Alex Storako pitches no-hitter as OU softball sweeps home openers vs. UIC, Kentucky

Ryan Aber, Oklahoman

March 3, 2023 at 10:00 PM·6 min read

NORMAN — Walking from the clubhouse back to the field for the second game of Friday's home-opening doubleheader, OU softball coach Patty Gasso wasn't sure what to expect.

“It was just really, I guess, a little unnerving to walk out onto this field against Kentucky and not be exactly sure what was going to happen,” Gasso said.

After a ho-hum first game against Illinois-Chicago in a 5-0 win, the top-ranked Sooners dominated No. 17 Kentucky in the nightcap, drilling the Wildcats 18-0 in five innings at Marita Hynes Field behind a no-hitter from Alex Storako and six home runs.

Jayda Coleman, who went 5 for 7 with four runs and two RBIs on the day, said she got the sense during the first game that the Sooners would be OK in the nightcap.

"I knew in the middle of the game that we just needed a reset," Coleman said.

After Gasso gave the Sooners a wake-up call between games, OU (15-1) came out firing.

The Sooners scored three in the first and four in the second to pour it on the Wildcats.

"The first game we played, we were just — I'm not going to say flat, I'm going to say soft," Gasso said. "We were soft. I was a little down on this team when we came into the locker room.

"They answered the call bigger and better than I ever thought."

Here are five takeaways from the sweep:

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Oklahoma's pitcher Alex Storako (8) celebrates after an out during a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kentucky Wildcats at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.

Alex Storako dominant in Marita Hynes debut

Alex Storako had only thrown one no-hitter in her career.

Last March 5 against Drake, Storako needed to throw eight no-hit innings to lead Michigan to a 1-0 win.

Her first no-hitter for the Sooners wasn't nearly as dramatic.

But it was just as dominant.

Storako wasn't overpowering, striking out just five, but the Wildcats had little chance against her.

The Wildcats had just one baserunner. Storako hit the third batter of the game.

Storako struck the first two batters out in the fifth, before getting Kennedy Sullivan to pop out to first in foul territory to seal the no-hitter.

The no-hitter was the Sooners’ second of the season.

Nicole May and Jordy Bahl teamed up to no-hit Army earlier this season.

Storako is 5-0 with a 0.27 ERA in 25 2/3 innings.

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Oklahoma's Kinzie Hansen (9) celebrates after hitting a grand slam in the second inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kentucky Wildcats at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.

Kinzie Hansen leads home run charge

Kinzie Hansen wasted no time attacking in the second inning of the nightcap.

Just after Haley Lee drew a walk to load the bases, Hansen put a charge into Stephanie Schoonover’s pitch, driving it well over the right-center field wall for a grand slam.

It was Hansen’s third home run of the season. She hit two in Sunday’s blowout of then-No. 1 UCLA.

In the fifth inning, Hansen capped an 11-run outburst with a three-run blast for her fourth of the season.

Hansen’s home runs were hardly the only ones of the day for OU.

Jayda Coleman hit one in each game.

Haley Lee also had one in the opener.

The Sooners hit six in the second game — five in the fourth.

Coleman led off the inning with a solo homer, then four batters later, Sophia Nugent hit a three-run shot.

Cydney Sanders and Quincee Lilio followed to give OU back-to-back-to-back home runs.

Later in the inning, Hansen followed with her second of the game.

Sanders' was the most eventful.

It looked to be just short of the wall in left, but it bounced off Hallie Mitchell's glove and over the wall for her first home run as a Sooner.

“It was fun,” Gasso said. “You would’ve thought that was the first home run she’s ever hit in her life. She’s really been working hard to try to get her feet settled into the ground.”

Sanders hit 21 homers as a freshman at Arizona State last season before transferring to OU.

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Nicole May locks things down in opener

For four innings of the first game, Jayda Coleman accounted for all of OU’s offensive output.

With Nicole May in the circle, it didn’t much matter.

In the fifth, though, the Sooners’ offense started to come alive, giving May some breathing room in an eventual 5-0 win.

Coleman gave OU the lead quickly, blasting a 2-1 pitch over the left-center field wall to lead off the bottom of the first.

But Flames pitcher Christina Toniolo kept the Sooners’ high-octane offense in check other than that.

The only other hit OU managed on Toniolo was Coleman’s third-inning double that was inches away from clearing the right-field wall.

But when Toniolo left the game after four, the Sooners took advantage.

After a Rylie Boone single to lead off the fifth, Haley Lee hit a pinch-hit home run.

The next inning, Boone did the work herself, driving the first pitch she saw over the right field wall for a two-run home run.

May made sure the Sooners kept the lead.

She kept UIC’s hitters off-balance all day, allowing just two hits and striking out a career-high 11.

“She’s just so grown up to me,” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said of May. “I just think her pitches are crisp. They’re breaking well. She’s in complete control.”

Coleman finished 3 for 4, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

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Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings (23) fields the ball before throwing to forst for an out in the first inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kentucky Wildcats at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.

Tiare Jennings out of the lineup

Tiare Jennings had started all 136 games of her Sooners career.

But when Sooners coach Patty Gasso filled out the lineup card for Friday’s home opener vs. Illinois-Chicago, Jennings was not on it.

Jennings had started the Sooners’ previous 129 games at second base.

Instead, Quincee Lilio started at second against the Flames.

With a runner on first and one out in the fourth, Jennings pinch hit for Alyssa Brito and remained in the game at second place.

Jennings battled through an 11-pitch at-bat before popping up to second.

Jennings was back in the lineup in the second game, going 2 for 2.

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Oklahoma's Jayda Coleman (24) celebrates in front of Kentucky's Margaret Tobias (12) after hitting a double in the first inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kentucky Wildcats at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.

Things tend to even out over time in softball

Friday, it took just three plate appearances for the ledger to draw even.

In the top of the sixth, UIC’s Anna Walker fought off a Nicole May pitch and sent it spinning just down the first-base line.

The ball took a bounce toward foul territory and appeared to be destined to be a foul ball so May let it be as Walker sprinted down the line.

But instead of bounding foul, the ball stuck on the infield dirt and spun in place, finally coming to rest on the line, giving Walker a hit and drawing a skyward look of disbelief from May.

But Tiare Jennings made sure things evened out.

After a sacrifice moved Walker to second, Jennings leapt into the air to snag Carlee Jo Clark’s hard line drive to keep the Flames scoreless.

The Sooners did not commit an error on the day and have just three through 16 games.

More:Get to know the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners softball team and schedule

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball: Alex Storako pitches no-hitter as Sooners beat Kentucky

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