Oklahoma Sooners

Keilani Ricketts made a strong case to be named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year on Saturday. The Oklahoma pitcher was outstanding for the second straight game leading the Sooners to a 7-1 win over Arizona to sweep the Norman Super Regional at Marita Hynes Field.

Oklahoma advanced to the Women’s College World Series with the victory and recorded its second straight Super Regional win over the Wildcats to make its seventh appearance in the WCWS.

Turning point: The Sooners scored five runs in the first inning to blow the game wide open and give Ricketts a sizable cushion throughout much of the contest.

Player of the game: Ricketts. The junior was simply dominant on Saturday, allowing one hit in the first five innings and striking out 13 batters in the complete game win. At one point, she struck out nine straight batters.

Ricketts, one of three finalists for the USA player of the year award, also got the scoring started with a bases loaded RBI single in the first inning. She allowed one run in 14 innings pitched to earn both wins for the Sooners.

Player of the game not named Ricketts: Jessica Shults. The sophomore catcher was 2 for 3 with a home run, 2 RBI and one stolen base in the win. She also did a terrific job managing Ricketts pitches from behind the plate.

Unsung hero of the Super Regional: Brianna Turang. The speedy outfielder was 3 for 5 in the two games and had three stolen bases for the Sooners. She consistently put pressure on the Wildcats defense.

Stat of the game: One walk. While Ricketts struck out 13 Wildcat batters, she only walked one batter. Her command of her pitches was outstanding.

What it means: The Sooners will play in the WCWS in Oklahoma City, Okla., beginning May 31 when they face the winner of the Hofstra/South Florida Super Regional.

Quotable: “They’ve got the ingredients you need... strong pitching, strong offense.” -- Arizona coach Mike Candrea on the Sooners chances in the WCWS.

“We’re playing our best softball right now.” -- OU coach Patty Gasso.

“She went out there and knew what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to be denied. She was lights out today.” -- Shults on Ricketts pitching performance.

“Last year our goal was to get to the World Series, you could tell by our celebration. This year, we made our goal bigger.” -- Ricketts.

“It’s a good feeling as a coach. You don’t have to say much because they’re on the same page. They get it, all of them, freshman to seniors. There’s no animosity, no pouting.” -- Gasso on her team’s chemistry and confidence.

Three weeks ago, the Sooners were on the outside looking in at an NCAA regional berth. Now, not only is Oklahoma a lock to make a regional, the Sooners are playing for the Big 12 tournament title after eliminating Baylor 7-2 Saturday morning.

How the game was won: Matt Oberste cranked his third and fourth home runs of the season on his first two at-bats, and Jonathan Gray gave the Sooners another quality start on the mound, allowing just one earned run while striking out six.

Stat of the game: The Sooners have been kryptonite for the Bears. Baylor is 0-5 against OU this season, and 22-1 against the rest of the Big 12.

Player of the game: The Sooners have gotten offense up and down the lineup this week. Saturday it was Oberste’s turn. The designated hitter’s three-run homer in the second inning set the tone early. On top of the two home run bombs, Oberste added a stolen base after drawing a walk.

Unsung hero of the game: Coach Sunny Golloway wanted to give Steven Okert, who pitched Wednesday and Thursday, another day off so he’d be fresh for the championship game. Reliever Kindle Ladd allowed Golloway to do that. Ladd pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit while finishing off the Bears.

What it means: Thanks to the quality starting pitching, the Sooners have only had to use five different pitchers in their three tournament games. OU will have flamethrower Damien Magnifico, who hasn’t pitched in the tournament yet, and Okert available for the championship game.

Oklahoma's Chirapat Jao-Javani won the NCAA Division I individual women's golf title by four strokes on Friday in Franklin, Tenn., becoming the first Sooner golfer to win an individual national title.

Jao-Javanil, ranked 59th by GolfStat and 41st by Golfweek, got to sit around and watch the scoreboard to see if her score would hold up after not looking at a leaderboard throughout her round.

"I think it was more pressure than actually playing out there because you're looking at the phone and Brooke Pancake's like an awesome player," Jao-Javanil said. "You never know if she could birdie her way in."

The sophomore from Thailand had won this year at the Central District Invitational and the Golf Week Conference Challenge and finished second at the Big 12 Championship as she helped lead Oklahoma to its first league title since 2000. She finished fifth at the West Regional.

She started the final round tied with Giulia Molinaro of Arizona State and bogeyed No. 18, her ninth hole, after hitting into the water to fall into a three-way tie. But Jao-Javanil birdied No. 1 for a one-stroke lead over LSU's Tessa Teachman, while Molinaro bogeyed to fall to 2 under. Jao-Javanil wrapped up the title with a flourish on another tap-in birdie on the par-5 ninth and soon started getting tweets of congratulations from Oklahoma's football players.

"It's really special," Jao-Javanil said. "I mean because I feel like over here in the U.S. football is a really big sport. To get recognition from them ... we're like the women's golf team."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Oklahoma is one win away from the Women’s College World Series. The Sooners defeated Arizona 6-0 on Friday afternoon to take command of the Norman Super Regional at OU Softball Complex. OU advances to the WCWS with a win on Saturday, while Arizona would have to win games 2 and game 3 to earn a WCWS berth.

Turning point: The Sooners got out of the first inning without allowing a run after a clutch third-to-first double play with two Arizona runners on base with one out. It was the only double play of the game. OU went on to score two runs in the bottom of the inning then controlled the game throughout.

Player of the game: Keilani Ricketts. The Sooners starting pitcher scored more runs than she gave up. She pitched a complete game shutout and added a home run in the sixth inning. The junior allowed seven hits while striking out nine batters. Ricketts secured her 32nd win (32-7 overall record) and 16th home run in the victory.

Unsung hero of the game: Lauren Chamberlain. After Georgia Casey and Destinee Martinez got on base to start the game, the freshman’s two-run double in the first inning set the tone for the Sooners. OU scored in five of its six innings and the first was OU’s lone multiple-run inning. She was 1 for 3 and had three of OU’s six RBIs in the game.

Stat of the game: Zero Arizona runs. It was Ricketts' second-straight shut out and she has allowed just one run in three games since the NCAA tournament began.

Missed opportunity: Arizona left 10 runners on base in its loss. The Wildcats left runners on base in the first three innings, while the Sooners put up four runs in the same span.

What it means: The Sooners are one win away from a berth in the Women’s College World Series. OU appears to be peaking at the right time having won seven straight games.

Quotable: “Lauren opening it up with a hard shot to left center, set the tone. It was very important that we came out fast.” -- OU softball coach Patty Gasso.

“In my eyes, she’s probably one of the best pitchers in the country right now.” -- Arizona coach Mike Candrea on Ricketts.

“I just wanted to come up big for them, they worked so hard to get on.” -- Chamberlain on her two-run double after Casey and Martinez got on base with no outs in the first inning.

“They got runners on [base] every inning, it was tough getting out of those situations but the defense came up with key plays.” -- Ricketts on holding the Wildcats scoreless despite several scoring threats.

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