Oklahoma Softball moves to 8-0 with 9-0 Shutout of Army in Waco

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners methodically defeated Army on Saturday evening 9-0 in five innings in their 4th run-rule win in a row. The Sooners are now 8-0 for the season and are starting to play pretty well. The game also was the Sooners 4th straight shutout and 6th of the season. While the offense is starting to heat for the Sooners, the pitching has been, well, on fire in every way. The Sooner pitchers have allowed 5 runs in 8 games with 4 in the game against Washington.

Nicole May continued her strong pitching this season as she got the start in the circle and tossed a one walk, 4 inning, 10K performance to open the game for OU. The only blemish on May's outing was a walk to the 3rd hitter of the game after she had an 0-2 count on the hitter. May had 3 K in the first inning with one batter looking at strike 3. May picked up another K with the batter looking in the 2nd inning. May struck out the side in the 3rd and 4th with one batter looking again at strike 3 in each inning. May threw 45 strikes in the 70 pitches (64.3%) that she threw. Jordy Bahl pitched the top of the 5th as if she had a train to catch. She got two ground ball outs to 3B on her first two pitches. She threw 4 pitches to the 3rd hitter of the inning as she recorded a K to end the game. Bahl threw 6 strikes in her 7 pitches (85.7%). The duo of May and Bahl tossed a 5 inning no-hitter with 1 walk and 11 Ks in the game. The game is the first no-hitter of the season for the Sooners.

The offense for the Sooners scored in 3 of the 4 innings that they batted. The Sooners tallied 2 walks, 2 doubles, and 3 SBs in the first to score 3 runs. Coleman and Brito had the doubles, Lyons and Erickson had the walks. Coleman had 2 of the SBs with Lyons adding the 3rd SB. Coleman and Lyons pulled off the 1st-n-3rd double steal to plate the first run of the game. Brito's double plated the second run and Sanders' SFLY plated the 3rd run. The final out of the game was made by the Army LF who made a nice catch of a sinking line drive hit by Torres.

The Sooners scored 2 runs in the 2nd on a single by Boone and a 2-run HR by Jennings. Welcome to the home run trot in 2023 to Tiare! The Army pitcher made a nice play on a soft-slap, as Chris Plank calls it, hit to the 2B side of the pitcher that required a quick ball transfer and throw to get Coleman.

While Oklahoma did not score in the 3rd, Nugent did have a blop double down the LF line with 2 outs.

In the fourth, Rylie Boone picked up her 2nd hit of the game on a very nice bunt that was close to perfect. She stole second base before Coleman flied out to LF. Lyons pushed Boone to 3B on a ground ball to SS that the Army first baseman just simply did not catch as it clanked off her glove for an error. Lyons. The next pitch from the Army pitcher was deposited a long way out towards the east-west road south of Gettermen Field/Park. Erickson hit the ball a long way for a 3-run HR and her 4th HR of the season. Brito doubled off the fence over the LF head following Erickson's blast. Sanders hit a line drive single to RF to drive in Brito for the 4th run of the inning.

The final score was 9-0. OU had 9 hits in 21 at bats, with 4 doubles and 2 HRs. They had 3 walks and 1 K and a SFLY with 4 stolen bases. The Sooners left 4 of 13 runners that reached base (30.8%). The Sooners batting statistics moved a bit higher again after the Army win. OU now has only two hitters with more than 2 at bats that are hitting less than .333 for the season. They have 11 hitters with a .400 or better OB%.

I will say this about the Army team. Specifically the pitchers. They threw strikes and made the Sooners hit the ball and the Army defense played well except for the one error at 1B.

A 'house cleaning' item I need to clean up. After game 6 one Friday, I commented about OU starting three lefties in the outfield and that I thought it had been a while. Well, my memory failed me. In 2021, in the second Super Regional game against Washington, Boone LF, Coleman CF and Mendes RF started the game. It was not as long as I thought. Boone only started 9 games in 2021. In the last game Boone started, the Sooners started 3 LH outfielders.

Another milestone comparison. Jocelyn Alo hit her 3rd and 4th HRs of her career in the 8th game she played against Arizona State in 2018. The 'new Jocelyn' Erickson, hit her 4th HR of her career in the 8th game of 2023. BUT, it is the 6th game that Erickson has played in this season. Alo started all 8 of the games in 2018. Jennings hit her 4th HR in her 2nd game in 2021 after she hit 3 HRs against UTEP in the 13 HR game to open the season for OU.

Today's final game in Waco is against Baylor. All four pitchers have pitched, with three of them starting in the circle. Does Deal start today? I don't think so. I believe it will likely be Bahl that starts but it could be Storako as Baylor has never seen the Michigan pitcher in her four season there. I think I would try to give Baylor a 3rd pitcher to contemplate between now and the Big 12 series in Waco later this year.

As for the offensive lineup. I think I figured something out. Erickson has not been behind the plate yet because of this thought. Hansen and Lee/Nugent may hold down the catching duties in 2023 because Erickson needs to be in the lineup somewhere. If Erickson catches it takes a really good hitter out of the lineup. SO I think we will see Erickson at DP, RF and 1B most of the time. At this point, it is tough to keep Erickson out of the lineup.

I do think that Bahl likes to pitch to Nugent. I think Storako likes to pitch to Lee. That is likely to determine who catches today. If May catches, Erickson will likely be at DP. If Nugent catches, Erickson will be in RF with Lee at DP. Sanders will be at 1B, Jennings at 2B, Lyons at SS and Brito at 3B. Boone or Lilio (maybe Bahl) will start in LF with Coleman in CF. If Erickson is not in RF, it could be Torres or Lilio in RF today.

I wonder if Orme will be in the circle for Baylor today. Baylor has a choice of Crandall, Orme, West and Binford to send to the circle. I think today's game against Baylor could be facing the 2nd best offense of the season behind Washington. Baylor is probably as good or better on offense than Kentucky and Stanford or Liberty. Today's game is a game that OU needs to focus and bring their best game to win today. I hope they remember the last game against Baylor. The 3-1 last out win for OU against Orme in Norman last year.

Boomer Sooner!