Anyone who attended just one of this past weekend’s two softball games between No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 16 Texas A&M might have a skewed opinion of the teams’ playing. With the teams splitting the two games in wins, each one can take away something positive from the weekend.
In Saturday’s matchup, the Sooners dominated the Aggies, shutting out A&M 4-0. In the game, OU pitcher D.J. Mathis gave up only five hits on her way to a complete game shutout. Megan Gibson also pitched a complete game, but she gave up four runs on 13 hits. Savannah Long and Samantha Ricketts led the way for OU combining for six hits and two runs batted in.
For the Sooners, Saturday’s win was a big confidence booster. OU lost their first meeting with A&M 7-6, and OU needed at least one win to avoid getting swept by A&M for the season. A&M also had not lost a home game against a Big 12 opponent since 2003.
Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso said that the win shows that her team is coming together at the right time of the season.
“We are only concerned about getting better right now,” she said. “We are trying to get the most out of our team and elevate our game to achieve our goals as far as the Big 12 conference and postseason. It’s exciting to see our group come together in a critical stretch of the conference season.”
D.J. Mathis was the starting pitcher in Sunday’s game against A&M, but the similarities between the two days end there.
A&M’s offense jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning from four hits. Jamie Hinshaw led off with a double, Sharonda McDonald followed with an infield single and Megan Gibson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A single by Amanda Scarborough, a wild pitch and another infield single by Holly Ridley resulted in Aggie scores.
A&M added on fourth and fifth runs in the second and third innings, while Amanda Scarborough shut down the Sooner bat.
Scarborough recorded seven strikeouts, while allowing one hit the entire game. OU’s lone run came because of a throwing error from center fielder Sharonda McDonald. Scarborough improved to 12-5 while Mathis added a win and a loss on the weekend to come out with a 10-4 record.
Because of A&M’s dominating performance on Sunday, the Aggies can see the weekend in a positive light.
“It was so critical for us to come out, play great and win a ball game,” A&M head coach Jo Evans said. “I do think that this game could carry us through this next week, and help us in these next four games.”