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The 21st-ranked Georgia Bulldogs split a midweek doubleheader with top-ranked Oklahoma Tuesday at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens which was noteworthy as it ended the Sooners’ 40-game win streak dating back to more than a year.
OU’s 33-game win streak to start a season goes down as the best unbeaten start to a season in program history and its 40-game win streak from Feb. 29, 2020 through April 20, 2021 is second in program history and third in NCAA D-I history.
The Bulldogs defeated OU 7-6 in nine innings to begin the day then fell 12-0 in five innings in the nightcap.
The victory in game one was Georgia’s first win over a top-ranked opponent since Georgia (28-12) defeated Florida in the 2016 NCAA Super Regional in Gainesville. It was Georgia’s first No. 1 win in a regular season since 2011 when Georgia run-ruled Arizona 8-0 in Cathedral City, California.
Oklahoma (34-1) came to Athens carrying a perfect 33-0 record. The last time the Sooners lost a game was Feb. 29, 2020 against North Texas in Norman.
Georgia topples top-ranked Oklahoma in game one of Tuesday’s doubleheader!
Game two of the twin bill will begin about 8:40 p.m. on ESPNU. #Team25 | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/MbB6Kz25iA
— Georgia Softball (@UGASoftball) April 21, 2021
Here’s a look at the exciting win for the Bulldogs from Bulldogs.com and SoonerSports.com…
*****
Georgia 7, Oklahoma 6 (9 innings)
Georgia out hit the Sooners 11-5 in the game. Redshirt-sophomore Jaiden Fields finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI including the game-winning hit in the ninth. Four other Bulldogs all recorded two hits each including junior Savana Sikes, sophomores Sydney Kuma and Sara Mosley, and freshman Sydney Chambley.
Graduate Mary Wilson Avant (15-5) pitched a career-long nine innings in the circle. Avant fanned three Sooners in her extra-inning outing, allowing six runs on five hits.
After a scoreless opening inning, OU’s Jayda Coleman put the Sooners on the board with a solo home run in the second, 1-0.
Kuma responded in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff home run to knot the game at 1-1.
Break out the Savage Chain because Sydney Kuma just put the Dawgs on the board with a leadoff home run in the fourth!!
🖥 https://t.co/lckTndMmbl / SECN
Bottom 4️⃣
⭕️ 1
🐶 1#Team25 | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/UO19k1t65e— Georgia Softball (@UGASoftball) April 20, 2021
Fields then hit a triple to plate Mosley and put the Bulldogs in front, 2-1, heading to the fifth inning.
A two-out grand slam off the bat of Lynnsie Elam put Oklahoma out in front 5-2 in the sixth.
💥💥 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐌 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐌 💥💥 pic.twitter.com/8uXqzdtVrt
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 20, 2021
Fields got a base hit to drop in right field and two runs came in to score to make it a one run game, 5-4, in the bottom of the sixth.
Two runs come in to score on a single to right off the bat of Fields and it's a one-run game!!
🖥 https://t.co/lckTndMmbl / SECN
Bottom 6️⃣
⭕️ 5
🐶 4#Team25 | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/rrOhzvedD4— Georgia Softball (@UGASoftball) April 20, 2021
The home half of the seventh began with a leadoff double by Chambley. Chambley then swiped third to put the tying run 60 feet away. After a walk to junior Lacey Fincher, Mosley singled to right, driving in Chambley and knotting the game at 6-6. The potential winning run was stranded on third as the game was sent into extra innings.
Avant retired the Sooners in order through the eighth and ninth innings.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Fields delivered a single to left field. Pinch runner Jacqui Switzer rounded third and headed home. The throw to the plate was off the mark, allowing Switzer to score the winning run and handing Oklahoma its first loss of 2021, 7-6.
👋 LATER, SOONERS!!!!!
Jaiden Fields drives in the winning run to deliver No. 1 Oklahoma its first loss of 2021!!
FINAL
⭕️ 6
🐶 7#Team25 | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/nWyab9MByz— Georgia Softball (@UGASoftball) April 21, 2021
Georgia Head Coach Lu Harris-Champer
On changes made going into the second game of the doubleheader…
“Obviously, I wouldn’t want them to change a thing. The way we competed in the first game was outstanding. They just came out and gave everything they had. I’m just proud of the team for just getting out there and playing the game. You know, we got down, we came up, then got back down, came up. Just the grit, the guts, the fight, a lot of heart, and I’m just proud of the team for their fight today. Sydney Kuma, seeing the ball, huge day at the plate. Jaiden Fields had a huge day at the plate game one, really clutch for us. Mary Wilson Avant was awesome, when she pitched it was just outstanding. Her and our pitching coach, Rachele Fico, were awesome together, and Payden [Bordeau] was a rock behind the plate. So many good things, proud of the defense, just proud of the team. I thought Britton [Rogers] did a great job coming in to settle down at the end of the game and put up two zeros. I’m just proud of her performance, just proud of the team. It was a fun day today.”
Georgia Redshirt-sophomore Jaiden Fields
On her hitting tonight…
On her hitting tonight…
“Yeah, you know it was us, and I was just trying to stay slow and easy in my process, especially after my first little mishap I had. I’ve never had that happen before, but there’s a first time for everything. So, just trying to stay calm and luckily, I had my teammates to lift me up, and I was able to do what I knew that I could do.”
Georgia Sophomore Sydney Kuma
On her home runs tonight…
On her home runs tonight…
“So, for the first game I was really just trying to work my process, and I feel like as I was working more and more, it allowed me to be successful in the end and help my team out. And towards the end for my second home run, I was just really trying to work a deeper window, although they were bringing a new girl in, but I wasn’t going to let my team go down with no runs on the board.”
Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso:
On losing the first game and winning the second…
“This trip was necessary, 100%. We needed it. We were kind of walking into a trap, but what was important for us is to see how it feels when your body is maybe not all there. But I mean, we just flat out got beat. We needed to feel what that felt like and learn from it. I don’t regret one thing. Taking this trip was important for us to learn.
“I was proud of them coming back. Because it was a hard-fought first game. You could feel that. It’s very much like that when you’re in postseason. Your body is just spent, and you’ve got to figure out how to make your body do things that maybe it doesn’t feel like doing. And that’s what I felt was happening today, so it was good for us. And I appreciate the opportunity to play Georgia. They’ve got a good pitcher who is probably one of the toughest pitchers we’ve faced thus far. She did a good job against us.
“It’s showing that we need to get better. We need to get better. We’re not good enough. We need to get better and they all agree, this team agrees. I think this could end up being one of the most rewarding weekends, just from what we’ve learned from it.”
UP NEXT:
- Georgia will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for a three-game series with the Tennessee Lady Vols beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s games will air on ESPN 2 at 2 p.m. each day.
- Oklahoma returns to the friendly confines of Marita Hynes Field in Norman for a three-game Big 12 series with Texas Tech, April 23-25. All three games will be available to watch via SoonerSports.tv and can be heard on The Franchise 2 (103.3 FM, 1560 AM) in Oklahoma and nationwide on the TuneIn app.