Through the first three games of the Getterman Classic, it had been all going to plan for Oklahoma softball.
But none of the three run-rule victories, no matter the margin, were going to tell a story more than the Sunday afternoon showdown against conference foe Baylor.
The Bears were this close to pulling off an upset vs. OU last year and didn’t miss this time around. Baylor scored four runs in the third inning and held on the rest of the way to give OU a 4-3 defeat in the final day of the Classic in Waco, Texas.
The Sooners went 3-1 on the weekend and are now 8-1 overall, but the No. 1-ranked team and two-time defending national champions are still searching after the first couple of weeks of the season.
Patty Gasso’s club outscored Longwood, Stephen F. Austin and Army 41-0 in three games to begin the Classic, but the Bears presented a challenge. Baylor was 6-1 entering, with just a loss to No. 4 Arkansas.
OU led 1-0 entering the bottom of the third. Baylor tied it, and then Shaylon Govan hammered a three-run home run off Jordy Bahl to give the Bears the 4-1 lead.
Jayda Coleman had an RBI double and Tiare Jennings had an RBI groundout in the top of the sixth, but OU went down in order in the seventh and any quest for an undefeated season ends rather early in 2023.
*That loss is going to sting, but OU has found something in Jocelyn Erickson. The freshman had three home runs and 12 RBIs over the weekend. She now has four home runs this season and her Classic included an 8-RBI outing against SFA.
*It was also a solid hitting weekend for Alyssa Brito. She raised her batting average by more than 200 points during the three days. Now hitting .360, Brito had seven hits, drove in six runs and added her second home run of the season.
*The captain, Grace Lyons, had a five-RBI performance against SFA. But she had a chance to tie the game in the sixth inning against Baylor but grounded out to end the inning with Coleman on third base. Lyons left five runners on base vs. the Bears.
*Still not clicking at the top with Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings. Although Jennings did hit her first home run of the season, the duo only combined to go 6-for-18 (.333), and only have four extra-base hits combined through the first two weekends.
*The first three games showed what Gasso should be able to do the rest of the way. Using Nicole May, Alex Storako and Bahl, they were each dominant in their first start of the weekend. All three went four innings pitched and struck out at least eight, with May striking out 10 of her 12 outs.
May and Storako are now 2-0 this season, while Bahl is 3-1.
Recap
No. 1 OU 10, Longwood 0 (5)
No. 1 OU 22, Stephen F. Austin 0 (5)
No. 1 OU 9, Army 0 (5)
Baylor 4, No. 1 OU 3
Up next: OU (8-1) heads to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif., next Friday-Sunday. The Sooners play CSU-Fullerton and Texas A&M on Friday, followed by Utah and Loyola Marymount on Saturday and capped off with the mega-showdown with No. 2 UCLA on Sunday afternoon.
Source
mypresscity
