Softball drops Big 12 series opener at No. 3 Oklahoma, 6-0

Friday, April 27

Norman, Okla.

6:30 p.m.

University of Texas

28-19, 0

#3 Oklahoma

42-3, 0

Texas

Oklahoma

Softball drops Big 12 series opener at No. 3 Oklahoma, 6-0

04.27.2018 | Softball

Box Score

The Longhorns & Sooners return to action in Norman on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT live on ESPN2

NORMAN, Okla. – On Friday night in front of 1,686 fans at the OU Softball Complex, several missed early opportunities came back to haunt Texas softball (28-19, 10-4 Big 12 Conference) as No. 3 Oklahoma (42-3, 13-0 Big 12 Conference) eventually erupted for five runs (four unearned) over the fifth and sixth innings on the way to a 6-0, series-opening victory.

The Longhorns offense managed five hits in the contest but left four runners on base over the opening three innings of play against OU All-American starter Paige Parker.

Freshman second baseman Janae Jefferson and senior designated player Paige von Sprecken each powered the way for UT by going 2-for-3 at the dish, while sophomore shortstop Kaitlyn Slack went 1-for-2. With her performance, Jefferson raised her overall season average to .411, her league-leading mark (counting Big 12 games only) to a remarkable .565 and reached safely in the 14th-straight conference game to open her career.

In the circle for Texas, junior lefthander Brooke Bolinger (11-6) took the loss in a complete-game effort, allowing two earned runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

"It's what we talked about pregame," Texas head coach Connie Clark said. "It's what we just talked about postgame with our team. It's about executing, and it doesn't matter who's on the other side. You have to execute, and I think that's about us and continues to be about us. We had a couple of big opportunities early, and we needed to strike. We've got to come back to work tomorrow."

The Longhorns offense wasted no time getting something started against Parker during the top of the first as a Jefferson leadoff bunt single and a von Sprecken base knock down the left field line put two on with no outs. Unfortunately for the Horns, a popped up sacrifice bunt attempt seemed to derail the momentum as consecutive UT strikeouts soon left the duo stranded.

After Bolinger registered two quick outs in the bottom half of the first, OU's HR leader Jocelyn Alo struck, blasting a solo shot over the left center field wall to grant the Sooners a 1-0 lead.

The Burnt Orange & White got another promising outburst going, through the same two players with one out in the third, as Jefferson beat out a bunt single and von Sprecken followed immediately with a sharp base knock to center. Once again, Parker danced her way out of any danger, inducing a Kaitlyn Washington fly ball to deep left before ending the frame on her fifth K.

With UT's hurler keeping OU's offense quiet from the second through fourth frames, Slack granted UT another golden opportunity by christening the fifth with a single to center. That's when misfortune struck the Longhorns as junior center fielder Kay Kay Hayter ripped a liner the other way but right to Sooner Kelsey Arnold. The shortstop caught the ball, turned quickly and doubled Slack off at second as Texas missed another big chance.

The Sooners blew things open during the bottom of the fifth as a hit batter, an error on a failed fielder's choice play to second and an Alo walk loaded the bases with two outs. With the inning extended on the UT miscue, first baseman Shay Knighten stepped to the plate and launched a grand slam to center to boost Oklahoma's advantage to 5-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, OU finalized its scoring at six runs as a two-out Lea Wodach double was cashed in on a Nicole Mendes RBI single.

From there, Parker closed things out as Texas went down in order in the top of the seventh on a groundout to third, a pop-up to first and a strikeout.