NORMAN — OU’s home opener came with a surprise.
Senior utility Nicole Mendes — who has been out to this point in the season recovering from an ACL injury suffered in the fall — made her first appearance of the year.
She was not expected to be back until mid-March But in the bottom of the sixth inning in the Sooners’ first game of the day against Northwestern, Mended came in to pinch hit.
She hit a soft ground ball back to the pitcher and jogged to first before being thrown out. Mendes came in to pinch hit once against Abilene Christian as well, this time flying out to left field.