OU Softball Closes out HoF in a 7-1 win over Auburn, now 27-1 !
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:43 am
The Oklahoma Sooner Softball Team did a couple things that they do best on Sunday in their 7-1 win over the Auburn Tigers. OU pitched extremely well, and they hit THREE two run HRs to pave the way to their victory.
In a bit of an odd-stat to me. The duo of Alex Storako and Jordy Bahl reached 2 strikes to almost every Auburn hitter that they faced in the game. Storako (5.0 IP) and Bahl (2.0 IP) faced 25 batters. Only two hitters, McCondichie in the second, and B. Ellis in the sixth did not see 2 strikes. Both McCondichie and Ellis hit the first pitch they saw in their at bats and hit foul popups to Brito at third base. As a result of the 23 batters faced with 2 strikes, the Sooners struck out 13 of them. Even on the 2 hits and 2 walks that Auburn had, all four were with 2 strikes on the batter.
The only blemish on the day for the Sooners in the circle was a full count solo HR hit by the Auburn leadoff hitter Peralta. It did not bother Storako that much though as she promptly struck out the next two batters, the first looking with the next one swinging to get back on track in a big way.
The Oklahoma duo of Storako and Bahl pounded the strike zone with 77 strikes out of 111 pitches for 69.4%. Here are the stats for Storako and Bahl:
Storako - 5.0 IP - 2 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 11 Ks with 1 solo HR and 1 single. Storako got the win to move to 10-0.
Bahl - 2.0 IP - 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 Ks.
On offense the Sooners started a bit slowly but warmed up a the game moved along. The three big blows were by Coleman, Jennings and Hansen. To open the bottom of the 3rd, Cydney Sanders walked on a 3-2 count. Coleman, on an 0-1 count, cranked a HR over the LF wall to give the Sooners the lead for the first time in the game 2-1.
The Sooners more or less put the game away in the bottom of the 5th when after a single up the middle by Coleman, Tiare Jennings hit a w run HR to LF on a 1-2 count. After a single by the next hitter, Alynah Torres, Auburn decided to remove Penta from the circle and brought in the lefty Lowe to pitch. Kinzie Hansen promptly hit a 2-1 pitch from Lowe over the RF fence for another 2-run HR in a back-to-back 2-run HR scenario for Oklahoma.
In the bottom of the 6th, Coleman singled on a beautiful bunt for her fourth hit of the game. After a wild pitch and a passed ball, Coleman was on 3rd base. Jennings plated Coleman with a fly ball to RF on a SFLY to make the score 7-1.
Oklahoma put base runners on the bases in every inning on a two singles by Coleman and Hansen in the first. But on a not often seen play, the Auburn SS, Peralta, threw the ball to home plate to get Coleman trying to score on the Hansen single up the middle in a bang-bang play at the plate. It was a head's up play by Peralta against the aggressive Sooner base running. In the second inning, Grace Lyons singled. In the 4th inning, Brito and Boone singled. In the 5th, Lyons added her second single after the back-to-back 2-run HRs. Torres doubled in the bottom of the 6th after the SFLY by Jennings.
The Sooner offense was 13 for 30 in the game with 1 double and 3 HRs with a walk, 6 Ks and a SFLY.
It was a very solid win over Auburn on Sunday. It wrapped up a weekend that the Sooners were 5-0 at the Hall of Fame Tourney while winning the five games by a total of 48-3. It is interesting that the 3 runs scored against OU were on 3 solo HRs. OU only allowed a total of 13 hits in the 5 games with 3 being solo HRs. The Sooners struck out 58 hitters in 28 innings at the HoF.
For the week, including the South Dakota State and Florida State games, The Sooners were 75 of 158 at the plate for a .421 BA and hit 18 doubles and 14 HRs in the 7 games for a Slug% of 0.770 for Oklahoma. The offense is starting to heat up for Oklahoma.
The Sooners are now 27-1 on the season and have won 19 games in a row since the loss to Baylor in Waco. Of their 28 games, Oklahoma has only played 6 home games during the season.
The Sooners will have a few days of practice after a day off on Monday before traveling to Ames to play a weekend series against Iowa State to open the Big 12 portion of their schedule. The weather in Ames looks to be "iffy" on Sunday. Friday and Saturday do not look too bad though. Stay attentive to the schedule for the weekend.
Boomer Sooner!
In a bit of an odd-stat to me. The duo of Alex Storako and Jordy Bahl reached 2 strikes to almost every Auburn hitter that they faced in the game. Storako (5.0 IP) and Bahl (2.0 IP) faced 25 batters. Only two hitters, McCondichie in the second, and B. Ellis in the sixth did not see 2 strikes. Both McCondichie and Ellis hit the first pitch they saw in their at bats and hit foul popups to Brito at third base. As a result of the 23 batters faced with 2 strikes, the Sooners struck out 13 of them. Even on the 2 hits and 2 walks that Auburn had, all four were with 2 strikes on the batter.
The only blemish on the day for the Sooners in the circle was a full count solo HR hit by the Auburn leadoff hitter Peralta. It did not bother Storako that much though as she promptly struck out the next two batters, the first looking with the next one swinging to get back on track in a big way.
The Oklahoma duo of Storako and Bahl pounded the strike zone with 77 strikes out of 111 pitches for 69.4%. Here are the stats for Storako and Bahl:
Storako - 5.0 IP - 2 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 11 Ks with 1 solo HR and 1 single. Storako got the win to move to 10-0.
Bahl - 2.0 IP - 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 Ks.
On offense the Sooners started a bit slowly but warmed up a the game moved along. The three big blows were by Coleman, Jennings and Hansen. To open the bottom of the 3rd, Cydney Sanders walked on a 3-2 count. Coleman, on an 0-1 count, cranked a HR over the LF wall to give the Sooners the lead for the first time in the game 2-1.
The Sooners more or less put the game away in the bottom of the 5th when after a single up the middle by Coleman, Tiare Jennings hit a w run HR to LF on a 1-2 count. After a single by the next hitter, Alynah Torres, Auburn decided to remove Penta from the circle and brought in the lefty Lowe to pitch. Kinzie Hansen promptly hit a 2-1 pitch from Lowe over the RF fence for another 2-run HR in a back-to-back 2-run HR scenario for Oklahoma.
In the bottom of the 6th, Coleman singled on a beautiful bunt for her fourth hit of the game. After a wild pitch and a passed ball, Coleman was on 3rd base. Jennings plated Coleman with a fly ball to RF on a SFLY to make the score 7-1.
Oklahoma put base runners on the bases in every inning on a two singles by Coleman and Hansen in the first. But on a not often seen play, the Auburn SS, Peralta, threw the ball to home plate to get Coleman trying to score on the Hansen single up the middle in a bang-bang play at the plate. It was a head's up play by Peralta against the aggressive Sooner base running. In the second inning, Grace Lyons singled. In the 4th inning, Brito and Boone singled. In the 5th, Lyons added her second single after the back-to-back 2-run HRs. Torres doubled in the bottom of the 6th after the SFLY by Jennings.
The Sooner offense was 13 for 30 in the game with 1 double and 3 HRs with a walk, 6 Ks and a SFLY.
It was a very solid win over Auburn on Sunday. It wrapped up a weekend that the Sooners were 5-0 at the Hall of Fame Tourney while winning the five games by a total of 48-3. It is interesting that the 3 runs scored against OU were on 3 solo HRs. OU only allowed a total of 13 hits in the 5 games with 3 being solo HRs. The Sooners struck out 58 hitters in 28 innings at the HoF.
For the week, including the South Dakota State and Florida State games, The Sooners were 75 of 158 at the plate for a .421 BA and hit 18 doubles and 14 HRs in the 7 games for a Slug% of 0.770 for Oklahoma. The offense is starting to heat up for Oklahoma.
The Sooners are now 27-1 on the season and have won 19 games in a row since the loss to Baylor in Waco. Of their 28 games, Oklahoma has only played 6 home games during the season.
The Sooners will have a few days of practice after a day off on Monday before traveling to Ames to play a weekend series against Iowa State to open the Big 12 portion of their schedule. The weather in Ames looks to be "iffy" on Sunday. Friday and Saturday do not look too bad though. Stay attentive to the schedule for the weekend.
Boomer Sooner!