'Never count the Sooners out': How OU softball stunned OSU in Bedlam to extend win streak to 40

STILLWATER — By the time the “Sooner Magic” chants began to pour down from the tightly packed group of crimson fans down the first base line of Cowgirl Stadium, the OU softball team had already performed its tricks.

Lifeless at the plate much of the day, the top-ranked Sooners sprung free in the top of the seventh inning with four runs on five hits to escape seventh-ranked Oklahoma State’s valiant upset attempt with a 4-2 win on Saturday in front of a stadium-record 1,753 fans.

“You can never count the Sooners out,” said Tiare Jennings, who laced a double to the wall in left-center field to score the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh inning.

“So much joy, so much fun playing. You can see that. We knew we were never out of this game, no matter what the score was, no matter what the inning was. We just knew in the dugout that we were gonna keep smiling, keep cheering and keep having fun.”

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Though the Sooners have been behind in the final inning only a few times all year, OU coach Patty Gasso says she never sees panic in her players’ faces — even when they had been held scoreless with just three hits through the first six innings.

“This team knows as long as they have one out left in a game, they’re never out of it,” Gasso said. “You could feel that momentum come.

“They will not be denied. They believe in each other. They are unafraid of losing, and that’s a big deal.”

The Cowgirls will get one more shot at knocking off their rivals in the final game of the series and the regular season at 2 p.m. Sunday.

But Saturday’s loss is going to sting for a bit.

“I think they’ll come back ready to play,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “We’ve got a lot to play for. I’m sure this evening, it’ll be tough. It’ll be tough on all of us. I don’t anticipate that we’ll come out flat.”

The Cowgirls (41-12, 10-7 Big 12) had taken a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when super-senior catcher Taylor Tuck drove in what appeared to be an insurance run with a single to center field. Tuck had knocked in the Cowgirls’ first run with a second-inning single after Tallen Edwards led off with a triple.

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“She’s a Stillwater kid that took less scholarship to come here,” Gajewski said of Tuck, who had the first three-hit game of her career. “Fought her way through. … If she didn’t have parents like she has, probably thinking about transferring each year as we’re bringing in kids. She just kept working and kept doing her stuff.”

Regardless of Tuck’s clutch performance, the Sooners (48-1, 17-0 Big 12) weren’t going to be denied their 40th straight win.

OSU freshman pitcher Kyra Aycock had allowed only three hits through the first six innings, but OU’s Jocelyn Erickson led off the seventh with a double, followed by Alynah Torres’ single that scored pinch-runner Jordy Bahl.

Gajewski went to ace Kelly Maxwell (14-4), who hit a batter and got a strikeout before Jennings’ two-run double into the left-center field gap to put the Sooners up 3-2.

Cydney Sanders followed with an RBI single to make it 4-2, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. Aycock re-entered to record the final out of the inning.

“I look like a dumbass now. Should’ve just left her in,” Gajewski said of his decision to pull Aycock. “We’re gonna do what we think is best. We know our team well. It backfired on us here. I thought Kyra was really good. For a freshman to be in this spot — national TV, huge crowd, playing the No. 1 team, I thought she handled that stuff well.”

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Facing OU freshman pitcher Kierston Deal (3-0), who entered in relief of starter Nicole May in the sixth inning, OSU failed to get a runner on base in the bottom of the seventh.

Deal got a groundout to first base, a strikeout and a foul popup to first to close the door on the Cowgirls’ ninth loss in the last 11 games.

OSU must find a way to get back on track with only Sunday’s game and the Big 12 Tournament left before the NCAA selection show. OSU is fighting to maintain a top-eight seed, which would guarantee home-field advantage for the regional and super-regional rounds.

The Sooners have already clinched the Big 12 regular-season title and would have to suffer a major collapse to not end as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA bracket. That’s part of the reason why Gasso felt safe keeping her No. 4 pitcher in the game for the seventh inning.

“I think we have some wiggle room here,” Gasso said. “We’ve nailed some things down for postseason, and it was an opportunity to see her in the big moment and how she handled it.

“She was nails. She was outstanding. She handled it well and I know she’s hungry for more.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball rallies past OSU in Bedlam, extends win streak to 40 games