NORMAN — Cydney Sanders stepped to the plate in the second inning, fouled off the first pitch, then delivered a leadoff solo home run to right field.

By the time she was back at the plate, the Sooners led 5-0. They were still in the second inning, and there were two base runners on.

Sanders — this time on four pitches — delivered again, this time a three-run home run to dead centerfield. That gave the Sanders two home runs in the frame, pushed the Sooners' lead to 8-0 and put the game into run-rule territory before the third inning could begin.

That inning was essentially all the Sooners needed, as they strolled to a 12-1 win over St. Thomas.

"St. Thomas is a pretty scrappy team," OU associate head coach JT Gasso said, "and to do what we did kind of at the last second, come in, let's play, we came out on fire, we executed, put the ball in play. I thought for a lot of people to get in and get the opportunities they did was phenomenal and it just felt like we were firing on all cylinders, executing and doing our job so it was fun to see us do that and happen so quick."

Sanders' leadoff home run, and her second, capped off a frame that saw the Sooners generate plenty of offense. The Sooners recorded six total hits in the frame, including an RBI double from Gabbie Garcia that scored two runs and an RBI single from Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. Kasidi Pickering and Isabela Emerling also logged singles in the frame.

But the Sooners' run-rule hopes were briefly taken away in the third frame. After Kierston Deal allowed a leadoff single to open T3, Isabella Smith was brought into relieve her before she surrendered back-to-back hits, including an RBI single that put two runners in scoring position. But Smith got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.

The fourth inning saw the offense return to form.

Abby Dayton and Kasidi Pickering opened the inning with back-to-back singles, then Sydney Barker brought them with a three-run home run. Two batters later, Corri Hicks blasted a two-out solo home run to left field.

The Sooners finished with 14 hits as a team. Garcia led the way, going 3-for-3 at the plate. went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while McEnroe-Marinas added two RBIs.

— OU head coach Patty Gasso was absent from the game due to a speaking engagement at Oklahoma Christian University. The game against St. Thomas was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved up due to weather.

JT, her soon, took her place as the acting head coach, and also took his mom's usual place as the third-base coach on offense. It was JT's first time at third base since 2021, when Patty was ejected from a game against Oklahoma State.

"What was nice, it felt like we were business as normal," JT said. "We'll work, we'll do stuff like that in practice. I'll be at third and whatnot... We all know the card. We know the plays and how to execute so yeah, it was fun to be on that side of it. And I had a little OCD where I’d come up the line and talk to hitters in the dugout and stuff like that. But no, it was real fun."

Patty is expected to return for Friday's game against UCF.

— It was an up-and-down affair for the pitching staff.

Deal got the start and allowed two hits and a run in two innings. Smith allowed an RBI single, but otherwise struck out two batters and didn't allow another hit in two innings.

Paytn Monticelli, who was excellent in relief at UT Arlington, saw the finale frame but struggled. She allowed a leadoff home run, allowed a walk, then allowed the runner to advance to second on a wild pitch, then allowed a walk, then allowed an RBI double that scored two runs before registering her first out on a tag.

Fortunately for the Sooners, Monticelli ended the game with two groundouts.

— Still no Audrey Lowry for the Sooners, who has missed the last 10 games.

— Sanders is the first OU batter to hit two home runs in a single inning since Alynah Torres did it in March of 2024.

"I think I was just very focused today of just working on my process," Sanders said. "Not really trying to be result oriented or thinking too much about how I’m going to hit the ball. Just kind of going for it and I think it worked out pretty well today. So I was excited about that."

— Corri Hicks has now hit two home runs in her last two games, blasting her first career bomb in Tuesday's win over UT Arlington.

— Baker has now hit five home runs this season.

— Maya Bland, notably, got the start in left field in favor of both Hannah Coor and Barker. She struck out in her only plate appearance.

— Ella Parker, who didn't appear in the UT Arlington game on Tuesday, was wearing a boot during pregame warmups but started in her usual spot as the designated player. Parker went 0-for-2 at the plate with two lineouts.

Parker is now 3-for-28 at the plate in her last 10 games.

— The Sooners improve to 33-3 on the season. They return to action Friday at 7 p.m. against UCF (SECN+).

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