Sooners Sweep No. 24 Kansas In Lawrence

The Sooners' one-through-four batters each provided multi-hit efforts as the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma softball team earned its fourth-straight Big 12 sweep with a 7-3 win over No. 24/RV Kansas in Lawrence on Saturday afternoon.

Oklahoma (34-1, 12-0 Big 12) saw seniors Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Alyssa Brito and Kinzie Hansen combine to go 10-for-16 with three home runs, accounting for all seven runs in the win over the Jayhawks (22-11-1, 7-5 Big 12). OU's win on Saturday coupled with a Texas loss in Stillwater improved the Sooners' Big 12 first-place lead to 3.0 games.

Coleman (2-for-2, 3 BB, 3 R, HR, RBI) reached in each of her five trips to the plate for the second-straight game. She closed an incredible series that saw her go 6-for-7 (.857) and reach in 13 of her 14 plate appearances, scoring eight times and drawing seven walks. Jennings and Brito each went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a home run while Hansen added a 2-for-4 day at the dish.

OU opened the scoring in the first inning on a Jennings two-run home run, her 15th of the season, then Brito made it back-to-back games with back-to-back blasts by launching her 14th to push the lead to 3-0. Coleman crushed a solo shot in the second to extend Oklahoma's lead to four.

Left-hander Kierston Deal tossed 2.1 scoreless while drawing the start, allowing just two baserunners on a single and one walk. Graduate righty Karlie Keeney took over in the third and earned her fourth win of the season, working 2.2 shutout frames with a pair of strikeouts.

The Sooners added three runs in the fourth on RBI singles off the bats of Brito and Hansen followed by a well-executed Alynah Torres (1-for-4, RB) squeeze bunt.

Kansas plated a run in the sixth and two in the seventh before Oklahoma's bullpen closed the door.

Oklahoma drew eight walks to go with its 11 base hits in the win, capping a series that saw the lineup work 23 free passes to reach base at a .509 clip. OU outscored Kansas 30-4 in the series and out-hit its opponent 35-8.

UP NEXT

OU looks ahead to a critical weekend series in Austin next weekend at No. 2/2 Texas. The series begins Friday, April 5 at 5:30 p.m. CT at Red & Charline McCombs Field.