OU softball caps weekend with two shutouts

WACO, Texas — No. 1 Oklahoma completed the conference sweep of No. 16/19 Baylor with a pair of shutout wins in Saturday’s doubleheader, 4-0 and 2-0.

Starting pitcher Alex Storako dominated in the first contest of the doubleheader, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings. She improved to 14-0 while Baylor’s Kaci West received the loss (6-2).

ordy Bahl entered in the seventh and earned the save, her second of the year. Storako allowed three free passes in the victory, marking the first outing of the year she allowed multiple walks.

After four scoreless innings, the Sooners (42-1, 12-0) recorded four runs in the sixth inning.

Junior second baseman Tiare Jennings opened the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Senior catcher Kinzie Hansen tallied her first career triple, plating the first run of the inning. Pinch hitter Sophia Nugent walked the next at-bat and the Sooners had runners on the corners with one out. Sophomore first baseman Cydney Sanders smashed a three-run home run to left field to provide the final tally, her fourth home run of the season and second in as many games.

Baylor (34-13, 4-8) had its best scoring chance in the seventh inning.

After a walk and hit by pitch had two runners on with no outs, Oklahoma recorded its first out of the inning on a flyout to right. Bahl relieved Storako and the Sooners captured the second out on a fielder’s choice. Baylor had runners on the corners and the bases loaded after a walk. Bahl induced a groundout to redshirt senior shortstop Grace Lyons to end the game.

Sanders finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run. Hansen, Lyons and senior left fielder Rylie Boone each recorded a hit.

In the series finale, starter Nicole May dazzled in the circle, pitching a complete game two-hitter. May improved to 13-0 this season and Baylor’s Dariana Orme earned the loss (14-7).

The duo of Jennings and junior third baseman Alyssa Brito needed only two swings of the bat to provide the difference needed to sweep the Bears.

Jennings put the Sooners on the board with a solo homer in the first inning and Brito followed suit with a solo blast of her own in the second. It marked Jennings’ 11th of the season and Brito’s 10th of her junior campaign.

Jennings finished the second game 3-for-4 at the plate. Jayda Coleman, Haley Lee and Alynah Torres each tallied a hit in the series finale.

OU collected its fourth Big 12 sweep of the season, moving to 12-0 in conference play and securing its 52nd straight conference series victory (44 sweeps in that span). The trio of shutouts was the second Big 12 series this season the Sooners have not allowed a run (vs. Texas Tech).

The Sooners have won 88 of their last 90 Big 12 regular season games.

On the season, the Sooners are outscoring the opposition 355-35 and have hit 80 home runs to go with a nation-best .372 team batting average. The pitching staff has tossed 26 shutouts in OU’s 43 games with 333 strikeouts and a .152 opponent batting average.

UP NEXT

The Sooners travel to No. 23/23 Wichita State for a Tuesday matchup against the Shockers. First pitch is at 6 p.m. and can be seen via ESPN+ and heard on 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity Network app.