Sooner Iver McDonald was safe after Mariah Gearhart (2) dropped the ball during the continuation of the postponed Bedlam game Tuesday night. The Sooners and Cowgirls play again tonight at 7 in Norman.
Cowgirls fall to Sooners in continuation of Bedlam game after rain delay April 2
When junior first baseman Heather Kim stepped up to bat in the bottom of the second inning, she already had two strikes before the first pitch was thrown.
She swung and missed, striking out on the first pitch of the game.
The strikeout was an indicator of how OSU’s offense would perform the rest of the game as the No. 9 Sooners beat the Cowgirls 3-1 in Tuesday night’s Bedlam continuation.
The game started April 2 but was postponed because of rain in the middle of Kim’s at-bat. OU led 2-0 at the time the game was postponed.
The Cowgirls (24-21, 7-6 Big 12) mustered only two hits in a game that defense dominated. The Cowgirls’ only run came when sophomore outfielder Megan Castle hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Cowgirls made good contact with the ball in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Sooners (38-11, 11-2) made three solid defensive plays to end the game.
“If you look at our last at-bats, they were just shots,” senior outfielder Kim Kaye said. “They just happened to go right to [OU].”
Coach Rich Wieligman said his team could have hit the ball more effectively, but he also saw good hitting at the end of the game.
“They didn’t swing the bat as well as they can,” Wieligman said. “I felt like in the last inning we put some good at-bats together, we just hit it right at them.”
If it were not for the two run cushion the Sooners had going into last night, it would have been a tie game at the end. OU’s only run Tuesday night came from first baseman Samantha Ricketts’ solo home run in the top of the third inning.
Sophomore Anna Whiddon continued pitching Tuesday after giving up the two early runs at the start of the game three weeks ago. Other than the early home run, Whiddon did a solid job of keeping OU’s batters in check.
“After that home run, I just kinda stopped looking at the batters and said, ‘All right, let’s throw my stuff,’ and I did,” Whiddon said.
Whiddon pitched a complete game and gave up three runs on six hits. She also struck out five.
Wieligman said he was impressed with the way the team competed last night and feels as if they should have some confidence going into tonight’s game at 7 in Norman.
“They played even,” Wieligman said. “We competed well and played well and pitched the ball a lot better.
“I think they’ve gotta feel good going into [Wednesday] night. I think if we can hold them until we get some offense going, that’s the key.”
The Cowgirls will need to get more than two hits and one run to beat the Sooners in tonight’s rematch.
“They key is we gotta hit it earlier in the count and get the ball in play,” Wieligman said.
Although they need to improve their offense, the Cowgirls also need to play as well defensively as they did Tuesday night.
Whiddon said she is confident OSU will continue to play on a high level defensively.
“I think our defense is gonna be behind me every pitch, just like it has in the past,” Whiddon said.
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