Norman, OK-In the program's first NCAA Tournament game in 15 years, the Cleveland State softball team went toe-to-toe with the no. 2 national seed Oklahoma Sooners in their home ballpark before falling 9-0 in a first round regional game at OU's Love's Field.
Cleveland State held its own in front of an announced crowd of 4,153 in what was an incredible atmosphere in Norman.
The two teams were scoreless through the opening inning, with Melissa Holzopfel recording a strikeout in the bottom of the first which helped her retire three of the first four hitters she faced.
Oklahoma got on the board with a solo home run from Kassidi Pickering in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. Pickering recorded two home runs in the game.
The highlight of the night for the Vikings came in the third. Oklahoma was poised to add more runs to its early total as the Sooners loaded the bases with two outs. Holzopfel struck out OU's Alyssa Brito to strand the runners and keep it just a 1-0 ballgame through three innings.
The Vikings could not solve the pitching duo of Nicole May and Karlie Keeney for Oklahoma. Cleveland State recorded three hits, all singles, as the Sooners kept CSU off the basepaths for the majority of the evening. Holzopfel recorded two of the three hits, finishing 2-for-3 at the plate, and Peyton Mueller-Stenz recorded the other.
Oklahoma opened it up with three runs in the fourth and followed with one more in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. The Sooners capped the run with four more runs in the sixth inning, the last two coming on a two-run home run from Tiare Jennings which ended the game in six innings due to the run rule.
Cleveland State will play again tomorrow against Boston University at 5:30 p.m. EST. The Vikings and Terriers will meet in an elimination game with the winner playing another elimination game later in the evening against the loser of Oklahoma and Oregon, who will play in tomorrow's first game for a spot in the regional final. Stay tuned to csuvikings.com for live stats and broadcast information.
