Sooners take advantage of Missouri miscues to advance to Super Regional

NORMAN — It took Nicole Pendley's two-run home run in the seventh inning of Sunday's NCAA Regional final for Oklahoma to score an earned run.

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said her team's dominance in recent years — the Sooners are 171-20 over the past three seasons — can get to opponents, especially during the postseason.

“I think they may look at our history and we have a history in postseason that is probably one of the best,” Gasso said.

“We go to another level during this time it seems like. I think opponents are aware of that. Is it in their head? I have no idea. We're just really working on maintaining what we do on the field and taking advantage of opportunities, which they did a good job of today.”

The Sooners put two runners on in the first before back-to-back two-out, infield errors by the Tigers gave OU a pair of runs.

In the fourth, it was a leadoff error that opened the door for three runs — all with two outs.

Pendley's home run was her second in as many games after she hit one in Saturday night's win over Tulsa.

Sooners to play Arkansas

Oklahoma will play Arkansas in next weekend's best-of-three Super Regional.

The schedule for the series has yet to be released.

The Razorbacks advanced to a Super Regional for the first time in program history with Sunday's 6-4 win over Wichita State.

Arkansas is coached by Courtney Deifel, a former graduate assistant for the Sooners.

The teams have not met this year, but Oklahoma beat the Razorbacks twice last season, the second coming in an elimination game in the NCAA Regional.

Dramatic shift works for Sooners

When Paige Lowary came on in relief in the fifth inning, the Tigers had a pair of left-handed slap hitters coming to the plate.

The combination of their hitting styles and Lowary's at times overpowering speed led to Gasso going back to a strategy she used a lot earlier in the season.

Gasso went with a five-person infield with no right fielder.

The move worked to perfection, even if it led to some wacky scoring.

Right fielder Nicole Mendes moved in to play first while first baseman Shay Knighten shifted to the second base slot while second baseman Caleigh Clifton moved to the other side of second base.

Lowary got Abby George to ground out to shortstop and Regan Nash to ground out to second base, leading to back-to-back outs scored 6-9 and 3-9.

Missouri eliminates Tulsa

Thunderstorms that moved through the Norman area late Saturday night kept the Sooners from learning their opponents until Sunday afternoon.

Tulsa and Missouri were tied at 5 in the top of the fourth inning when play was stopped due to rain and lightning.

In Sunday's resumption, the Tigers pushed a run across in the fifth on Brooke Wilmes' one-out single to score pinch-runner Gabby Garrison.

That was all Missouri needed, as Tulsa put the tying run in scoring position in the seventh before getting a game-ending groundout.