No. 1 Oklahoma opens Big 12 tournament with 10-2 run-rule win over Baylor
No. 1 Oklahoma softball began postseason play on Friday with the first day of the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship in Oklahoma City.
The top-seeded Sooners opened pool play with a 10-2 win against the fourth-seeded Baylor Bears as they look to claim the tournament this weekend for the clean sweep of conference titles. They won the regular-season crown last weekend in Stillwater.
Getting the start for Patty Gasso’s club was redshirt senior Shannon Saile (15-0) who allowed two first-inning runs but then tossed four straight scoreless innings, finishing with 10 strikeouts.
Baylor’s runs in the first came on an RBI single from third baseman Taylor Ellis and an error.
In the second, Oklahoma took a 4-2 lead on a sacrifice fly from first baseman Taylon Snow and a three-run home run from center fielder Jayda Coleman.
💥 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 💥@Jaydac00 with the three-run 💣 to put us on top!
END 2 | OU 4, BU 2 | 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/lcZDjYpjmC
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 14, 2021
Oklahoma expanded that lead to 6-2 in the third on a moon shot solo home run from catcher Kinzie Hansen and an RBI double from left fielder Mackenzie Donihoo.
After another scoreless inning from Saile in the top of the fourth, Hansen went deep for her second home run of the day — a three-run blast that just cleared the center field fence and gave the Sooners a 9-2 lead.
𝐊𝟗 with back-to-back 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐒 🚀@kinziehansen's 4️⃣th game of the season with 2️⃣ HRs!
B4 | OU 9, BU 2 | 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/PoIR4p3xRB
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 14, 2021
In the fifth, Oklahoma needed one run to win via the run-rule. Second baseman Tiare Jennings happily obliged with a sacrifice fly to score Coleman.
Oklahoma (43-2) did what it often does: dominate. Oklahoma will return to action in Oklahoma City this evening at approximately 7:30 p.m. CT to face Texas Tech looking to punch their ticket to Saturday’s championship game.
