing loose---they have nothing to lose. That kind of setup is always dangerous, to me. If our pitching staff is on point and throws the games they are capable of, then our offense will score enough runs to win every game. But if we allow them to get a foot in the door, we will have problems. We may wind up using all the pitchers we have at some point. But if Maxwell and May and Deal take command of the games they start and mow down the batters, then we will be ok.

I wrote this about an hour before the game yesterday as a game preview on a couple of other chat group sites. In spite of the score in game one the Knights are a very very capable team. We came to play as well, however, and overall our offense was able to overpower their pitching, and Maxwells pitching while probably not up to her own expectations, was very good and more than enough.

Another poster in a game thread made an observation about the dry spell the offense had during the middle innings saying our batters weren't not only getting hits, but they weren't fighting for their at bats--4 or 5 pitches and then the out. And another poster mentioned that we need to send our batters to the Jana Johns school of fouling pitches, noting she was famous for fouling off 11-12 pitches and then getting a walk. (While a fun thought, I do think that may be becoming a lost art though). Even Alo was famous for fouling off 5, 6, 7 pitches waiting for the one she wanted. But Johns seemed to take it to a whole 'nuther level.
Anyway, looking back, we weren't particularly desperate at the plate for walks, we still got 8 of them in addition to our 11 hits. But, I know I'm one of the ones that get nervous when we hit dry patches and the other team keeps trying to chip away and chip away at an early lead that we start off with. However, I never really felt this game was out of control.

My goodness, we won 10-2. Just look around at other teams that must have some envy over that: Former #2 ranked powerhouse LSU lost to Arkansas 2-1 (at home!), Alabama led by Kayla Beaver lost to Tennessee 5-0 (also at home), and former #3 powerhouse Georgia was crushed by Florida 9-1 in 5 innings (also at home!!!).

Today I think we see Nicole May take the circle. She has seen most of the UCF roster at some point in her career. And the last game she pitched against the Knights in the '22 Super Regional, she won 7-1 scattering just 3 hits over 7 innings, giving up two walks whie striking out 4. She threw 88 pitches in that game while getting 9 fly outs and 8 ground outs. And I expect to see Senior Sarah Willis in the circle for the Knights.
We have two Senior laden teams going at it again this afternoon. I'm hoping our Senior bats come alive and win the series with todays game.

[BudaSooner]

Welp, we won another nail-biter, made MUCH more nerve-wracking than it should have been, thanks to Avery Hodges untimely boot of a routine grounder that should have been out #1 in the bottom of the 7th, OU leading 2-0.
After two ground ball fielder's choice plays, (game should have been over at that point), UCF's Halajian nearly hit it out of the park, instead, it was a double that cut the lead to 2-1.

Kiersten, however, was ice in the clutch, getting their pinch-hitter to ground out to Tiare, who made the putout to 1st to retire the side. WHEEEW!!!

Lots of credit to both Kiersten Deal and the UCF pitcher, Willis, who threw a 2-hitter at OU's vaunted lineup in a losing cause.

I don't know what Hodge's fielding percentage is, but errors like that, when all the marbles are on the line, are what should get her a seat full of splinters on the bench!

Deal was ICE all game long! ... as someone else has noted in another thread, OU really cannot afford to lose one of these games at UCF, what with UT's creampuff schedule the rest of the way. One loss ties us with them, and due to their winning the series in Austin, would give them the #1 seed in the Big 12 tourney, not to mention winning the regular season over us!

[TN Sooner]

Actually, the Big 12 does not do tie-breakers for regular season champions - yes, Texas would have the 1 seed in the tourney, but both OU and Texas would be co-champs and get trophies. See the 2023 women’s basketball- ksu swept us, but we both “won” big 12 title.