OU softball beats OSU in Bedlam opener, extends win streak to 39 games
STILLWATER — Oklahoma’s Alyssa Brito might’ve been to second base by the time her towering fly ball landed well beyond the left-field decks of Cowgirl Stadium, bouncing once before it rolled onto McElroy Road.
A powerful uppercut landed by the top-ranked Sooners, who dealt No. 7 Oklahoma State an 8-3 defeat in the opener of the three-game Bedlam series on Friday night.
On the way to the Sooners’ 39th straight victory, Brito’s solo shot gave OU a 6-3 edge in the sixth inning, its first comfortable lead in a game that had all the strangeness Bedlam deserves.
Brito, who also walked and got hit by a pitch while going 1-for-3, made three strong defensive plays at third base as well.
“She’s on both sides, making big-time defensive plays, but just timely hitting,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “She’s playing good ball right now.”
Big Brito 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐃 🤪 pic.twitter.com/vaIFryE61l
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 6, 2023
From a broader perspective, Friday’s most important home run might’ve been the three-run shot by Cydney Sanders in the top of the second. Not only did it erase OSU’s 3-1 lead, it was another big sign of life from Sanders.
The sophomore went through a rough stretch in late March and early April, but has hit safely in eight of the last 10 games she has started, with 12 hits and four home runs in that span.
“That was really, really important for us,” Gasso said. “One, that it came in that point in the game, and two, because it came from her. And that is what everybody is rooting for, that young lady that has been working really hard to get her groove on. I think everybody rallied around that.”
From the start, the Sooners’ and Cowgirls’ dueling aces — Jordy Bahl of OU and Kelly Maxwell of OSU — struggled to find the strike zone.
Maxwell walked three in the top of the first, forcing in a run for a 1-0 Sooner edge. OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said Maxwell had difficulty keeping her hand dry as temperatures pushed toward 80 on a humid evening.
“She was having trouble with a wet hand,” he said. “She couldn’t grip the ball. She went in and put sleeves on. She was putting rosin on her arm. She was just sweating. I’ve not seen that out of her before. It’s really the first hot day that we’ve had. So that was kind of interesting.”
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Bahl walked three Cowgirls in her half of the inning as well, two of whom scored on Chyenne Factor’s three-run home run that put OSU up 3-1.
OU (47-1) answered with its own three-run homer in the top of the second. A single and a hit batter set the stage for Sanders’ two-out homer to right-center field for a 4-3 Sooner edge.
OU added one more in the top of the fifth on a bloop single by Alynah Torres, bringing in Grace Lyons.
Brito came through with her moon shot in the sixth, then Tiare Jennings and Jocelyn Erickson knocked in runs in the seventh.
“It’s pretty easy to see when you give 12 free passes to the best offense in the country, that’s what’s gonna happen,” Gajewski said. “Kinda ugly. I can’t remember a game that we pitched like that in a long time here. Unfortunate that it happens here tonight in front of a huge crowd and an opportunity to do some great things.”
After falling behind, OSU (41-11) threatened on a couple of occasions, but came up empty. Megan Bloodworth was hit by a pitch and Tallen Edwards singled on the infield with one out in the fourth, but they were stranded after Bahl struck out the next two hitters.
Factor led off the sixth with a double to right field, but was stranded there.
Bahl, who hadn’t allowed a run in her previous 10 appearances, solved her control issues, allowing only three hits and one walk after the first inning. She improved to 15-1 on the season.
“I don’t like to speak on her behalf, but it looked like she was a little bit amped and a little bit nervous,” Gasso said. “Once she got her feet down on the ground, we scored a bit, I think that really settled her in.”
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OSU battled the zone all night, ultimately walking nine batters and hitting three more. Maxwell (14-3) needed 86 pitches to get through 3 ⅓ innings as the Cowgirls were sent to their eighth loss in the last 10 games.
Kilfoyl threw 67 pitches to get through 2 ⅔, so Gajewski pulled her for Ivy Rosenberry in the seventh inning to keep her fresh for the rest of the weekend. The only regular starter Gajewski didn’t use on Friday was freshman Kyra Aycock, but Gajewski didn’t tip his hand as to who would throw Saturday.
“We’ve got Kyra, feel good about her,” he said. “She needs to be in this environment to see what that’s all about. We’ll run those kids right back out if we’ve got to.
“Gotta bounce back. We’ve been going through a lot of little things, things that just happen during a year, and I told our team, the energy tonight was who we are, and we gotta keep that up. If we keep that up, I think we’ll get ourselves going in the right direction.”
The Sooners had 10 hits, getting solid contact off all three OSU pitchers. OU left the bases loaded on three occasions, stranding 14 runners in all.
“We did?” Gasso asked when told of the left-on-base total. “The good news is we’re getting on. It’s hard to square up these pitchers. So am I shocked? Not really, but that’s a little bit much for us. Those are runs that need to be pushed across the plate.”
Thanks to a set of temporary bleachers placed in right field, OSU set a Cowgirl Stadium attendance record with 1,602 fans — a record it hopes to break in the remaining games of the series, set for 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
The plan is for the added bleachers to remain in place throughout the postseason to boost attendance for potential NCAA regional and super-regional games.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball beats OSU in Bedlam opener, extends win streak to 39
