Oklahoma beats UCLA, reaches Women's CWS semifinals - ESPN

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kelly Maxwell delivered the breakout pitching performance Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso had been waiting for.

Maxwell threw a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts as the three-time defending national champion Sooners beat UCLA 1-0 on Saturday to reach the Women's College World Series semifinals.

Maxwell has been good all year, but not dominant like she was on Saturday. Gasso said the senior responded well to a conversation they had earlier in the day.

«She has not pitched free,» Gasso said. «That's what's been going on. So to see her do that today — something I'll never forget.»

Maxwell threw 116 pitches, but looked as strong at the end as she did at the beginning. She struck out UCLA star Maya Brady three times. Seven of her strikeouts were against the top four players in the Bruins' batting order.

«Kelly decided to throw one of the best games of her life today,» Gasso said. «There was no way we would be pulling her after the job she was doing.»

Tiare Jennings' solo homer in the third inning provided all the scoring for the second-seeded Sooners (56-6).

«Kelly was dealing, our team was fighting on defense,» Jennings said. «Today was just a dogfight. Continuing to hit the ball hard was the only thing I was thinking of.»

Oklahoma earned a day off and would need to lose twice on Monday to be eliminated.

Freshman Kaitlyn Terry and sophomore Taylor Tinsley combined to allow just four hits for No. 6 UCLA, which saw its winning streak end at 14 games. The Bruins (43-11) will play in an elimination game Sunday against Stanford.

«Sometimes it's not your day, it's the pitcher's day,» Brady said. «She came up with a lot of good pitches. I think we are good enough to say we didn't play our best either. Obviously, she's a