Dixon shines, Lady ‘Backs fall to Oklahoma

Eric Spruill
The Edmond Sun

May 19, 2008 10:24 pm

— NORMAN — Former Edmond North star Miranda Dixon hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning versus the University of Oklahoma, at the Norman Regional on Saturday afternoon, but it was not enough, as the Sooners went on to win 6-5 in eleven innings.
Dixon went 3-for-6 with two RBI on the afternoon, as the Lady ‘Backs pushed the No. 7-ranked Sooners for the right to go to the regional championship game.
“I can finally exhale,” OU head coach Patty Gasso said. “It’s great to win a hard fought game, they clutched up, they gave D.J. (Mathis) fits today.”
Dixon got the start on the mound, and gave up one run in the second inning, two in the third, and a solo-home run to OU’s Savannah Long in the top of the 11th, which turned out to be the game winner.
OU jumped out to a 4-1 lead on the Lady ‘Backs in the top of third as Samantha Ricketts, Lindsey Vandever and Long each had run-scoring hits, but Arkansas responded with a pair in the bottom half to make it 4-3.
Kayla Johnson led off with a single, followed by a single into center field from Dixon. Sandra Smith then hit an RBI-double, followed by a RBI-single from Dayna Huckabee, which scored Dixon from third.
In the sixth inning, with Katy Henry on the mound, OU’s Wendy Trott hit a solo-home run to right field, expanding the Sooners lead to 5-3, setting up Dixon’s no-out two-run blast to dead centerfield.
Santa Fe product Haley Anderson went 0-for-3 in the contest for the Sooners, while Leslie Dixon of North, was 0-for-1 for Arkansas.
Another player with Edmond connections — Arkansas’ starting catcher Whitney Cloer — was 0-for-4 with a walk.
The Sooners advanced to the regional finals, and will play the Arkansas vs. Oregon/Tulsa winner at 1 p.m. today.