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Softball: Sooners Hold Off Cajuns to Claim Super Regional

NORMAN, Okla. – No. 3 Oklahoma fended off a seventh inning rally by No. 9-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns Softball and held on for a 7-6 win on Friday at Marita Hynes Field in Game 2 of the Norman Super Regional.
 
The Sooners (52-7) carried a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Senior Kelsey Vincent, who tied career-high totals in hits (3) and RBI (4), launched a three-run home run to right center with two outs in the seventh inning to pull the Ragin’ Cajuns (46-9) within a run.
 
The go-ahead run would come to the plate for the Ragin’ Cajuns after Oklahoma’s Paige Parker issued a walk to Aleah Craighton. Parker and the Sooners escaped the threat when she induced a pop up from DJ Sanders.
 
With the win, the Sooners collected a spot in next week’s Women’s College World Series. The season came to an end for the Ragin’ Cajuns who finished in the Super Regional round or later for the fifth consecutive season.
 
"We had a great season, and the reason why we did and the foundation is based upon is the fact that these kids love each other," Ragin’ Cajuns Softball head coach Michael Lotief said. "They love each other. They care about each other.
They play for each other. And we have a fan base that loves and appreciates them every day.
 
"Of course I’m disappointed, but in the final analysis, I’m proud," Lotief added. "I’m proud of our kids. I’m proud of our program. I’m proud of the way they represented me and this university."
 
Oklahoma produced five runs with two outs and needed all of them to land the victory. The final pair came in the sixth inning with the hosts clinging to a 4-3 lead, and when added to a seventh-inning RBI triple from Lea Wodach, proved to be the decisive tallies.
 
Vincent finished 3-for-3 at the plate to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns nine-hit attack against Parker. Her four RBI were a game-high and marked the fifth time this season and eighth time in her career accruing the tally.
 
Senior Lexie Elkins was 2-for-4, including a double, in posting her 17th multiple-hit game of the season and 59th in a Cajuns unfiorm. Fellow senior Sara Corbello‘s game-tying home run in the fourth inning extended her career-high season total to 13.
 
Alex Stewart (29-6), who dropped back-to-back starts for only the second time, battled the Sooners hitters all seven innings issuing only one walk.
 
The Sooners utilized two-out hitting in the second inning to generate three runs and take the early lead.
 
After Vincent dove to prevent a double from Nicole Pendley, record the second out of the inning and hold Syndey Romero (leadoff single) at third base, OU’s Kady Self opened the scoring with a single into left field.
 
After an illegal pitch call erased a 1-3 putout and moved Self into scoring position, Wodach singled into center field to bring her home for a 2-0 edge. After a third two-out hit for the hosts followed, the third run of the inning crossed on a misplay of a grounder off the bat of Erin Miller.
 
After Stewart worked around a pair of one-out singles in the top of the third inning, the offense rewarded her by cutting into the Sooners advantage in the bottom half.
 
Haley Hayden walked and Shellie Landry and Elkins singled back-to-back, all with one out to load the bases. Vincent shoved an infield single into the hole at shortstop to score Hayden, then Craighton lifted a sacrifice fly into right field to trim the deficit to 3-2.
 
Parker preserved the Sooners lead for a moment after getting Sanders to ground into a fielder’s choice for the final out of the third inning, but Corbello brought the Ragin’ Cajuns back into a even score at 3-all when she launched her home run to open the bottom of the fourth.
 
The Sooners responded in the very next at bat as Sydney Romero led off the fifth inning with a solo home run that reclaimed the lead for the hosts.
 
Oklahoma dialed up another two-out hit in the sixth inning to provide Parker added breathing room. After Stewart induced an infield pop up from Caleigh Clifton with runners at second and third base, Knighten drove a single back up the middle to bring the runners home and stretch the Sooners lead to 6-3.
 
Wodach’s run-scoring triple in the top of the seventh proved valuable as Vincent’s home run in bottom half had the Ragin’ Cajuns on the verge of extending the contest or possibly walking off with a win to force a winner-take-all affair.
 
For more information on Ragin’ Cajuns softball, fans can follow along with the team on Facebook (/RaginCajunSoftball) and Twitter (@RaginCajunSB).
 
DIAMOND NOTES: The contest marked the final one as collegiate student-athletes for the Ragin’ Cajuns six seniors: Sara Corbello, Lexie Elkins, Gabby Felps, Shellie Landry, Meagan Thomas and Kelsey VincentKelsey Vincent‘s RBI total upped her senior season total to 54, the highest tally of her career…Shellie Landry finished her career with 230 games played (started in all)…Landry’s final hit of her career capped her career total at 225…Lexie Elkins finished the season with a .509 average, setting a school record and becoming the first-ever to finish above .500…Elkins’ final home run tally of 75 ranks second in school history (trailing only Danyele Gomez’s 83) and tied for 12th all-time in  NCAA history…Haley Hayden‘s single in the seventh inning extended her hitting streak to 11 games (May 7-27) which is the longest recorded by a Ragin’ Cajuns batter in 2016…Hayden finished the season with a base hit in 45 of 55 games and went the entire year without consecutive hitless games…The seventh-inning single was Hayden’s 70th hit of the season matching her career-best total set as a freshman in 2014 (she’s posted 60-plus hits all three seasons of her career thus far)…Lexie Elkins and Kara Gremillion finished tied for the team-lead with nine base hits in the NCAA Tournament…Gremillion, a freshman, hit .500 (9-for-18) in her first NCAA postseason and Elkins capped her final collegiate NCAA postseason appearance 9-for-19 (.474)…The Ragin’ Cajuns exit the 2016 NCAA Tournament with an all-time record of 71-55 in the event.
 

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