Everything went according to plan for Oklahoma Softball in the first three games of the Getterman Classic.
But none of the three run-rule victories, no matter the margin, would tell a story more than Sunday afternoon’s showdown against conference foe Baylor.
The Bears came so close to pulling off an upset against OU last year and didn’t miss it this time. Baylor hit four runs in the third inning and held the rest of the way to give OU a 4-3 loss on the final day of the Classic in Waco, Texas.
The Sooners went 3-1 over the weekend and are now 8-1 overall, but the No. 1 team and the two-time defending champions are still looking after the first few weeks of the season.
Patty Gasso’s club beat Longwood, Stephen F. Austin and Army 41-0 in three games to start the Classic, but the Bears presented a challenge. Baylor came in 6-1, with just one loss to No 4.
OU led 1-0 and reached the end of the third. Baylor equalized, and then Shaylon Govan hammered a three-run homer on Jordy Bahl to give the Bears a 4-1 lead.
Jayda Coleman had an RBI double and Tiare Jennings had an RBI groundout at the top of sixth, but OU went down in seventh and any quest for an undefeated season ends fairly early in 2023.
*This loss will hurt, but OU found something in Jocelyn Erickson. The freshman had three homers and 12 RBIs over the weekend. She now has four homers this season and her Classic included an 8-RBI game against SFA.
*It was also a solid pop weekend for Alyssa Brito. She increased her batting average by more than 200 points over the three days. Brito now hit .360, had seven hits, drove in six carries and added her second home run of the season.
*The captain, Grace Lyons, had a five-RBI performance against SFA. But she had a chance to tie the game in the sixth inning against Baylor but landed to end the inning with Coleman on third base. Lyons dropped five runners on base against the Bears.
* Still not clicking above Jayda Coleman And Tiare Jennings. Although Jennings hit her first home run of the season, the duo only went 6:18 (.333) combined and only had four extra base hits over their first two weekends.
*The first three games showed what Gasso should be able to do the rest of the way. Use Nicole May, Alex Storak and Bahl, both dominated in their first start of the weekend. All three pitched for four innings and struck out at least eight, with May striking out 10 of their 12 outs.
May and Storako are now 2-0 this season while Bahl is 3-1.
recap
No. 1 OU 10, Longwood 0 (5)
No. 1 OU 22, Stephen F. Austin 0 (5)
No. 1 OU 9, Army 0 (5)
Baylor 4, #1 OU 3
Next: OU (8-1) travels to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California next Friday-Sunday. The Sooners play CSU-Fullerton and Texas A&M on Friday, followed by Utah and Loyola Marymount on Saturday, and ended in the mega-showdown with No. 2 UCLA on Sunday afternoon.
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