By Jeff Johncox
THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT (NORMAN, Okla.)
NORMAN, Okla.
Mon, May 12 2008
—
Maybe it’s finally coming together for Oklahoma.
The 12th-ranked Sooners have been getting solid pitching all season, especially from D.J. Mathis, but the bats had been inconsistent going into the weekend’s Big 12 opening series against Kansas at Marita Hynes Field.
Well, some timely hitting led to Friday’s victory over the Jayhawks and the Sooners turned Saturday’s finale into a slugfest, run-ruling Kansas 8-0 in six innings and improving to 2-0 in conference play.
“We hit .365 (in the series), which is absolutely what we’re capable of, and our fielding was .981, which is exactly what you need to do to win,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “I’m really pleased with the turnaround we’ve made at exactly the right time. After a week of challenges and team chemistry kind of things, they really did a good job responding to it. I’m very proud of their effort today and yesterday.”
The Sooners needed a seventh-inning, walk-off single off the wall from Susan Ogden to beat the Jayhawks Friday night. No such drama was needed Saturday, but Ogden still got to play the walk-off hero, hitting a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth to secure the run rule.
Three Sooners had two RBIs in the victory: Amber Flores, Ogden and freshman Haley Anderson, who started just her seventh game in left field.
“We had a big win yesterday, a close win,” Gasso said. “Our goal today was to just come out and hammer it. And they did.”
Anderson was the big hitter of the day, going 2-for-3 with two runs and hitting her first career home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, a line drive into the left-field bleachers that everyone knew was gone the second it left her bat. The two-run homer made it 4-0 Sooners and Savannah Long followed it two batters later with her seventh round-tripper of the year, a solo shot to make it 5-0. Samantha Ricketts, who was walked five times in the two wins over Kansas, then tripled in Traci Dickenson to make it 6-0 Sooners. Ricketts was a perfect 2-for-2 in the series.
“It felt really good,” Anderson said of her first career homer. “I can’t put it into words. I was just trying to stay relaxed the whole game. I was in a big-time zone.”
Anderson, who came into the game hitting .158, raised her batting average to .227 with her big day at the plate.
“I was just seeing the ball really well,” she said.
Earlier in the week, the Sooners suffered a surprising defeat at home to Missouri State, what turned into maybe the biggest of many wake-up calls this season as they entered conference play.
“We had wake-up calls before Missouri State,” Gasso said. “Missouri State happened, and we still were working through things. We needed more time to get some things done. I think Thursday was a big day for us to wash some things away.”
OU’s up-and-down nature at the plate seems to have reached another peak, just in time to give the Sooners a nice start to Big 12 play. They’re now hitting .292 as a team and had 19 hits and 11 runs in the two games against Kansas.
But gasso isn’t ready to say OU hitters are where they need to be … yet.
“I’m a skeptic,” Gasso said. “I’d love to say ‘Yes, we’ve got it going on.’ But we still have work to do. They look different. They look a lot more relaxed. This is a team and program that expects greatness. We don’t like to lose, and we don’t get over it very well … The harder you try, especially at the plate, the harder you make things on yourself. I think you saw a major team exhale out there today.”
The Sooners next take on Team USA in an exhibition game at Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Jeff Johncox writes for The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.
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