NORMAN,
Okla. - Lauren Chamerlain hit two home runs and had five RBI to
propel No. 2 Oklahoma past the Drake Bulldogs, 10-2, in six innings Friday
night.
Leading just 2-0 going into the fourth inning, the
Sooners broke the game open with five runs in the frame. Chamberlain's tenth
home run of the season came with two-outs and was off Drake (13-9) sophomore Rebekah Schmidt (Cottage Grove, Minn.).
The Sooners then loaded the bases and Jessica Shults drove home two more runs
with a single up the middle to push their lead to 7-0.
The Bulldogs didn't back down and put two runs on the
scoreboard in the fifth inning. Schmidt blasted her second of the home run of
the season to lead off the inning off of All-American Keiliana Ricketts. Senior
Lindsey Vande Wall (Prairie City,
Iowa) ripped a triple and came home on an RBI single by junior Amy Pierce (Olathe, Kan.) for the
second run.
Oklahoma (20-1) had too much offensively, as Chamerblain
connected on her second home run of the game in the bottom half of the frame, a
two-run shot off of junior Jordan
Gronewold (Carlisle, Iowa).
The Sooners ended the game in the sixth inning with two
runs off of Drake freshman pitcher Mariah
Mckinnon (Oxford, Iowa).
Rickets improved to 10-0 on the season tossing six
innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out 11 hitters. Schmidt
pitched 3.2 innings allowing six earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.
Her record drops to 6-4 on the year.
Vande Wall capped off a strong day at the plate going
2-for-2 with one run scored, while Schmidt finished 1-for-2 with the home run.
Pierce tallied one hit and one RBI.
The start times for Drake's games scheduled for Saturday
versus Northern Colorado and Oklahoma have been moved up to 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.,
respectively.