Deal is doing pretty well. Hodge plays great defense at 2nd but We need more from her at bats. I like Boone in the 9 hole. Pickering staying smoking hot. Kinzie struggling a bit at the plate.
Last comment for right now. I thought Nichole Mendez did good when teaming Plank in the past. I have been listening to her for both Flo Softball Tournaments and she is wearing me thin. I know she is trying to show neutrality and be objective but she goes overboard.
We're finishing bottom of the 4th, and Sooners lead 2-0. Top of 5th, SDSU batting. Deal has been pitching, effectively. I gots dem squishy ball blues. (I want more homers)
Deal still pitching. Fly out to right, for one out. Another fly out to Boone, for out #2. Shallow flyout to Coleman for out #3. Sooners up in bottom of 5th, now. Brito gets a single. Pitching change for SDSU. Pickering grounds out. Jennings at bat. She BLASTS A HOMER! Now it's 4-0. One out. Now Parker at bat. She shallow flys out to left. Now 2 outs. Another pitching change for SDSU. Hansen hits a double. Sanders is up.She walks. Ludlam pinch hitting. She whiffs. End of 5th inning.
Destini Martinez said last year that believed Deal would be one of the top pitchers in the country in a year or 2. I am excited about her continuing development
JSULL60 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 9:45 pm Destini Martinez said last year that believed Deal would be one of the top pitchers in the country in a year or 2. I am excited about her continuing development
After her slow start this year, I have been very positively surprised by her doing so well in her last 2 outings. If she keeps improving , HOW GOOD IS THAT?!!?
Sooner SB - Oklahoma 7 - San Diego State 0 - Deal and Jennings !
The Oklahoma Sooners Softball won their 12th game in arow to open the season with a 7-0 win over San Diego State on Saturday afternoon at the Mary Nutter Classic. The win for the Sooners was led by Kierston Deal in the circle with a nice, nifty 3-hit CG shutout with 6 strikeouts and a HB while Tiare Jennings was 3 for 4 with a double, HR and 4 RBIs at the plate. Deal's effort was her second straight CG Shutout of the season while Jennings now has 52 doubles, 78 HRs and 260 RBIs in her career.
Deal was in very good form as 5 of her 6 strikeouts were swings and misses. Most of her strikes yesterday were swinging misses it seemed. She allowed a single and a HB in the first innings but ended the first inning with a swinging K. Deal then ran off 4 straight 1, 2, 3, innings with 3 Ks in that stretch. She did pick up a couple fine plays by Hodge at 2B on a nice backhand play with a strong throw to 1B and a fly ball by Boone in foul territory in RF for an out. In the 6th, Deal allowed a single up the middle but picked up her 5th strikeout in the inning. In the 7th, she opened with a swinging K, before allowing two runners, one who reached on an error and one a single before she got two lazy fly outs to end the game. She threw 86 pitches in the game.
On offense, the Sooners scored 2 runs in the second on a 2-out single by Coleman to score Bland (running for Sanders) and Boone. Before the Coleman 2-out hit, the Sooners received a helpful call of 'obstruction' at 3B on a missed 'bunt & run' when Bland was probably safe anyway at 3B. That moved the two runners to 2nd and 3rd for Coleman's hit.
In the fifth inning after a Brito single, Jennings hit a line drive HR to CF that hit the tents beyond the fence for a 4-0 lead by Oklahoma. Later in the inning, Hansen showed some speed as she turned a single into a 'double' as the CF bobbled the ball as she picked tried to pick up the grounder. Hansen made very good slide around the tag to get her had on the bag without being tagged. An error was charged on the CF, but Hansen's effort was noted.
In the 6th, Brito walked with 2 outs. Coor was sent to the plate to pinch hit for Pickering and picked up her first career hit as a Sooner on a ground ball between SS and 3B to move Brito to 2B. Jennings followed with a line drive to LC and the track meet was on as Brito scored from 2nd and Coor score easily from 1B as Jennings doubled. Parker followed with another 2-out hit to drive in Jennings to make the score 7-0.
The OU offense was 12 for 30 again (twice in three games for a .400 BA) and had 3 walks and 2 strikeouts with Jennings' double and HR. The Sooners did leave 8 of 15 baserunners on the bases though. But it is only the second time this season the Sooners have left more than half of their baserunners on base in a game. Pickering and Hansen had 2 hits in the game.
The Sooners are now hitting .355 BA, .441 OB% and .565 Slug% and is now scoring 7.8 runs a game. The Sooner pitchers have an 0.84 ERA with a BAA of .162. No pitcher has an ERA above a 1.43 ERA.
In today's game (Sunday) OU plays Seattle and LMU. Seattle is 6-8 on the season and is 1-4 at the Mary Nutter Classic. LMU is 5-9 but is 3-1 this weekend in the Mary Nutter Classic.
I think that Keeney probably starts the first game against Seattle and one of May or Maxwell will start against LMU. Monticelli should see some relief action today in the circle. Oklahoma is playing a little better this week. Hopefully the Sooners leave California for the friendly, but unfamiliar confines of Love's Field next weekend with a 14-0 record after two wins today.
Deal is doing pretty well. Hodge plays great defense at 2nd but We need more from her at bats. I like Boone in the 9 hole. Pickering staying smoking hot. Kinzie struggling a bit at the plate.