NORMAN — No. 1 Oklahoma secured its 11th consecutive Big 12 regular season title with a 8-2 win on Sunday over Kansas. The championship brings the program's total to 15 regular season conference crowns overall, all under head coach Patty Gasso.
"It was exciting, the whole day you could feel the energy," said Gasso. "You knew what was at stake and the team played hard, not just for the title, but more for their seniors. Those seniors want to walk off the field with a win, they want to play well, there's just so many things going on around us. There's a lot of distractions and they did a good job of staying focused and finishing."
The Sooners (45-1, 15-0) secured the sweep and moved to an undefeated 15-0 in conference play with one week of the regular season remaining. Oklahoma was powered by a 4-for-5, one home run and three RBI day from Tiare Jennings and another exceptional effort in the circle by Alex Storako (15-0) and Jordy Bahl.
The Jayhawks (22-24, 4-11) plated an unearned run at the top of the first, the first run Oklahoma had surrendered in six games and the first run allowed in conference play since April 2 vs. Texas.
The Sooners quickly responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first, courtesy of a bases-loaded walk drawn by redshirt senior Haley Lee and RBI single from Alyssa Brito.
In the second, OU expanded its lead with a three-run home run from Jennings, her 12th of the season and 68th of her career, to put OU up 5-1 through two. KU plated its second and final run of the game on a solo home run from Olivia Bruno in the third, the first round-tripper OU has given up since April 15 at Miami (OH) and it was just the sixth surrendered by Storako on the season.
Once again the Sooners responded with a crooked number in the bottom half of the inning, plating two more runs on two hits. After walks drawn by super senior Grace Green and senior Rylie Boone, junior Jayda Coleman ripped a single to right field to plate one. Two batters later, after Jennings registered a single to load the bases, Cydney Sanders drew OU's second bases-loaded walk of the game to bring in OU's seventh run of the contest.
Storako gave way to Bahl in the sixth, exiting with a line of 5.1 innings pitched, two runs (one earned) allowed on four hits to go with six strikeouts and no walks. Storako ran her career strikeout total to 994 on her senior day, just six shy of joining an elite group of pitchers in NCAA softball history with 1,000 career K's.
Bahl retired the side with a pair of strikeouts in the sixth before the Sooners plated their final run of the game via a Coleman RBI double in the bottom frame of the sixth.
Coleman, Brito and Jennings all registered multi-hit games with Coleman and Brito knocking a pair of base hits with two and one RBI, respectively, while Jennings recorded her second four-hit game of the season and sixth of her career. Seven Sooners had a hit in the contest with five bringing in a run.
In the circle, Storako moved to an undefeated 15-0 on the year while Bahl pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with one hit allowed, three strikeouts and no walks.
The win on OU's home turf of Marita Hynes Field was the 60th consecutive home victory and secured OU's third straight undefeated home regular season and sixth overall in program history.
OU has won 24 straight Big 12 conference games and 53 consecutive series, with 45 sweeps in that span.
On the season, Oklahoma is outscoring opponents 385-37 with 88 home runs and a .377 team batting average. In the circle, OU's pitching staff has a team ERA of 0.80 and 353 strikeouts with an opponent batting average of .152 and a nation-best 28 shutouts. In conference play, OU is outscoring foes 107-11 with 32 home runs, while the pitching staff holds a 0.44 ERA and 10 shutouts.
Up next, Oklahoma closes the regular season with a midweek at Tulsa on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT before Bedlam presented by Phillips 66 in Stillwater next weekend, May 5-7, at No. 7 Oklahoma State.
Tuesday's game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard via 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity Network app.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.
