Tulsa Softball Off to 4-0 Start with Sunday’s 8-0 Win over Dayton

Sunday, February 9

Macon, Ga.

10:15 AM

Tulsa

4-0

Dayton

2-3

Tulsa

Dayton

Photo by: Alex Keller

Tulsa Softball Off to 4-0 Start with Sunday’s 8-0 Win over Dayton

2/9/2020 1:45:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

BOX SCORE

MACON, Ga. — The Samantha Pochop and Sara Llamas-Howell combined to throw a seven-inning shutout en route to an 8-0 win over the Dayton Flyers Sunday afternoon at the Mercer Invitational. With the win, the Hurricane went 4-0 on the first weekend of the season.

Pochop went 6.0 innings, allowing 3 hits and throwing 12 strikeouts in the process. Freshman Llamas-Howell saw her first action as a Hurricane. After allowing a hit, she forced the Flyers into a double-play before closing the game on a pop-out to shortstop.

Tulsa did most of its damage from the plate in the first 2 innings, scoring 3 runs in each.

Kylie Norwood reached first to open the game on a fielding error, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tajiah Ellison. Chenise Delce, who entered the day hitting .500 with 3 home runs, followed with a single. Alexis Perry cleared the bases with a 3-run shot over the right field fence as the Hurricane took an early 3-0 lead.

Pochop struck out 2 batters to retire the Flyers in the bottom of the 1^st inning.

The Hurricane punched over 3 more runs in the top of the 2^nd inning as Abby Jones, Mikayla Whitten and Ellison each scored. Ellison, Kylie Norwood and Delce had the RBIs to put the Hurricane ahead 6-0.

Dayton threatened in the bottom of the 3^rd inning as the Flyers loaded the bases with 2 outs, but Pochop struck out the final batter for her third strikeout of the inning.

The Hurricane closed the game out by scoring 2 runs in the final inning. With 2 outs Ellison singled up the middle, followed by a Delce single to right field. Makayla Jackson drove in Ellison, and a double by Aubree Seaney scored pinch runner Grace Jarvis.

The victory was Pochop's 21^st of her career. Delce finished the game 3-for-4 with one RBI, while Ellison, Jackson, Seaney and Whitten each had 2 hits apiece. Perry had a team-high 3 RBIs with her home run in the first inning.

Linescore
Tulsa         330 000 2 – 8 12 0
Dayton      000 000 0 – 0   4   2
W – S. Pochop (1-0); L – O. Lessman (0-1)

Notables
•    Tulsa is off to a 4-0 start to the season, the first time since 2015 … there has been only 2 previous seasons that Tulsa has started the season with 4 wins –– 4-0 (2015) and 8-0 (2002).
• First-year head coach Crissy Strimple is the first among Tulsa's 6 head coaches in school history to win her first 4 games.
• For the opening weekend, the Hurricane had 40 hits, 7 home runs, and scored 28 runs in 113 at-bats for a .354 batting average.
• Chenice Delce had 3 home runs, while Alexis Perry had 2 home runs on the weekend.
• Tulsa pitchers struck out a total of 32 batters in the first 4 games, and 8.0 average per game.

Up Next
Tulsa will travel to Starkville, Mississippi for the Bulldog Kickoff Classic next weekend, Feb. 14-16. The Hurricane will open against Tennessee State on Friday, Feb. 14, at 1:30 p.m., then immediately play host Mississippi State at 3 p.m.

Follow the Hurricane
For complete coverage of Tulsa Softball, please follow the Golden Hurricane on social media at @TulsaSoftball (Twitter), /TulsaWSoftball (facebook) or visit the official home of Tulsa Athletics at TulsaHurricane.com.