Sooner SB wins 8-0: Deal No-Hits & Key Hits fuel victory in OKC!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners played Tulsa at the Hall of Fame Field in OKC on Tuesday night with Kierston Deal tossing a neat no-hitter with only 2 base runners allowed in the 8-0 six inning run-rule victory by the Sooners. Key hits by the Sooners offense in two different innings provided enough offense for the run-rule victory. The lower bowl of the Hall of Fame field was almost full as 4,908 Sooner and Hurricane fans watched the game on what was a very nice evening at the ball park.

Deal was dealing last night even though she only had 4 strikeouts. By my count, Deal only saw 3 balls against three batters last night. She threw 44 strikes in the 70 pitches she threw in her 6 inning CG shutout and did not allow a hit in her effort. In the 5th inning she did hit a batter on the arm on an inside pitch and then on a swinging ground out, Kinzie Hansen got her glove in the way of the batter's swing and was called for catchers interference. But she got out of the inning with no damage as she only faced two batters over the minimum for 6 innings. It was Deal's 9th win of the season against one loss. Her ERA is now 1.16 on the season. It was a very nice outing by Deal against Tulsa.

I will say that the Tulsa offense was not as strong last night as what I thought it might be. I would say that the Tulsa leadoff hitter, Denson, is not Agbayani of BYU either. But Deal did keep Tulsa off-stride the entire game. There were two balls hit hard. Rylie Boone made a very nice play in the top of the 3rd when the Tulsa RF hit a line drive down the RF line that was about made it to the warning track. The reason it did not make it to the track was that Boone streaked towards the ball and with a full out dive caught the ball that was ruled fair as she landed and slide on the grass/warning track in foul territory. It was a great 'Sportscenter worthy' catch. (Maybe it is the best defensive play of the year for the Sooners.) The other nice play was made by Alyssa Brito at 3B. A line drive was hit to her left that she jumped and got fully extended to her left to catch the ball and then had to land prone on the infield dirt to make the catch. It was a nice play.

On offense, Oklahoma was pretty quiet in 4 of the 5.1 innings they played last night. In the 1st inning, Jayda Coleman opened the game with a single on a hard hit ground ball right at the Tulsa 3B player that glanced off her glove a step behind her as Coleman beat the throw to 1B for the hit per the scorer. The play had to be reviewed and overturned to get the single as the original call was out by the 1st Base umpire. Live, Coleman looked safe pretty easily per Coach Fale at 1B. She was right. The single did not lead to anything for the Sooners.

In the 2nd inning, OU picked up a leadoff walk by Hansen and a two-out walk by Cydney Sanders as the inning did not provide any runs.

In the 3rd inning with one out, Brito hit a low liner to RF that the Tulsa fielder decided to try to get to but was a step or two short as the ball bounced up and over her as she went to the ground and Brito was off and running to third base for a triple. Tiare Jennings walked before Ella Parker ripped a single up the middle of the defense to plate Brito and move Jennings to second base. Hansen hit a fly ball deep enough into foul territory down the RF line that was caught for the second out but both runners, Jennings and Parker moved up a base on the play. That was a key. Alynah Torres the next hitter for Oklahoma. Torres lined a double to LC to plate both runners to make the score 3-0. Kasidi Pickering hit the next pitch on a line to the SS for the 3rd out. (Pickering is in a bit of a slump right now, she needed that line drive to find a gap in the defense.)

In the 4th, after a leadoff walk by Sanders, Boone hit a sharp liner at the 3B player who caught the ball and threw to 1B for a line drive double play. Sanders really did not take an extra step or anything at first after her initial break off the bag on the pitch. She just did not react to the catch quickly enough. But it was another base running error. The final out was on a foul popup.

In the 5th, another play was not helpful. Brito singled to center field to open the inning. On a 3-2 pitch, Jennings swung at a pitch that was maybe a strike, maybe a ball that was low and outside with Brito running on the pitch. It looked and felt like a hit-n-run play as Brito did not get a good jump on the play as she was thrown out at second base on her 'steal' attempt. What ever the play was, it was not executed well. A ground out ended the inning.

In the sixth inning, Rylie Ludlam opened the inning by pinch hitting for Hansen. She walked. Torres then grounded back to the pitcher who turned and threw wildly to second base as the ball was quickly into CF. On her slide at second base tried to execute the popup-slide and move to 3B but lost her balance a bit and fell on the bag and did not advance. (Glad I was not out there trying to do a popup-slide and run to 3B, i might have hurt myself.) With runners on 1st and 2nd, Avery Hodge entered the game to pinch hit for Pickering. On a 0-2 count Hodge hit a nice line drive just inside the left field line for a hard single that loaded the bases. On the second pitch to Sanders, she went the other way on a pitch over the outside half of th eplate and lined a HR over the RC fence for a grand slam HR for the Sooners and a 7-0 lead. After a pitching change, Boone walked to keep the inning going. Coleman then hit the ball hard to LC but was out on a nice running play by the Tulsa LF. Brito was then hit ever so slightly on the arm for a BHP and moved Boone to second base. Jennings then hit a single up the middle to plate the 8th run and close out the game with a run rule victory by OU.

I thought that the Tulsa's pitching was strong by Nash and Anderson but key hits hurt them. I can see the outline of a good team in Tulsa. They dropped to 27-15 with the loss.

The Sooner move to 39-4 on the season and picked up their 21st run-rule and their 19th shutout of the season. They were 8 of 23 and picked up 6 walks and 3 Ks with a double (Torres), a triple (Brito) and a GS HR (Sanders). It was a 'good enough' offensive show by Oklahoma.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the win over Tulsa.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/4/16 ... n-rule-win

Up next is the Houston Cougars in Love's Field for 3 games starting on Friday. Saturday will be a busy day with the Spring FB game at 1 PM and the Sooner SB game at 6 PM. Rain is also forecasted for Saturday.

On thing to note. It sounds like the Sooners practiced at Love's Field on Monday and on Tuesday before the game in OKC. That probably means that this weekend, if you get there early enough, the Sooners will take BP on Love's Field. That might be a treat to watch, The gates open at 4:30 before the 6 PM game.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Boone's catch.

[OUBeliever56A]

Brito's catch.

[OUBeliever56A]

First No-Hitter of Kierston Deal's Oklahoma Career