Kierston Deal Shutout Caps Oklahoma Sweep of Houston

Photo courtesy Oklahoma Softball

During its run to three consecutive national championships, Oklahoma has been known for having a prodigious offense.

And while that remains true, the Sooners entered the weekend leading the nation in batting average and on-base percentage and are third nationally in home runs, the Oklahoma pitching staff is not to be overlooked.

The combination of Kelly Maxwell, Nicole May, Paytn Monticelli, Karlie Keeney and Kierston Deal took center stage in the Sooners three-game Big 12 sweep of Houston by limiting the Cougars to nine hits and two runs after Houston entered the weekend averaging 6.81 runs per game.

Deal capped the sweep with a gem of a performance on Sunday as she tossed a shutout leading Oklahoma to a 5-0 victory over the Cougars. She allowed just two hits and struck out 10 batters.

“Today it was just going after the hitters,” said Deal. “Working ahead, getting first pitch strikes and trusting my defense. I felt going into today that I might as well just carry on with just throwing good pitches and let my defense work.”

Maxwell got OU off to a fast start on Friday as she allowed only two hits in five scoreless innings and Keeney finished with a scoreless inning as the Sooners posted an 8-0 win.

Saturday belonged to May as she permitted just three hits in 4.1 innings leading OU to a 10-2 win.

The OU offense did its part as well as the Sooners piled up 29 hits and outscored the Cougars 23-2. But the manner in which they scored was slightly different than customary.

“We are working on making it all come together,” said head coach Patty Gasso. “And we are moving in directions in which people are being called out and called up. For me I just don’t want to have any regrets because we are dealing with a senior class that is absolutely special.

“They’ve done things that I don’t know if any class can ever match.”

After Alynah Torres hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning of game one, the Sooners scored their next 20 runs of the series without the aid of a home run. OU produced six innings with multiple runs and used the pass the bat philosophy to improve to 42-4 overall.

Freshman Ella Parker occupied the leadoff spot in the final two games of the series and went a combined 3-for-7 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

Moving into the leadoff spot has helped Parker from a confidence standpoint.

“It’s a really big confidence boost,” Parker said. “All of these girls are All-Americans so being in the lineup helps my confidence.”

Alyssa Brito continued her outstanding season as she went 4-for-7 with two RBIs over the final two games of the series.

Oklahoma will next travel to UCF for a three-game series before closing the regular season by hosting Oklahoma State in the Bedlam series.

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