March 28, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. – After pouring on 11 runs on Saturday, the No. 3 Missouri (23-4, 1-1 Big 12) offense was stymied on Sunday, falling 9-0 in six innings to the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners (27-8, 1-1 Big 12) in the series finale between the two teams.

The Tigers piled seven runs on Oklahoma's ace Keilani Ricketts on Saturday, but the lefty freshman limited Mizzou to just one hit while striking out eight.

Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann took the loss for Missouri, falling to 6-3 on the season.

The first big opportunity for the Tigers to score came in the top of the third.  Junior Abby Vock walked on four pitches to lead off the inning, and advanced to second on senior Michaele Vock's single into left, the first Missouri hit of the game.  Senior Gina Schneider came up and blooped one in between the pitcher and the second baseman, but OU's Ricketts was able to regroup, field the ball, and throw out Abby Vock on her way to third, who had to hold up and see if the ball would be caught or not.  Freshman Jenna Marston hit a shot to the second baseman, but she was able to field it cleanly, step on second and throw Marston out at first for an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom half of the third, Oklahoma put the first runs of the game on the board, coming at the hands of Jessica Shults, who crushed a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Sooners a 2-0 lead.
The Sooners tacked on to their lead in the fourth, getting a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles to make the score 3-0.  A bunt single loaded the bases, and after a pop out, a two-run single to right extended the lead to 5-0. An error scored another Sooner run to make it 6-0.

Schults' second home run of the day made it 7-0 in the sixth, and a two-run homer later in the inning finished the game, giving OU the victory.

Missouri will be back in action this Wednesday when they return home to take on Saint Louis in a doubleheader.  Game one will begin at 3 p.m. CT.