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The No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners visited Texas Tech this afternoon and swept a doubleheader (6-1, and 12-0 via run rule) to open Big 12 play. I got out to the ballyard for the second game, and took some photos (you can click on the photos to enlarge them).

While OU's Allee Allen was shutting out the Red Raiders...



...Texas Tech's starter, junior Ashly Jacobs (left), had a tough day at the office, before giving way to frosh Karli Merlich.


Oklahoma celebrated offensive success early and often, with three homers and numerous other hits (I would guess the player with an ice pack over her left shoulder is D.J. Mathis, who closed out Game 1)...


One style of hitting in softball is to take a running start and slap at the ball. So fast is the run-up of the Sooners' Evan Sallis that, on a pitch she missed, her momentum carried her several strides toward the pitching circle...


OU batters didn't miss many pitches on the day, though. Having retired Texas Tech in the bottom of the fifth, Oklahoma had a run-rule 12-0 victory on the books (i.e., one team being ahead by seven or more runs, after at least five complete innings)...


...leading to the teams' post-series trip through the handshake line...


***

On a separate matter, I noticed today for the first time that, within the pitching circle, there's a set of two parallel chalk lines from the pitching rubber toward home plate (visible in the photos above of the Texas Tech pitchers). The lines are part of a new rule, which is discussed here.

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