Norman — The Oklahoma faithful got their first look at freshman hurler Keilani Ricketts Wednesday night.
The lefty didn’t disappoint, throwing her fifth complete game of the season and helping the Sooners earn some revenge with a 7-0 victory over Tulsa at Marita Hynes Field.
The Golden Hurricane hit a walk-off homer on the same field last May, knocking the Sooners out of the NCAA Tournament.
This time, OU’s bats jumped all over Tulsa pitcher Jacke Lawrence, and once the Sooners built a big lead, they never looked back.
“We knew it was payback coming into today, definitely,” sophomore designated player Katie Norris said. “I think you could tell right away today that we were ready to bring it.”
OU’s seven runs were scored on eight hits, and coach Patty Gasso got a little bit of everything from her offense.
In the first inning, lead-off hitter Brianna Turang singled, stole second base, then stole third on a double steal with Chana’e Jones. They were then driven in on a sacrifice fly by Amber Flores and a run-scoring ground out by Jessica Shults.
Hayley Nix then hit her third home run of the season with two outs to make it 3-0 OU.
In the second inning, Ricketts led off with her first career home run and Norris followed with her first of the season. Shults drove in Karolyne Long later in the inning to put the Sooners up 6-0.
“We were ready to play,” Gasso said. “We came out and attacked early. I mean, we attacked early. It was fun to watch … From there we got a little complacent.”
OU scored its final run in the sixth inning on a run-scoring single by Norris.
Ricketts, meanwhile, was almost untouchable in her first home start.
“It was exciting,” she said. “Making a start here, I feel like a lot of people know more about us. You have different expectations, I guess, in front of the home crowd.”
Ricketts allowed three hits, walked one and struck out eight in seven innings, improving to 8-2 on the season.
One hit was an infield single, and the Golden Hurricane’s hardest hit balls were both doubles with two strikes.
“Keilani was solid in the circle,” Gasso said. “She got a little careless with two strikes on a couple hitters … As we go along, she just needs to sharpen things up, realize she doesn’t have to throw it by everyone.”
Shults and Norris each finished 2-for-3 and seven Sooners either had an RBI or a run scored. The offensive production is exactly what Gasso wants to see this time of the season.
“We had some clutch hits, some good at-bats and some long outs,” Gasso said. “But there’s still some stuff we need to work on.”
The Sooners don’t get much time to rest.
They host Nevada at 6 p.m. Friday and then host The Preview at Oklahoma City’s ASA Hall of Fame Stadium this weekend.
Saturday’s Preview opener is against No. 25 Oklahoma State, a rare non-conference meeting between the two teams.
Jeff Johncox 366-3535 jjohncox@normantranscript.com
