Sooners Escape Opening Day Unscathed

The Sooners season openers didn’t go quite like anyone expected. The bats were fairly quiet all day but the Sooners still managed a 4-0 win over Duke and finishing with an epic 1-0 win in extra innings over Liberty. Could not imagine a more fun start to the season!

Game 1:

Duke pitching was the story of this game early. Davidson had the ball dancing all around the strike zone and the Sooners chasing. Solid defense and Jordy Bahl was the decider in this one. Jordy struggled with command a little early but was still effective. She started to dial it in as the Sooners added a run at a time and made the game feel out of reach toward the end. Bahl also helped herself with an RBI double for her first career RBI. The offense sputtered a bit but still managed to pushed 4 runs across. 

Game 2:

Everyone expected this to be the game the bats would come alive. Nicole May started in the circle and had some early traffic due to some errors and walks. The defense stood tall when it had to and kept the game scoreless. A huge credit has to go to Liberty pitcher Karlie Keeney. The Sooners were threatening almost every inning leaving 9 runners on base. Keeney did an incredible job of getting the strike out when she needed it. The Sooners struggled to put the ball in play with runners on. If I had to guess you can chalk up the offensive performance to opening day jitters. The real story of the day was Nicole May. She was absolutely nails when push came to shove. She got the strike out when she needed it, she got the timely double play when absolutely necessary. Tonight was one of those character building games for a team but for May it was a stamp of not being overlooked on this staff. She stood tall and said “Jump on my back and I’ll carry you.” I hope Sooner fans remember this performance for a long time. It is a career defining moment for a pitcher who has been massively under appreciated because of the other big names on the staff. 

The Sooners return to the field tonight at 9:00 central against Stanford. Alex Storako is expected to make her Sooner debut. The game will be broadcasted on FloSports https://www.flosoftball.com/live/22935?watchOnWeb=1