OU softball: Sooners rout Tennessee, advance to WCWS semis

OKLAHOMA CITY — Saturday seemed primed for a interesting matchup between Oklahoma’s offense and Tennessee’s defense.

The Sooners’ offense, which ranks No. 1 nationally in scoring, struggled a bit in Thursday’s win against Stanford. Meanwhile, the Volunteers’ defense has been dominant all season, ranking second nationally in ERA.

However, the Sooners’ offense won the battle and did it convincingly, coming away with a 9-0 run-rule victory at USA Hall of Fame Stadium.

The win advances the Sooners to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series.

“Extremely proud of this team and the way they played. Pretty flawless, attacking offensively, pitching staff, all of them on point,” OU coach Patty Gasso said.

The onslaught began in the second inning. With Grace Lyons and Jayda Coleman on base, Tiare Jennings blasted a three-run home run to center field to take an early 3-0 lead.

But the third inning is when the Sooners blew the game open.

Kinzie Hansen got things started with a two-run home run to centerfield. A couple of batters later, Rylie Boone hit a triple to left center that scored Lyons and Alynah Torres. Boone and Jayda Coleman ended the inning with scores after wild pitches, giving the Sooners six runs in the frame.

By the third inning, four different pitchers made an appearance for the Volunteers. None of them, notably, included pitching ace Ashley Rogers, who leads the team in wins, ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts.

The Sooners took advantage of that.

“I think a lot of teams have a lot of different tactics to throw at us every single game,” Hansen said. “It was something we were surprised by but excited for. It's a new challenge every day. We weren't technically expecting it, but when it came and we found out who was starting, who was coming in and just the different strategies people try to throw at us, we were excited for those challenges, and it makes us better going forward.”

Gasso and the Sooners, however, took no chances defensively, starting Jordy Bahl in the circle. Bahl, who pitched all seven innings against Stanford, surrendered a lead-off double in the first inning before surrendering the next 10 batters.

Gasso said the Sooners' being able to rest on Friday played a role in putting Bahl back in the circle against Tennessee.

“Jordy can throw a lot of different planes and a lot of different speeds,” Gasso said. “They just are very aggressive. I think the majority of them swung at the first pitch. You’ve got to really pinpoint that pitch where you want it. I just felt Jordy had that command. Not that the others don't. The extra speed that Jordy has is very effective.

Bahl earned the win in 3.2 innings pitched, surrendering just one hit and recording three strikeouts. Kierston Deal, Alex Storako and Nicole also saw time in the circle over the final two innings.

* No Rogers for Tennessee: In a surprising move from coach Karen Weekly, the Volunteers’ best pitcher didn’t see the circle.

Instead, Weekly opted to throw her bullpen at the Sooners with the hope of inserting Rogers late in the game.

“We planned to throw different people at 'em,” Weekly said. “The people we put in there I thought had the pitches in their arsenal that would be most successful. We didn't execute in a lot of those instances, but ultimately that decision is on me.”

* Patience for Cydney Sanders: The sophomore has found her way on base quite a bit in the postseason.

The secret has been her patience at the plate. She’s walked four times in the last three games and was again walked against the Volunteers. She also added a run.

The Sooners as a team walked five times on Saturday.

* Winning streak continues: The Sooners have now 50 consecutive games, adding to their NCAA all-time record.

* Up next: The Sooners will play in the WCWS semis at 11 a.m. on Monday. They will play either Stanford, Florida State or Washington.