By Jeff Johncox
Oklahoma’s bats were silent and DePaul took advantage of the offensive lull Saturday.
The Sooners amassed just three hits on Blue Demon starter Tracie Adix, and DePaul got an RBI double from Kate Sheaks and a two-run home run from Sandy Vojik to win 3-0 and take a 1-0 edge in the best-of-three NCAA super regional.
The two teams meet again today at noon at Marita Hynes Field, with OU having to win twice to advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City next week.
“Offensively we came out a little bit flat,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “We didn’t come out as aggressively as we needed to.”
The Sooners have struggled throughout the postseason at the plate despite having one of the most prolific offense’s in the nation.
OU (55-7) has only scored 13 runs in four NCAA tournament games after averaging better than seven runs per outing throughout the season. And Saturday, of the Sooners’ three hits, one was a bunt and neither of the other two were hit hard. Although, two Sooner line drives were hit right at DePaul (45-11) infielders.
Part of the reason is the quality of pitching teams bring to the postseason.
Adix came into the super regional with a 0.79 earned run average.
“Of course, the pitching has gotten better in the postseason,” OU third baseman Norrelle Dickson said. “But more than that, we’re just not making the adjustments we need to.
“It’s not that the pitchers are fooling us, it’s that we’re not making those adjustments. I know we will tomorrow when our backs are against the wall. I know this team will do it then.”
Adix only struck out three Sooners, but still allowed just four baserunners, only one of which made it to second base.
Lauren Eckermann battled in the circle for the Sooners, but was pitching out of trouble most of the day. Eckermann gave up three runs on eight hits and struck out three Blue Demons, falling to 37-4 on the season.
It could have been even uglier, but a sliding catch by left fielder Amber Flores and several nice defensive plays in the infield kept DePaul off the board until Sheaks’ double in the sixth inning.
“Our defense kept us in this game,” Gasso said. “And I thought Lauren pitched well today. We needed our offense to come in and pick her up, and we didn’t do that.
“Our defense provided momentum for us going into the dugout, but we couldn’t take advantage of it.”
Up 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning, DePaul’s Jessica Evans was hit by a pitch with one out. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second base before Vojik took an 0-1 pitch from Eckermann and deposited it in the top row of the left-center field bleachers, putting the game away and quieting a record OU crowd of 1,456.
“To me, this was an ESPN instant classic kind of game,” DePaul coach Eugene Lenti said. “I can’t say how proud I am of this team. So far, we’re the first lower seed to win. We always talk about making history at DePaul. Today, I think we made a little more history.”
The Sooners will have to fight back with two wins today in order to advance to the WCWS.
“Not one time this season have we been beaten twice by a team,” Gasso said. “It’s just about pride. There’s pride and trust that these players have for each other. This team is so good at responding and fighting back.
Jeff Johncox
366-3535
jjohncox@normantranscript.com
