Oklahoma softball claims Big 12 championship

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma softball is two-thirds of the way there.

Regular season Big 12 championship? Check.

Big 12 tournament? That’s now crossed off as well. The Sooners played as clean as possible throughout the tourney in taking back the conference championship with a 6-1 victory against second-seeded Texas on Saturday afternoon at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

The winning streak now hits 43 for the top-ranked Sooners as OU improved to 51-1 overall this season.

“Just a really complete game today on the mound,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “At the plate, I think we had a little bit of a slow start and then we really started to fire on all cylinders about the fourth inning on.

“I loved what Jordy did coming in. Haley Lee was just outstanding this weekend. I really loved our 5-6-7-8-9, they did a good job of coming in and getting some really timely hits. So just a really clean game. We played really well.”

The celebration, however, was a bit subdued. Because, yes, the Sooners wanted to bring this championship back to Norman after not winning it last season, but the best is yet to come.

The eyes are on the big prize and that begins from this point forward with NCAA postseason play coming up in the weeks ahead. OU, of course, is gunning for its third consecutive national championship.

How OU captured the conference championship wasn’t really any different to how it has been the No. 1 team in the country. Timely hitting, a balanced pitching staff and outstanding defense.

The game becomes rather easy when you can excel in all three categories as the Sooners showed once again vs. UT.

Only one Oklahoma player can be crowned

Haley Lee was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She had two hits Saturday, including a solo home run in the second inning and scored twice.

“It was exciting,” said Lee, a Texas A&M transfer. “First time in the Big 12 tournament, so that was an exciting moment for me. Just getting to see everybody contribute and get to swing the bat hard and our pitchers shutting down teams, that’s exciting.”

Tied 1-1 into the bottom of the fourth, OU took control with a three-run inning and put up two more in the sixth to beat UT for the fourth time this season and second time in Oklahoma City.

Lee was instrumental in that fourth frame as well, scoring from first on a double by Alyssa Brito that got the pro-OU crowd back into the game.

Nicole May pitched the first four innings to move to 16-0 this season. She allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out two. She paved the way for Jordy Bahl to close it out. The sophomore pitched the final three frames to earn her third save of the season. Bahl gave up two hits and struck out three.

There will be no drama coming up with the NCAA selection show Sunday evening. OU has stamped its case as the No. 1 team, and it’s just going to be about who is coming to Norman next weekend to begin regional play.

Oklahoma Takeaways

*Bahl did the job in the circle, but she added a boost with her speed as well. Bahl scored twice, including doing a great job of reading the situation to score on a groundout to third base.

“I saw the ground ball took the third baseman more toward shortstop a little bit,” Bahl said. “So I got kind of a bigger lead because no one was really at third and then when she threw it, I went home.

“Just kind of be ready for anything. I think all parts of the game are really fun. Whenever I have the opportunity to do something besides just pitch, it’s really fun.”

*If there’s one thing Gasso emphasized in the postgame press conference, it’s time to rest. Finals are in the books. The conference tournament is completed. Relax and get refreshed for what’s about to happen the rest of the way.

“They need rest. They’ll tell you that,” Gasso said. “I’ll tell you that. We all are kind of spent. We’ve been traveling a lot. We’ve been playing a lot. So they need rest but we need good, focused practices.

“But we’ll have time to hang out at a team and do some fun stuff as well. So it’s important for them to laugh and have a good time and have some fun.”

*Lee was joined by several other Sooners to make the All-Big 12 Tournament team. Lee, Bahl, Alyssa Brito, Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings and Grace Lyons also made the squad.