OU softball crushes Cleveland State in NCAA opener as Kasidi Pickering blasts 2 HRs

NORMAN — OU’s bats as a whole took awhile to wake up Friday.

Kasidi Pickering’s was ready to go from the jump.

Pickering hit a pair of solo home runs, helping the second-seeded Sooners to a 9-0, six-inning win over Cleveland State in their Love’s Field postseason debut.

“They were not afraid of us,” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said of the Vikings. “No one here is afraid of us. We need to understand it’s going to be a dogfight. They came to battle. They made us better.”

OU (50-6) will take on Oregon at 2 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game advances to Sunday’s regional final, while the loser will take on the Boston-Cleveland State winner at 7 p.m. in an elimination game.

Cleveland State and Boston will play at 4:30 p.m.

Through the first three innings, the only offense to speak of was Pickering’s one-out solo home run in the second.

Pickering worked the count full before blasting Melissa Holzopfel’s offering over the left-field wall.

OU finally strung some hits together with two outs in the fourth.

Rylie Boone delivered an RBI single to score Hannah Coor, who pinch ran for Pickering after the freshman led off the inning with a single before Jayda Coleman delivered a towering RBI triple and Ella Parker drove in another run with a single to make it 4-0.

Then Pickering delivered again in the fifth, this time with a home run to right center to run the score to 5-0.

The home runs were Pickering’s eighth and ninth of the season and it was her first multi-home run game of the season.

“It’s inspiring,” Coleman said of Pickering’s performance. “It kinda just gets me back to when I was a freshman, just so free and no expectations. I think we learn a lot from them.”

Pickering finished 3 for 3, while fellow freshman Parker was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.The Sooners added four in the sixth, including on a walk-off two-run home run by Tiare Jennings to clinch the run-rule victory.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

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Nicole May comes up big

OU coach Patty Gasso had high praise for Nicole May heading into the regional, especially after May’s five-out hitless, scoreless, three-strikeout performance against Texas in the Big 12 Tournament title game.

Gasso’s confidence paid off against the Vikings, as May struck out a season-high nine in five innings to earn the victory, allowing just three hits with no walks.

“I think she’s getting better every outing,” Gasso said. “I really do. There’s a look on her face that is very determined and you can see it from the start. … Three hits that didn’t hurt us doesn’t bother us one bit.”

It was just the fourth time this season May had thrown five or more innings, and the first time she’d done so without allowing a run.

“It just felt good and neutral,” May said.

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Alyssa Brito’s at-bat fires up both sides

One of the key at-bats of the game on both sides came when Cleveland State pitcher Melissa Holzopfel squared off against Alyssa Brito in the third.

The Sooners led 1-0 and loaded the bases with two outs when Brito dug in.

Brito quickly fell behind 0-2 before taking a ball.

The OU slugger then fouled off five consecutive pitches before Holzopfel got Brito to swing through a changeup off the corner of the plate to end the inning.

“I know Brito’s an amazing hitter,” Holzopfel said. “I typically don’t throw my changeup as much as I should and I knew that since she was fouling off so many pitches that I could possibly get her on a changeup and tried to keep it off the plate as much as possible because if I’d have elevated and kept it over the plate, I knew she could take it.”

Brito’s battle also got the Sooners pumped up.

OU scored in the next three innings, finally stringing together some offense in the fourth and sixth innings.

“Those are the fighting at-bats we’re looking for,” Gasso said of Brito’s at-bat.

Sooners will take on Melyssa Lombardi, Ducks

Wednesday night, Gasso took Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi and Ducks assistants Sydney Romero and Sam Marder — all who have been involved in Sooners’ softball — on a tour of Love’s Field.

After Friday’s win set up a second-round matchup between OU and Oregon, Gasso said Saturday’s 2 p.m. matchup would be different.

“Weird, but fun,” Gasso said.

But Gasso said taking Lombardi and co. on the tour helped her turn the page and take some of the edge off the weekend.

“It made me feel something that is going to allow me to be on the field and not get caught up in emotion or anything,” Gasso said. “It was just like, ‘we did this together.’”

Lombardi played for the Sooners in 1995-96 and was on Gasso’s staff from 1997-2018 when she took over at Oregon.

“I’m excited to be back,” Lombardi said. “I love the stadium that was built here. It’s so deserved. … I’m excited. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

Oregon beat Boston 8-0 in Friday's first game.

The Sooners figure to start Kelly Maxwell against the Ducks.

Maxwell has experience against Oregon, and vice-versa.

At Oklahoma State in last year’s Stillwater Super Regional, Maxwell started for the Cowgirls in Game 2, throwing a complete-game two-hitter, striking out eight to send OSU to the Women’s College World Series.

Maxwell also was dominant in the season opener against the Ducks last season, allowing just two hits and striking out 15 in the complete-game victory.

“She does a good job of moving the ball, changes speeds, got some good velo(city),” Lombardi said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma run-rules Cleveland State in NCAA softball tournament opener