The Arkansas Razorbacks' softball team had the tying runs on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning against defending national champion Oklahoma, but Sooners pitcher Paige Lowery slammed the door shut.
Lowery struck out Nicole Schroeder, Madison Yannetti and Katie Warrick to leave the tying runs stranded as the Sooners held on to beat the Razorbacks 5-3 Saturday night in an NCAA Norman (Okla.) Regional elimination game.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville was the home team despite the regional being played at Oklahoma's Marita Hynes Field.
Lowery, the Sooners' fourth pitcher, recorded her eighth save of the season after allowing singles by Tori Cooper and A.J. Belans to open the bottom of the seventh inning.
Oklahoma (51-9) advanced to play North Dakota State while Arkansas (31-24) ended its season after going 0-2 in the regional, including a 5-4 loss to Tulsa on Friday night.
The Sooners took a 4-3 lead with a run in the fourth inning when Nicole Mendes hit a two-out single, then advanced to second, third and scored on three wild pitches by Grace Moll.
Oklahoma made it 5-3 in the sixth inning on Shad Knighten's RBI single, which scored Kelsey Arnold.
Arkansas scored three runs in the first inning to take a 3-2 lead. Autumn Russell singled and went to third on Loren Krzysko double's. Cooper followed with a two-run single and scored on Yannetti's sacrifice fly.
Oklahoma scored two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Sydney Romero and Nicole Pendley.
Russell went 3 for 4 for Arkansas and Cooper was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.
Caroline Hedgecock -- the Razorbacks' third pitcher after starter Autumn Storms and Moll -- held Oklahoma to 1 run over the final 3 1/3 innings.
The Sooners found themselves playing the Arkansas in an elimination game after North Dakota State upset the Sooners 3-2 earlier Saturday in the conclusion of a game that was suspended Friday night because of severe weather.
Oklahoma was the first defending national championship softball team to lose its NCAA Tournament opener the next season since 1985, when Pacific beat UCLA 3-1. The Bruins went on to win their second consecutive NCAA title.
The Razorbacks made their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2013.
Sports on 05/21/2017