Oklahoma Sooners Wins Game 1 Of Championship Series In Extra Inning Walk-Off Fashion

Game one of the best of three championship series goes to the Oklahoma Sooners. And boy was it a crazy one.

What thought to be a offense slugfest soon proved to be a battle in the circle. It was Oklahoma’s Keilani Ricketts versus Tennessee’s Ellen Renfroe. It seemed to be all Ricketts at first, as she retired the first dozen batters she saw. It dissipated from then on out. Renfroe, however only got stronger, the number of strikeouts climbed the later in the game she went, including striking out the side in the ffith.

Hitting was just not existent in this game. Ricketts had a no-hitter going into the sixth, until Vols C Hannah Akamine singled up the middle to get on base. The Sooners had runners on second and third with two outs in the fourth, but thanks to a diving catch by Vols third baseman Chavonne no runners scored.

The Vols also lost a crucial scoring opportunity, after retiring the first twelve batters she faced, Ricketts in the fifth walks three batters in a row. Sooners C Jessica Shults picks off first base runner of the night Madison Shipman, so after the next two walks there is only two base runners instead of three. Melissa Brown then grounds out to Ricketts, who turns the double play to get out of the inning.

For the rest of regulation it was quiet. Ricketts and Renfroe both retired the side in the seventh, sending it to extras. In the top of the eighth, Tennessee started to get momentum, Melissa Davin reaches thanks to an error, and Melissa Brown sacrifice bunts to move Davin to second. A one out walk but runners on first and second for the Lady Vols, but Ricketts regains her composure and retires the next two batters to end the inning.

The Sooners bats finally started to awaken in the ninth. Thanks to a single, sacrifice bunt that actually leaves the runner safe, and a walk, the bases are loaded with one out for the Sooners. But the Lady Vols were not going to go away. Jessica Shults grounds out, and the force at home keeps the Sooners from scoring. Ellen Renfroe then strikes out Destinee Martinez to keep the game tied at zero.

The Vols try to get something going in the tenth, but end up leaving runners on third and first with no score. The eleventh inning was when both teams decided to wake up.  Madison Shipman hit a three run homerun to get the Vols on the board first. It was now up to Oklahoma to keep the game going. And Oklahoma did not let their fans down.  Ricketts ends up at second after a pop fly behind first could not be caught by 2B Lauren Gibson. Brittany Williams then doubles to right center, which scores Ricketts. Destinee Martinez triples to center, scoring Williams. And then Callie Parsons triples, scoring Martinez, but gets called out on the slide into third. Tie game, onto the twelfth.

From then on out it was Oklahoma’s game. Ricketts retires the side quickly to get back to hitting. And their momentum did not slow down. Brianna Turang gets a double after hitting a ground ball over the third baseman’s head, and then Lauren Chamberlain steps into the batters box. Making it look so easy, Chamberlain hits a two run homerun to left field to win the game for the Sooners.

While the Sooners ended up victorious, both Renfroe and Ricketts’ performance need to be applauded. Both girls showed their poise, confidence and pure dominance in game one of this series. They not only combined for 27 strikeouts, and kept the game a shutout through 10 innings. I’m very excited to see what game two has to offer, which airs tomorrow night at 8PM ET on ESPN.