Oklahoma Sooners beat Auburn 13-5 in six innings to open SEC play

The Oklahoma Sooners opened SEC play with a 13-5 run-rule win in six innings, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit with another powerful performance to move to 26-2 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play.

The Oklahoma Sooners hit four home runs on the evening, including three in a nine-run second inning to overcome the first strike of the night from the Auburn Tigers.

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In that second inning, Oklahoma sent 13 batters to the plate, and the star of the night, Gabbie Garcia, started things off with her first home run of the game. It was a solo shot, but it got the ball rolling for the Sooners’ offense. Kai Minor laced a ball through the infield that made it all the way to the wall. The true freshman turned on the speed and made it safely into third for a triple. Ailana Agbayani brought Minor home to cut the lead to 3-2. After Sydney Barker walked, Abby Dayton doubled to bring home two more and give the Sooners their first lead of the game at 4-3. Dayton reached third on the play.

After a pitching change brought former Sooner S.J. Geurin to the circle, her former teammates Kasidi Pickering and Ella Parker welcomed her home with back-to-back home runs to give Oklahoma a commanding 7-3 lead. Later with two outs in the inning, Minor reached on a double and drove home Kendall Wells and Garcia to put OU up 9-3 after two.

After Auburn added runs in the third and the fourth, Garcia answered with her second home run of the evening, this time a three-run home run to keep the Tigers at a distance.

Garcia helped close the game out in the bottom of the sixth when her single to center field moved pinch runner Chaney Helton over to third. Allyssa Parker closed the game with a sacrifice fly to left for the run-rule win.

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Oklahoma sophomore Audrey Lowry got the start and had her own troubles keeping the ball in the park. All of Auburn’s runs came via home run, including two from third baseman Haven Roebuck, who had the three-run home run to get the scoring started in the second. But Lowry battled for four innings to get the win and move to 12-1 on the season. She threw 69.3% of her pitches for strikes, only allowed four hits, and only walked one. But three of the hits were home runs on the evening.

Freshman Allyssa Parker came in and threw two scoreless innings after getting the start at first base.

It was a 4-for-4 night for Gabbie Garcia, who had the two home runs and four RBIs. She’s now up to 14 home runs on the season and tied with Ella Parker for second on the team. Pickering’s home run was her 11th of the season on a 3-for-4 night. Team home run leader Kendall Wells didn’t have a home run, but she was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Her single to lead off the bottom of the sixth became the game-winning run after she was replaced by Helton. Minor and Dayton also had two hits a piece.

The Sooners are back in action on Saturday for game two against the Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and look for Miali Guachino to get the start in the circle for Oklahoma.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Sooners overcome early deficit to beat Auburn Tigers 13-5