OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen homered, and No. 1 seed Oklahoma rolled past No. 4 Tennessee 9-0 in five innings on Saturday to win its 50th straight game and advance to the Women’s College World Series semifinals.
The Sooners (58-1) extended their Division I record for consecutive wins and inched closer to a possible third consecutive national title.
Oklahoma starter Jordy Bahl allowed one hit — a double to Kiki Milloy, the game’s first batter. Bahl went 3 2/3 innings, walked one and struck out three to earn the win. Relievers Alex Storako, Kierston Deal and Nicole May did not allow a hit.
Tennessee (50-9) will play No. 6 Oklahoma State in an elimination game Sunday.
Tennessee chose not to throw Ashley Rogers, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All American. She and No. 2 pitcher Payton Gottschall watched as hard-throwing freshman Karlyn Pickens got the nod.
The decision paid off early. Pickens escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and didn’t allow a run.
She couldn’t escape in the second. Jennings drove a change-up over the left-field fence to put the Sooners up 3-0, and Pickens was replaced.
Hansen’s line drive went over the fence in the third for a two-run homer that put Oklahoma ahead 5-0. The Sooners would have had more, but Milloy caught one against the fence to rob Sophia Nugent of a homer in the fourth.
___
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
