Softball Faces Stiff Competition at NFCA Leadoff Classic

Feb. 21, 2001

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma's schedule gets tough this weekend when it travels to take part in the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Feb. 23-25, in Columbus, Ga.

The Sooners, who improved to 10-0 after sweeping a doubleheader at Arkansas, fell a spot to No. 3 in the Feb. 20 edition of the USA Today/NFCA Top 25. UCLA remained No. 1 as Arizona moved ahead of OU to the second spot.

With 15 teams ranked among the top 25, OU is sure to play some of the nation's best teams. The Sooners' pool includes No. 6 Oregon State, San Diego State and No. 19 South Carolina.

Other ranked teams include Alabama (4), California (5), Arizona State (t6), LSU (t6), Fresno State (8), Stanford (9), Washington (10), DePaul (13), Nebraska (15), Oregon State (t16), Michigan (18), South Carolina (19), Southern Miss (23), Massachusetts (24).

Playing in this tournament every year since 1996, the Sooners have posted an 18-10 record. Last year, OU advanced to the semi-finals before losing 1-0 to Fresno State.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
OREGON STATE: The Ducks head to Columbus ranked sixth in the country with a 12-3 record... They went 4-1 in the UNLV Tournament, dropping the final game to Utah... Oregon State is hitting .286 with four home runs... Four players hit above the .300 clip, including sophomore Steph Adams who leads the team with a .370 average and two homers... Defensively, OSU has committed 13 errors in 436 chances (.970 fielding percentage)... On the mound, three pitchers combine for a 1.56 ERA... Junior righty Crystal Draper has factored into nine games, going 8-1 with a 1.53 ERA. She has 52 strikeouts and holds opponents to a .198 batting average... OU and OSU have met seven times, with the Sooners holding a 5-2 advantage... The two met three times in 2000 and OU won all three meetings, including a pair of wins to advance to the Women's College World Series.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs are 6-4, going 3-3 since a 3-1 start... SDSU is hitting at the .213 clip, included a trio of players over .300... Leading the team is Sarah Hersuman, who is batting .370 with a double and two RBIs... Kellie Nordhagen is hitting .333 with a double and three RBIs... Five pitchers have combined for a 1.93 ERA... Sandra Durazo has pitched the most innings, going 3-1 in 26.1 innings of work. She also has a team-high 14 Ks to hold opponents to a .218 average... Korin Gregory (2-1, 21.1 IP, 1.64) and Jennifer Tornquist (1-0, 10.0 IP, 0.70 ERA) have accounted for the other wins... OU leads the all-time series 3-0... The two last met in 1999 at the Kia Klassic where the Sooners won 4-1.

SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks are 8-6 after dropping their last two contests to Maryland (4-3) and Notre Dame (1-0)... USC is hitting .333 and by Megan Donohoo, who leads with a .366 clip... Joyce McMillin has a team-high four homers and 14 RBIs... There have been 20 errors committed in just 406 chances for a .251 fielding percentage... The pitching has been split between Megan Matthews (4-3) and Stacey Johnson (3-2). With three shutouts, Matthews has given up 41 hits in 57 innings, including six homer runs and seven doubles. Johnson has a 2.19 ERA in six starts where she has scattered 34 hits in 38.1 innings of work... The Sooners trail 4-1 in the series, but won the last meeting 2-0 at the 1996 Pony Tournament in Fullerton, Calif.

SOONERS STEAL WINS FROM ARKANSAS
With two outs in the top of the seventh, OU came back from a 2-0 deficit to score three runs and sweep Arkansas in front of a record-crowd 833 fans at Lady'Back Yard on Tuesday. The Sooners won by a 3-2 margin after shutting out the Lady'Backs 2-0 in the opener.

The last-chance rally started with UA starting pitcher Heather Schlichtman walking designated player Jaime White to bring up LaKisha Washington. The senior second baseman, who was 0-for-2 in the game, knocked a ball to the right-field gap for the RBI triple that scored White.

Now down 2-1, junior Christy Ring hit a ball to left center that bounced off centerfielder Stephanie Hunter's glove and rolled to the wall. Washington scored and head coach Patty Gasso sent Ring, who beat the throw back to score the winning run.

Pitcher Jennifer Stewart ended all chances of an Arkansas rally by striking out all three batters in the bottom of the seventh to secure OU's win and perfect record. After 4 2/3 innings of work, Stewart allowed only two hits and struck out four.

After committing just one error in the first nine games, the defense haunted Oklahoma in the early innings as it committed three errors in the first three innings. Freshman Adrianne Ratliff got the start, but lasted only two and 1/3 innings after scattering five hits that scored the two runs. Stewart relieved in the third with bases loaded and forced the two batters into fly balls to get out of the inning.

In the first game, Stewart recorded her first solo shutout of the year. The lefty limited the Lady'Backs to just three hits in the game. She gave up one in each of the first two innings before retiring 15 of the last 17 batters when she hit one in the fifth and gave up a bloop single along the right-field line in the ninth.

HOME SCHEDULES FEATURES GIVEAWAYS
Everything from schedule magnets to autographed posters to license plate frames are among the giveaways during the Sooners' 2001 home schedule. Come out to the OU Softball Complex during the following days to watch the defending national champions and pick up the latest in OU sports memorabilia.

DateOpponentTimePromotion
Mar. 23Texas A&M 6:30 p.m.Schedule Magnets (first 1,000 fans)
Mar. 24Texas A&M2 p.m.Autographed Posters
Mar. 27Missouri (DH)5/7 p.m.$0.50 hot dogs/cokes, Commemorative Lapel Pins
Apr. 4Oklahoma State6:30 p.m.Foam Bats (first 1,000 fans)
Apr. 7Texas2 p.m.License Plates (first 500 fans)
Apr. 8Texas1 p.m.License Plate Frames (first 500 fans)
Apr. 21Baylor2 p.m.Collapsible Sports Bottles (first 500 fans)
Apr. 22Baylor1 p.m.$0.50 hot dogs/cokes, Team Trading Cards (first 500 fans)
May 3Tulsa6:30 p.m.Team Pennants (first 1,000 fans)

All game times and promotions subject to change.

RADIO SCHEDULE FEATURES SEVEN GAMES
The 2001 schedule features seven games that can be heard on the radio and around the world via the internet. The games will be carried live on KREF 1400 AM and can also be heard by logging onto www.SoonerSports.com. Calling all the action will be veteran broadcaster Mick Cornett.

In the Big 12 Conference, the Sooners can be heard when they take on Missouri in a doubleheader (Mar. 27), both games of the Oklahoma State series (Apr. 4 and 19) and selecte dgames of the conference tournament in Oklahoma City that runs May 9-12. Non-conference games include two games from the OU Worth Invitational (Mar. 10-11) and Tulsa on May 3.

Also in the plans are games from the NCAA Regional and Women's College World Series. Log onto www.SoonerSports.com to find out the latest broadcast schedules and the latest in OU softball.

ONE-RUN WONDERS
It may be the hitting and pitching that's making the headlines, but you can't overlook Oklahoma's solid defense through 10 games in the season. Although it stumbled briefly in the second game at Arkansas where it had three errors and three players in unfamiliar positions, OU has committed only four errors in 387 chances for a .986 fielding percentage.

The defense has translated into limited runs for the opponent's offense. OU has recorded three shutouts and only two teams--Brigham Young (Feb. 9) and Arkansas (Feb. 20)--have recorded more than one run in a game. The Cougars scored three total while the Lady'Backs scored two.

The Sooner pitching staff has allowed only 10 runs all year and no opponent has scored it he fifth inning of any game.

BIG 12 PACKAGE TO FEATURE OU-TEXAS
In its fifth year televising Big 12 softball, Fox Sports Net announced its schedule for the 2001 season and among the two games being broadcast is the Oklahoma-Texas game on Saturday, April 7 at the OU Softball Complex in Norman. Game time has been changed to 1 p.m. and will be shown on a tape-delayed basis.

The other featured game will be Texas A&M at Nebraska on Saturday, April 21, at 3 p.m.

"Obviously, the Big 12 is pleased to include four of our outstanding softball programs as part of our Fox Sports Net television package," said Associate Commissioner Dru Hancock. "We certainly feel that the strength of our league is obvious by a national championship team in the University of Oklahoma and the other teams that have garnered preseason recognition."

16 AND COUNTING...
The Sooners carry a 16-game winning streak that started in the postseason last season. OU coasted through its four games of the NCAA Regionals to earn its first regional title and Women's College World Series berth in school history. Once in the WCWS, OU kept it going and added another four wins on its way to the national championship, becoming only the third school in NCAA softball history to win the title in its first trip.

OUT IN LEFT FIELD
OU's .390 batting average leads the Big 12 by 70 points with Kelli Braitsch (first), Lisa Carey (third), Mandy Fulton (sixth) and Christy Ring (10th) among the top 10... The pitching staff is also leading the conference with a league-best 1.12 ERA... With two hits in the Arkansas doubleheader, Ring moved up to seventh on the OU career charts, while pitcher Jennifer Stewart's two wins boosted her to third in career victories... The Sooners have been ranked in 86 consecutive polls... Two weeks into the season, OU is the only undefeated team remaining in the Big 12 Conference... OU has had four games rained out this year, including two in last weekend's OU/adidas Classic... Even though she failed to record a hit for the first time all year against Tulsa (Feb. 18), Braitsch leads the team with five multi-hit games. The 0-for-3 performance snapped her team-high seven-game hitting streak... OU hit four triples in the three games of the OU/adidas Classic and two against Arkansas, bringing its total to eight on the year and more than a third of its way to the 2000 total.

ON DECK
The Sooners will have a week to prepare for the Hillenbrand Invitational on Mar. 2-3, in Tucson, Ariz. The tournament, hosted by the second-ranked Arizona Wildcats, also features Baylor, Creighton and Indiana State.

OU begins on Friday against Baylor at 11 a.m. and Indiana State at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the Sooners will face Arizona at 3 p.m. and Cregihton at 5 p.m. The fourth- and fifth-place teams will have a play-in that night, while the top four seeds continue action on Sunday. The semi-finals are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., followed by the championship at 1 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Faces Stiff Competition at NFCA Leadoff Classic

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors