Cowgirls hold Sooners' offense in check in Bedlam opener
May 3—After a back-and-forth beginning to Bedlam, Karli Godwin's two-run home run in the fifth inning delivered a gut punch to the crowd at Love's Field.
Just three innings earlier, an RBI-single by Kasidi Pickering put the Sooners ahead 2-0. It was the Sooners' first hit of the game and it was also their only hit until they trailed 6-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Cowgirls scored six unanswered runs and held off a late Sooner charge to pull out their first win in Norman in 27 years.
The 6-3 loss puts Oklahoma's Big 12 regular season title hopes in jeopardy.
Texas entered the day one game behind the Sooners in the conference standings and is now tied for first after knocking off Texas Tech 13-3.
The Longhorns are 2-1 against the Sooners this season and would win the tiebreaker if they finish with the same conference record.
The second game of Bedlam begins on Saturday at noon and will be televised on ESPN. The series concludes on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Here are three takeaways from the Sooners' Bedlam opener:
1. Maxwell faces former team — Starting pitcher Kelly Maxwell wasn't at her best on Friday, but was only part of the Sooners' struggles in the opener.
The Cowgirls had two hits and were walked once over the first two innings, but started to get the upper hand on Maxwell in the third. The Cowgirls scored two runs on a double by Godwin to tie the game and took the lead on a home run in the fourth inning.
The Sooners replaced Maxwell with Deal to start the fifth inning. Over four innings, Maxwell allowed four hits, two walks and three runs with three strikeouts.
The Sooners needed someone to step into the circle and settle the team down, but inconsistency from the bullpen has been a common theme this season. The Cowgirls hit two home runs on Deal in the fifth and Karli Keeney came in to get the final out.
Keeney didn't allow a hit over the next 2.1 innings and had no walks with one strikeout, but the Sooners already faced a big deficit.
The Cowgirls finished with seven total hits and all but one was an extra-base hit.
2. Needing timely hits — Just as the Cowgirls started to pour in runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, Oklahoma's offense began to trend in the wrong direction, too.
During that span, they reached base twice on balls, but went down in order after the Cowgirls took their biggest lead of the night. The Sooners needed a play to spark a late march, but when it finally came it was too late.
Alynnah Torres hit a double in the bottom of the sixth and Cydney Sanders followed her up with a walk to give the Sooners some momentum. But Rylie Boone popped up to the second baseman on the first pitch of the next at-bat and the Sooners could only score one more run in the inning.
Trailing by three in the final inning the Sooners once again went down in order. They finished with three hits and were walked eight times, but were 2-14 at the plate with runners on base.
3. Big 12 title race — With the win, Oklahoma State snaps its losing streak in Norman that dates back to 1997, but that might not be the only streak that ends this weekend.
For the first time in over 11 years, it seems more likely than not that the Sooners will end the season without a Big 12 regular season crown.
Texas Tech can still help the Sooners out by beating the Longhorns in one of the final two games, but they would still need to beat the Cowgirls in the next two games.
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com
