Kentucky Softball has no answer for No. 1 Oklahoma in front of sold-out crowd
They call No. 1 Oklahoma “Home Run U” for a reason. The undefeated No. 1 Sooners put up six homers on the No. 8 Wildcats Tuesday night, good enough for a 9-1 win in six innings. The crowd at John Cropp Stadium was the first sell-out since the 2013 SEC Championship and first regular-season sell-out in program history.
Missed opportunities + hot Sooner bats
NCAA career home run leader Jocelyn Alo got things going early for the Sooners. As she has 23 other times in her career, Alo hit a homer in the first inning to give Oklahoma a 1-0 lead. It was home run No. 101 of her college career.
After two quick outs afterward to end the inning, the ‘Cats got their shot on offense. Kentucky loaded the bases with no outs after a leadoff single from Kayla Kowalik and two defensive errors from starting OU pitcher Jordyn Bahl. Bahl dug in the next few at-bats, though. She struck out Tatum Spangler swinging for the final out, stranding three Wildcats on base.
Oklahoma’s Lynnsie Elam added another solo homer in the second to extend the lead to 2-0. After the ‘Cats went three-up, three-down in their half of the inning, OU took the batter’s box again. This time, the Sooners wanted more than just one run. An RBI single up the middle made it 3-0. Shortly after, another homer from Lynnsie Elam doubled the Oklahoma lead to 6-0.
Alyssa Brito wanted in on the action during the following inning. She launched a deep ball to centerfield, giving OU a commanding 7-0 lead with their fourth homer of the match.
‘Cats find the scoreboard
Oklahoma pitcher Jordyn Bahl was phenomenal for the Sooners. Bahl, a freshman from Papillion, Nebraska, was the 2020-21 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year. After a few hiccups in the first inning, Bahl settled in. She nursed a no-hitter until Renee Abernathy’s solo homer in the bottom of the fourth spoiled the fun. On the next at-bat, Meeko Harrison snuck one down the middle to reach first, but Emmy Blane couldn’t convert for more runs. The ‘Cats entered the fifth inning in a 7-1 hole.
After keeping the hot OU bats at bay in the top of the fifth, the ‘Cats needed momentum. They found it with pair of singles from Smith and Kowalik, but couldn’t get any more on the board. Oklahoma added two more solo home runs in the sixth inning. Three Sooners had two homers each, good enough for a 9-1 final score.
After Tuesday’s contest, the Sooners are now a perfect 26-0 on the season. OU now leads the all-time series with the Wildcats 8-1. Kentucky’s sole win came in 2014.
The ‘Cats don’t get much of a break before tackling another ranked opponent. UK will welcome the No. 18 Auburn Tigers to town this weekend. That series is set to begin Friday afternoon at 6 p.m.
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