TUCSON, Ariz. — Facing a 4-1 deficit after two innings, OU chipped away with a run in the fourth and fifth and back-to-back solo homers from
Kendall Wells and
Gabbie Garcia in the seventh to win 5-4 and claim the series against No. 17 Arizona (3-2) Sunday, Feb. 8.
OU scored four unanswered with the help of three-hit days from
Gabbie Garcia and
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. Lowry spun 5.2 scoreless innings, fanning three while only allowing four hits and a walk.
No. 3 Oklahoma 5, No. 17 Arizona 4
OU drew first blood in the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead.
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas singled to left center and eventually scored on an
Abby Dayton sac fly.
Arizona scored all its runs in the bottom half of that frame. A bases loaded walk brought in the tying run as
Audrey Lowry took the ball with the bags loaded. Lowry coaxed consecutive fielder's choices to
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, who threw to
Kendall Wells at the plate for the putouts. But, Arizona's Sydney Stewart tripled down the right field line, scoring three.
Lowry held the Wildcats at bay as OU pecked away.
Allyssa Parker walked to start the fourth and eventually scored on a
Kasidi Pickering RBI groundout. Garcia drilled her first of two home runs in the fifth inning, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
The big swings came in the seventh.
Kendall Wells took a 2-1 pitch to the bleachers in left, tying the game. One batter later
Gabbie Garcia homered to deep center, giving OU the lead for the first time since the top of the second inning.
Arizona threatened in the seventh though. Sereniti Trice singled to third base and took second on a wild pitch. Lowry worked a flyout against Stewart before Grace Jenkins hit a sharp grounder to Garcia at shortstop. Garcia threw to McEnroe-Marinas for the tag play, but Trice was initially ruled safe. Upon review she was called out and on the next pitch Tayler Biehl grounded out to
Ailana Agbayani at second base.
Pitchers of Record
Win:
Audrey Lowry (3-0)
Loss: Jalen Adams (2-1)
Statistical Snapshot
Notes
- Lowry has only allowed one earned run in 14 innings of work, going 3-0 on the weekend
- Garcia homered twice today and four times over the weekend in the return to her home state
- The Sooners homered 15 times over the four-game swing in Arizona
- It was OU's first-ever three-game series win at Arizona. The last time OU was in a three-game set in Tucson was during the 2008 Super Regional. The Sooners dropped that series in three games.
- McEnroe-Marinas is hitting .875 through four games
- OU outhit its opponent for the fourth consecutive game
- OU's infield had 11 assists
Up Next
OU opens at the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.M., against Montana Friday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. CT.