(Photo Courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics)
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Facing a potential run-rule defeat, No. 18/13 Oklahoma (9-4) rallied over the game’s final two innings for an 11-9 victory over Northwestern (8-3) Friday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Trailing 9-3 after the fifth inning, the Sooners used a six-run sixth inning to tie the game and then scored two runs in the top of the seventh to secure the comeback win. It was OU’s biggest come-from-behind win since March 4, 2005, when the team rallied from an 8-0 hole after two innings to beat Illinois-Chicago, 17-10, in eight innings.
The OU rally began in the sixth inning when juniors Jessica Vest and Lauren Chamberlain walked to start the frame. The free pass was one of four for Chamberlain in the game, marking a new career high and the highest walk total by a Sooner since Keilani Ricketts had four against Tulsa on May 22, 2011.
Fellow junior Georgia Casey then doubled to left center to make it 9-4. A walk to junior Shelby Pendley filled the bases and two of the next three OU batters drew bases-loaded walks to trim the lead to 9-6.
With the bases full, sophomore Whitney Ellis went the other way with a 1-2 pitch to make it 9-7. That set up sophomore Leslie Miller who get ahead 3-1 and singled up the middle to knot the game up at 9-9.
After needing four pitchers to get through the first five innings, OU turned to sophomore Kelsey Stevens to control the Wildcats’ bats in the sixth. She promptly faced the minimum in the sixth on a foul out, ground out and strikeout.
That set the stage for the Sooners to complete their comeback in the seventh.
Pendley led things off with a double to left center, her eighth of the season and sixth over the past four contests. Two batters later, sophomore Erin Miller singled and stole second to put a pair into scoring position.
With the go-ahead run on third, Martinez hit a chopper to shortstop. Anna Edwards came home with the throw, but Pendley used a tremendous head-first slide to give the Sooners a 10-9 lead. Erin Miller took third on the play and came home in the next plate appearance as Ellis drove an 0-2 pitch deep to center field for a sacrifice fly.
Northwestern brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh as leadoff hitter Emily Allard stepped in with one out. But Allard would prove to be the game’s final batter as she lined a shot to Vest at shortstop who then threw on to Chamberlain at first for the game-ending double play.
The win was given to Stevens who improved to 6-2 on the year by allowing just one hit and surrendering no runs over the game’s final two innings.
Oklahoma took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to a patient eye at the plate.
Martinez stood on first base with two outs and took second when Ellis was hit by a pitch. A five-pitch walk to Leslie Miller filled the bases, while Vest took a full-count pitch low to walk in the game’s first run.
Chamberlain batted next and fell behind 0-2 to Northwestern starter Kristen Wood, but battled back to a full count and ultimately drew a walk to plate Ellis.
The Sooners added another run in the third.
Pendley led off with a single off the Northwestern first baseman and took second on a groundout by senior Brittany Williams. After a strikeout, Martinez took a 2-2 pitch back up the middle and Pendley hustled around from second to score the run.
Northwestern broke the game open in the fourth, plating seven runs on five hits and a pair of OU errors.
With the bases loaded, Julia Kuhn and Allard hit back-to-back singles to score two runs before a walk to Mari Majam knotted the game up at 3-3.
Marisa Bast then hit a single to left field which was bobbled by sophomore Kady Self. A subsequent throwing error by Self enabled two more runs to score and it became a 6-3 Northwestern lead. Anna Edwards’ RBI single to shortstop closed out the scoring for the Wildcats in the fourth.
