Oklahoma run-rules Binghamton in NCAA Tournament

The Oklahoma women's softball team never had to worry much about an always unlikely upset Friday. The Sooners dispatched Binghamton with ease in the first game of the Norman Regional in the NCAA Tournament. OU, the top-seed in its quarter of the bracket, handled the Bearcats, 11-0, in five innings, scoring in all four frames in which it came to bat.

Kasidi Pickering hit a two-run home run in the first, highlighting a four-run opening inning. Kai Minor and Ella Parker each went yard in the second, giving the Sooners three more runs. Ailana Agbayani hit a two-run single in the third.

And Kendall Wells clubbed a two-run homer in the fourth to provide OU with its last batch of necessary runs to enact the run-rule. Coach Patty Gasso used three pitchers in order save arms for the rest of the weekend, no matter how long it may run. Audrey Lowry pitched two innings before Berkley Zache picked up the win by working the next two.

The pair of Sooners pitchers and Allyssa Parker gave up just two hits over their five innings. Oklahoma will play the winner of Kansas and Michigan in the next round while Binghamton gets the loser. Whichever teams comes out of the winner's bracket game would need just one more win to qualify for Super Regionals.