OU Softball: Oklahoma Thunders Past Marshall

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s offense stayed hot in its second contest of the day at the Omni Classic on Saturday. 

Fresh off an 8-0 drubbing of Kansas where the No. 2-ranked Sooners hit five home runs, Patty Gasso’s battered the Marshall Thundering Herd, scoring in each of the first three innings.

Kasidi Pickering hit her third home run of the day in the first inning, setting the tone for OU’s 11-0 demolition of the visitors in five innings at Love’s Field. 

“Overall today was one of our best days of softball. Very clean. Very sharp,” Gasso said after the win. “Pitchers did a great job. Kasidi Pickering on fire and then you get Gabbie on fire… Our defense was on point. Everything was on point. It was really clean and fun to watch.”

Kierston Deal got the win in the circle for the Sooners (18-0). The junior worked around minimal traffic, striking out three Marshall (6-10) batters while allowing three hits and no walks.

After hitting a pair of solo bombs in the first game on Saturday, Pickering was able to bring home a pair of teammates to start of the night cap.

Both Abby Dayton and Cydney Sanders reached base on walks, and they were brought home by the sophomore’s third home run of the day. 

All three bombs were directed toward the bleachers in left-center field, with this homer putting the Sooners up 3-0.

“She’s such a really pure hitter and every at-bat seems to mean something to her,” Gasso said of Pickering. “… She’s very calculated and her swing is so pure and she’s seeing the ball so well. It looks really easy for her right now.”

Freshman shortstop Gabbie Garcia then continued her excellent day in the second inning. 

She hit her second home run of the day, this time a two-run blast, to extend the lead to 5-0. Garcia now has three home runs on the year and is continually progressing at the plate while preforming at a high level in the field — a good sign for Gasso as the Sooners prepare to open SEC play next weekend. 

“Today was a great day for me. I saw the ball really, really well,” Garcia said. “Was working a lot with JT (Gasso) this week offensively, so everything just started kind of clicking. And yeah I just keep working hard. A lot of the girls saw the ball really well today and I was super proud of everyone.”

The offense got back to work in the third inning. 

Riley Zache, who was called upon to pinch run for Kasidi Pickering, scored the first run of the inning after stealing home on a passed ball, which allowed freshman Tia Milloy to move up to third. 

Ailana Agbayani then brought Milloy home when Marshall’s outfielders miscommunicated, allowing the fly ball to drop safely into the grass. 

Maya Bland punished Marshall for the mistake. 

She pinch hit for Isabela Emerling and rocketed her first home run of the year, pushing the OU lead to 9-0. 

Ella Parker plated the fifth run off the inning with a bloop off the end of her bat that bounced just into fair territory and beneath the diving glove of Marshall left fielder Diamond Leslie. Garcia scored on the double, putting a pair of runners in scoring position for Sydney Barker. 

Barker added her 15th RBI of the year with a sacrifice fly to extend the advantage to 11-0 and put the finishing touches on OU’s six-run third inning. 

Paytn Monticelli entered the circle for Deal in the fifth to close out the game. The right-handed reliever allowed one hit, but it amounted to nothing and she ended the night without incident.

Oklahoma will close out the Omni Classic on Sunday at 1:45 p.m. against Kansas City.