Kierston Deal, Tiare Jennings keep OU softball perfect
OU softball has so many pitchers that you might forget one or two. Sophomore Kierston Deal is making sure you remember her.
Deal was fantastic in shutting down San Diego State to help OU to a 7-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in California.
She pitched all seven innings. Deal allowed three hits and struck out six, needing just 86 pitches. It is the seventh shutout this season for the Sooners. It is the first seven-inning complete game for OU.
With pitching like that, all you need is a little bit of offense. And when you have players like Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings, that’s eventually going to happen.
Coleman drove in two runs in the bottom of the second. Then Jennings provided more separation with a two-run home run in the fifth. Jennings added more insurance with two more RBIs in the sixth.
OU 9, Mississippi State 3 (Friday)
OU softball head coach Patty Gasso talked earlier this week about challenging her team. Or more specifically, the offense.
Pitching and defense had been on-point for the No. 1 Sooners. But the offense? Wasn’t where it needed to be.
Message received as OU scored in each of the first five innings in the victory against No. 20/25 Mississippi State on Friday..
MSU is the only ranked opponent the Sooners will face this weekend and struck early with a 2-0 lead. But Kinzie Hansen erased that with one swing, a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.
From there, Nicole May (4-0) settled down in the circle. And the OU bats kept on firing.
Senior Tiare Jennings drove in two runs. Her second RBI put her in second place all-time for career RBIs, surpassing Lauren Chamberlain.
OU had 12 hits against the Bulldogs. Jayda Coleman, Ella Parker, Alyssa Brito and Jennings each had two hits for the Sooners.
SJ Geurin was solid in relief. And then Kelly Maxwell struck out four in 1.1 innings pitched to seal the deal.
OU 10, Wisconsin 2 (5) (Friday)
OU was in a battle for three innings. And then decided it was time to shut this one down. A 2-2 game in the bottom of the fourth became a 10-2 one and another run-rule victory.
It was nothing flashy, just a great job of taking advantage of every little miscue made by the Badgers in that eight-run fourth.
Kelly Maxwell picked up the win as the starter. Karlie Keeney came in and pitched the fifth inning to wrap it up for Gasso’s club.
Up next
No. 1 OU (12-0) is back at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, with two more Sunday. It begins vs. Seattle at 11 a.m. and concludes against Loyola Marymount at 1:30 p.m. The Sooner winning streak is now 65 games.
