The No. 8 softball team closed out its four-game home stand with a decisive 8-1 victory over the North Texas Mean Green Wednesday evening at the OU Softball Complex.

The Sooners’ offense kept up its recent scoring tear, however, in this game the team got some help from the Mean Green defense, which committed three errors in the game.

“I felt like we were women out there today,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “I really felt our good dominance.”

OU got the scoring started quickly with two two-run home runs in the bottom of the first inning, one by the Big 12 player of the week, junior shortstop Amber Flores and the other by junior catcher Lindsey Vandever.

North Texas starting pitcher Jennifer Smith gave up all four runs and only recorded one out before she was pulled from the game.

“Amber, [Samantha] Ricketts and Vandever are all doing their job in the lineup,” Gasso said.

North Texas responded with a solo home run by second baseman Lisa Johnson in the second inning. That home run would be the only hit allowed by the Sooners in the game.

Things got worse for the Mean Green in the third inning when Flores scored on an error by North Texas shortstop Sarah Jones.

The Mean Green continued to self-destruct in the fourth inning, as the Sooners scored three runs on two errors by Jones and a walk. Jones was pulled from the game after her third error. OU’s last four runs of the game were all unearned.

Flores believes that the team’s offense is on an upswing right now.

“I think we’re really starting to climb,” Flores said. “Hopefully we can peak at the right time. I’m excited.”

Senior pitcher D.J. Mathis started for the Sooners, pitching four-and-one-third innings and giving up one hit, one earned run, and striking out nine batters. She got credit for the win and improved to 8-2 this season. The game was just Mathis’ second since sitting out for nearly a month with arm soreness.

“We really wanted to get D.J. back on the mound, to get her feeling back,” Gasso said.

Freshman pitcher Kirsten Allen relieved Mathis for one-and-two-thirds innings and had three strikeouts before freshman pitcher Allee Allen finished the last inning of the game by striking out two more batters.

“What I take the most from the game today is our pitching,” Gasso said. “It was really kind of fun to see the amount of strikeouts we had.”

OU is now 27-8 on the year and has won five straight as they get back to Big 12 play in Austin, Texas this weekend for a two-game series against the Texas Longhorns.

The first game in the series is at 1 p.m. on Saturday.