Norman — “I like hitting.” Keilani Ricketts said.
Good thing she’s really good at it.
The front-line Sooner pitcher, who owns 14 of Oklahoma’s 20 decisions in the early part of the softball season, led the way to another victory Friday night at Marita Hynes Field, even if her top highlight was delivered via aluminum, rather than from the pitcher’s circle.
OU (17-3) prevailed 12-1 in a five-inning run-rule and Ricketts was all over it.
First she allowed the only run the Utes would score when, facing Whitney Holm, the game’s third batter, she left a pitch out over the plate and Holm drove it over the right-center field fence.
But, as luck would have it, primarily because Utah pitcher Ashley Smuda could hardly throw a strike, Ricketts came to the plate, the score already 1-1, with two outs and the bases loaded.
She took a two-strike pitch and hammered it the other way, clearing the fence and very nearly the bleachers beyond it.
The grand slam put the Sooners up 5-1 and, just like that, they were halfway to their run-rule.
“We were talking before the game that she’s a lowboy pitcher and we just wanted to go the other way or up the middle,” Ricketts said.
Back in the circle, she kept the Utes from threatening again, allowing a single hit to Kara Foster over her last four innings.
Ricketts moved to 11-3 on the season, allowed three hits, struck out four and walked one.
Ricketts wasn’t the only Sooner to have a big game at the plate. Lindsey Vandever, went 1 for 2, drove home three and scored two runs.
Oddly, the only Sooner to register more than a single hit was Amber Flores, who collected one RBI and scored a run. Yet the Sooners were hardly short on baserunners, receiving nine walks and four hit batsmen from Smuda and Joni Cook.
OU scored its 12 runs on a mere five hits.
Still, it’s what they were looking for on the first day of the Oklahoma Spring Festival. It continues today when the Sooners meet Northern Iowa at 2:30 p.m. and Utah at 4:45 p.m.
“We’re just trying to get some momentum,” Ricketts said. “This game was great for us to start with.”
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
