Saturday, March 2
Norman, Okla.
2:45 PM ET/1:45 PM CT
Liberty University
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Oklahoma
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Lady Flames Sustain 2 Setbacks at Oklahoma Tournament
3/2/2024 7:57:00 PM | Softball
NORMAN, Okla. – Liberty fell to No. 1 Oklahoma 15-3 in five innings before suffering a narrow 1-0 setback to Louisiana, Saturday at Love's Field.
The Lady Flames (8-10) have gone 1-3 this weekend in Norman, Okla. Meanwhile, three-time defending national champion Oklahoma (18-0) posted run-rule wins over both Louisiana and Liberty to run its winning streak to an NCAA Division I-record 71 games. Louisiana (9-11) went 1-1 today, with an 8-0 loss to Oklahoma this afternoon before this evening's 1-0 win over Liberty.
Oklahoma 15, Liberty 3 (5 innings)
Scoring Summary
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Sanders homers to left center, 1-0
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Coleman advances to third, Torres scores on passed ball, 2-0
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Jennings homers to left center, Coleman scores, 4-0
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Pickering singles to third, Hansen scores on throwing error, 5-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Boone doubles to left, Bland scores, 6-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Coleman sacrifice fly, Boone scores, 7-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Hansen singles to second, Brito advances, Hodge scores, 8-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Pickering singles up the middle, Hansen advances, Brito scores, 9-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Sanders doubles to left, Parker, Coor and Hansen score, 12-0
Oklahoma – 4th INNING – Coleman singles to right, Hodge scores, 13-0
Oklahoma – 4th INNING – Brito homers to right, Coleman scores, 15-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner homers to right, Wilson scores, 15-2
Liberty – 5th INNING – Byrum homers to right center, 15-3
Turning Point
Scoring Summary
Louisiana – 6th INNING – Roe flies out to right, sacrifice fly, Hayden scores, 1-0
Turning Point
Notable Numbers
Liberty wraps up its time at Love's Field tomorrow with a single game against Louisiana at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
The Lady Flames (8-10) have gone 1-3 this weekend in Norman, Okla. Meanwhile, three-time defending national champion Oklahoma (18-0) posted run-rule wins over both Louisiana and Liberty to run its winning streak to an NCAA Division I-record 71 games. Louisiana (9-11) went 1-1 today, with an 8-0 loss to Oklahoma this afternoon before this evening's 1-0 win over Liberty.
Oklahoma 15, Liberty 3 (5 innings)
Scoring Summary
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Sanders homers to left center, 1-0
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Coleman advances to third, Torres scores on passed ball, 2-0
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Jennings homers to left center, Coleman scores, 4-0
Oklahoma – 2nd INNING – Pickering singles to third, Hansen scores on throwing error, 5-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Boone doubles to left, Bland scores, 6-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Coleman sacrifice fly, Boone scores, 7-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Hansen singles to second, Brito advances, Hodge scores, 8-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Pickering singles up the middle, Hansen advances, Brito scores, 9-0
Oklahoma – 3rd INNING – Sanders doubles to left, Parker, Coor and Hansen score, 12-0
Oklahoma – 4th INNING – Coleman singles to right, Hodge scores, 13-0
Oklahoma – 4th INNING – Brito homers to right, Coleman scores, 15-0
Liberty – 5th INNING – Fortner homers to right, Wilson scores, 15-2
Liberty – 5th INNING – Byrum homers to right center, 15-3
Turning Point
- After Katie Love escaped a bases-loaded, nobody out jam without allowing a run in the first, Oklahoma put up five runs in the second and tacked on seven third-inning runs.
- Oklahoma outhit Liberty 17-4 for the game, with both teams committing one error. The Sooners left six runners on base, compared to two stranded for Liberty.
- Nicole May (6-0) earned the victory, yielding one hit while striking out two in three innings of work. Former Lady Flame Karlie Keeney tossed a hitless inning before Kelly Maxwell finished it off by allowing three runs on three hits in one inning of work.
- Katie Love (0-3) drew the loss, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits, walking two in 1 2/3 innings. She gave way to Elena Escobar (one inning), Tyler Oubre (1/3 inning) and Paige Bachman (one inning).
- Jayda Coleman batted 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored for OU, while Cydney Sanders went 2-for-2 with a double, homer, four RBI and one run scored. Tiare Jennings and Alyssa Brito added homers for the Sooners.
- For Liberty, five different players recorded hits, highlighted by a two-run homer from Megan Fortner and solo shot by JaMaya Byrum.
- Oklahoma improves to 6-0 all-time against Liberty, including 3-0 in games played in Norman, Okla.
- Karlie Keeney pitched for Oklahoma against the Lady Flames today. Keeney earned 68 wins during her four seasons at Liberty before transferring to OU, including a career-high 27 victories last season.
- Fortner and Byrum hit back-to-back homers in the fifth. It was the first time since April 29, 2023 against Austin Peay (Rachel Craine, Megan Fortner) that Liberty hit back-to-back home runs.
- Byrum became the 12th active Lady Flame with at least one career home run. That was one batter after Fortner hit her 31st career homer, the most among any current Lady Flame.
- Before giving up two homers and three runs in the seventh, Maxwell had allowed just one home run and three total runs so far this season.
Scoring Summary
Louisiana – 6th INNING – Roe flies out to right, sacrifice fly, Hayden scores, 1-0
Turning Point
- Louisiana broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Hayden doubled to right center. A wild pitch sent her to third. Roe then lifted a fly ball to medium deep right field, deep enough for a sacrifice fly to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 1-0 lead.
- Sam Landrey finished the shutout with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Notable Numbers
- Both teams managed just two hits, while both also committed one error. The Ragin' Cajuns left three runners on base, while the Lady Flames stranded two.
- Sam Landry (4-5) pitched a two-hit shutout, walking one and striking out five.
- Kaylan Yoder (2-4) drew the tough-luck loss, yielding one run on two hits while fanning four.
- Maddie Hayden went 1-for-3 with a double and scored the game's lone run, while Sam Roe's sacrifice fly served as the lone RBI.
- Savannah Jessee and Megan Fortner both singled for the Lady Flames.
- Today was the first meeting between these two teams.
- Louisiana was listed among others receiving votes in both the NFCA and USA Softball national polls this week.
- Tonight's game lasted just one hour and 17 minutes, the fastest game that Liberty has played this season.
- Liberty, Louisiana and Oklahoma are three out of six NCAA Division I softball teams who have won 40 or more games every full season since 2017. The other three are Florida State, Tennessee and Louisiana.
- Liberty's Tyler Oubre began her career at Louisiana before transferring to Liberty.
Liberty wraps up its time at Love's Field tomorrow with a single game against Louisiana at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: May, Nicole (6-0)
L: Love, Katie (0-3)
Batting:
HR: Fortner, Megan 1 ; Byrum, JaMaya 1
RBI: Fortner, Megan 2 ; Byrum, JaMaya 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Mary Claire 1 ; Fortner, Megan 1 ; Byrum, JaMaya 1
HBP: Jessee, Savannah 1
Batting:
2B: Sanders, Cydney 1 ; Boone, Rylie 1 ; Torres, Alynah 1 ; Hodge, Avery 1
HR: Brito, Alyssa 1 ; Jennings, Tiare 1 ; Sanders, Cydney 1
RBI: Coleman, Jayda 2 ; Brito, Alyssa 2 ; Jennings, Tiare 2 ; Hansen, Kinzie 1 ; Pickering, Kasidi 1 ; Sanders, Cydney 4 ; Boone, Rylie 1
SF: Coleman, Jayda 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Coleman, Jayda 2 ; Brito, Alyssa 2 ; Jennings, Tiare 1 ; Hansen, Kinzie 2 ; Coor, Hannah 1 ; Parker, Ella 1 ; Sanders, Cydney 1 ; Bland, Maya 1 ; Boone, Rylie 1 ; Torres, Alynah 1 ; Hodge, Avery 2
SB: Hansen, Kinzie 1 ; Bland, Maya 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
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