Softball To Battle for Kia Klassic Title

March 14, 2001

#5 Oklahoma (21-3) at Kia Klassic (Fullerton, Calif.)
#5 Oklahoma (21-3) at San Diego State (San Diego, Calif.)

TOURNAMENT INFO...
DATES: Mar. 15-18, 2001

FIELD: Titan Softball Complex (Fullerton, Calif.)

TEAMS: Arizona (2), Arizona State (10), Cal State-Fullerton (9), Cal State-Northridge (24), DePaul (11), Fresno State (7), Hawaii, Louisiana-Lafayette (RV), UNLV, New Mexico State, North Carolina (RV), Notre Dame (14), Oklahoma (5), Texas, Utah State and Washington (12).

FORMAT: Round Robin then bracket play.

OU'S SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Mar. 15
3 p.m. CT - OU vs. Utah State (Field 2)
9 p.m. CT - OU Fresno State (Field 1)

Friday, Mar. 16
1 p.m. CT - OU vs. Notre Dame

OU vs. SAN DIEGO STATE...
DATE: Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2001
FIELD: SDSU Field (San Diego, Calif.)
TIME: 5 p.m. CT

OKLAHOMA TO BATTLE FOR KIA KLASSIC TITLE
Riding a four-game winning streak, Oklahoma will travel to California to complete in the 2001 Kia Klassic and follow up against San Diego State in a mid-week game.

Showcasing some of the best teams in the country, the Kia Klassic features 11 teams that are ranked or received votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25. The Sooners' pool features No. 7 Fresno State, No. 14 Notre Dame and Utah State.

The tournament begins on Thursday with the Sooners opening against Utah State at 3 p.m. CT and then Fresno State at 9 p.m. CT. The pool play wraps up on Friday against the Fighting Irish at 1 p.m. CT.

Based on results from the pool play, the teams will then be seeded for bracket play that begins on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and runs through Sunday. A consolation bracket will wrap up Saturday, while the championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT Sunday.

When the Kia Klassic is history, the Sooners will travel down to San Diego where they will take on the Aztecs. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT Tuesday at SDSU Field. The two teams met previously at the NFCA Leadoff Classic with OU winning 8-2.

OU'S KIA KLASSIC HISTORY
This will be Oklahoma's sixth appearance in the tournament and second consecutive. Formerly called the Pony and sponsored by Kia Motors since 1998, the Sooners have posted a 16-7 record in tournament action during the 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000 seasons.

OU has won the tournament title just once--in 1997--when it had a 6-1 record. The Sooners dropped their opener against Oregon State (4-1) before rolling to six consecutive wins over UNLV (7-3), Utah State (6-0), Ohio State (3-1), Washington (11-2), Fresno State (2-0) and a redemption win over Oregon State (4-1) for the title.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs are hitting .269 while scoring 78 runs... Becky Witt leads the team with a .390 average... The bullpen combines for a 1.14 ERA... Leslie Poole has pitched the majority of innings (66.2) where she has a 1.16 ERA with four shutouts... FSU's most recent loss was an 8-2 defeat at the hands of top-ranked UCLA... The Sooners have lost the last three meetings after winning four-consecutive and trail in the all-time series 5-7.

NOTRE DAME: Off to a 13-1 start, the Fighting Irish have won their last five games... Their only loss was a 2-0 shutout at the hands of Arkansas... With a .305 team batting average, Jenny Kriesch leads all hitters with a .413 mark... Two pitchers--Jen Sharron and Kristin Schmidt--share time on the mound where they've combined for a 104 strikeouts and given up only three home runs... The two schools have met only three times, with the Fighting Irish winning two meetings, including last year's 4-2 win to knock OU out of the Kia Klassic.

UTAH STATE: The Aggies are on a nine-game losing skid... At 3-13, eight of those losses have been shutouts... The wins have come against Missouri (6-1), Georgia (3-1) and Iowa State (5-1)... With a team batting average lurking at .172, Aimee Johnson leads the team with a .259 mark... Three pitchers combine for a 4.22 ERA... Lisa Spencer (3-5) has earned all three wins and has a 3.27 ERA with 17 strikeouts and has given up 16 earned runs in 44.0 innings... USU leads the all-time series 1-6, but six of those meetings came before 1992... OU won the last meeting 6-0 in 1997.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs are hitting at the .215 clip with three players above .300... Pitcher Sandra Durazo (8-3, 1.05 ERA)has eight of the team's 11 wins. She also has 35 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .214 batting average... SDSU currently stands at 11-8 and has a four-game winning streak where it has out-scored its opponents 22-6... OU has a 4-0 lead in the series, including an 8-2 win over the Aztecs at this year's NFCA Leadoff Classic.

BARRETT EARNS BIG 12 HONOR
Senior Ashli Barrett earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors for her performance at the Hillenbrand Invitational on Mar. 2-4.

The Oklahoma City native hit .500 in five games, including a double, a home run and five RBIs. Against Indiana State, Barrett had a 2-for-3 performance that included her fourth homer of the year. In the loss to No. 2 Arizona, she was 2-for-3 with a double down the line that scored a runner and the game at 2-2.

Oklahoma is the only school to have two players of the week. Sophomore Kelli Braitch had the same honor on Feb. 13.

THE HOT CORNER
Andrea Davis, senior, DP
Davis struggled at the beginning of the year, getting just two hits in the first 10 games and hitting at the .143 clip. Ever since, the senior has turned it up a notch. In the last 14 games, Davis is hitting .400 with three doubles, two runs and four RBIs.

MERCY ME!
Through the first 24 games this year, seven of OU's wins have been shortened to less than seven innings due to the mercy rule (eight-run lead after five innings). The victims so far include Kentucky, Tulsa, Wichita State, Indiana State, Creighton, Western Michigan and North Carolina.

SLOW-WARMING ALUMINUM
Last year the Sooners were quick to come out and dominate their opponents. But the bats have been slow to warm and the hits slow to come. In the first three innings, OU has scored just 63 runs compared to 71 in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, keeping in mind OU hasn't even played some of those innings in eight games.

Overall, the Sooners have outscored their opponents by nearly 100 runs (143 to 44) on the year.

TOURNAMENT TITLES
This will be the sixth tournament OU has competed in this season where it has a 18-3 record. The Sooners claimed a share of the UTA/Isuzu Classic title before winning the OU/adidas Classic and OU Worth Invitational championships.

A loss to South Carolina in pool play dropped OU to the Silver bracket of the rain-shortened NFCA Leadoff Classic where no winner was declared. In the Hillenbrand Invitational, Oklahoma finished second to No. 2 Arizona.

ROUND-TRIP INDICATOR
The long ball has always been a powerful weapon for the Sooners. After all, the 2000 team broke the school record with 85 home runs last year.

So far in 2001, the round-tripper has been so much an indicator of whether or the Sooners will win the game as much as if they will lose. In games where OU has hit at least one homer, the team has a 11-0 record. But in games where no Sooners go yard, they have suffered all three losses and are 10-3.

GET BACK ON BASE!
With seniors Ashli Barrett and Andrea Davis sharing the catching duties, opponents are having a hard time stealing bases. The duo has completely shut down the running game. If they even attempt to run, opponents been thrown out 40 percent of the time. With just 15 attempts, only six thefts have been successful. Davis has thrown out six runners on nine attempts, while Barrett has thrown out another three on six attempts.

MOTHER NATURE WREAKS HAVOC ON OU'S SCHEDULE
For the fifth and sixth times this year, OU had softball games cancelled because of inclimate weather. Only one game of Sunday's schedule in the OU Worth Invitational was able to be completed.

Other cancelled games include the semi-finals of the UTA/Isuzu Classic and two games of the OU/adidas Classic. The Sooners' game against Southern Miss in the Silver bracket of the NFCA Leadoff Classic was cut short just as OU had scored its first run and momentum was possibly shifting.

OU WINS WORTH INVITATIONAL
As the only team with a perfect record, the Sooners won the OU Worth Invitational. Oklahoma cruised to a 3-0 mark after defeating North Carolina, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette. UNC and La.-Lafayette tied for second with 3-1 records.

The tournament had to be cancelled on Sunday after thunderstorms moved into the Norman area. In the first and only game played on the day, North Carolina and Louisiana-Monroe experienced a two-hour delay in the fourth before UNC earned the win.

See below for game-by-game recaps...

vs. NORTH CAROLINA (W, 8-0): Not only did pitcher Jennifer Stewart hold the Tar Heels to just one hit and fanned seven, she never allowed them to make solid contact as OU posted it seventh run-rule and fourth shutout of the year.

vs. LOUISIANA-MONROE (W, 3-2): OU needed an extra inning to defeat the Indians. Senior Ashli Barrett led the Sooners, going 3-for-4 and drove in all three runs that included a two-run homer in the top of the eighth.

vs. LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (W, 7-5): Down 4-1, OU mounted a come back on a four-run, four-hit rally in the fifth. Sophomore Erin Evans' triple to center that drove in two runs to give the Sooners its first lead of the day.

OU DOWNS INDIANS AGAIN
After an hour-long delay while waiting for umpires, the Sooners returned to the field where they won the 2000 national championship to defeat ULM 5-2 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

In a game much like the first meeting, OU took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Leah Gulla. Again, the Indians tied it up with a solo homer--this one in the top of the fifth.

But the Sooners didn't need extra innings this time to down ULM, scoring four runs on four hits in the sixth for the final margin.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Sooners return to the OU Softball Complex where it is 6-0 on the year. Over its four years of existence, the home field has been very good for the Sooners where they have posted an .853 winning percentage.

YearRecordPct.
199819-5.792
199912-3.800
200027-3.900
20016-01.000
Total64-11.853

STREAKIN'
Seven Sooners carry multi-game hitting streaks into the Kia Klassic. Currently, Andrea Davis has strung together hits in a season-high four games. Junior Christy Ring's streak stands at three, while Kelli Braitsch, Mandy Fulton, Lisa Carey, Jennifer Stump and LaKisha Washington hits in two-consecutive games.

SIX STRAIGHT AND COUNTING...
Head coach Patty Gasso has led Oklahoma into NCAA Regional competition in each of her six seasons at OU. This year, the Sooners will be vying for a seventh bid under Gasso and eighth-consecutive in school history.

OUT IN LEFT FIELD
Rain forced the cancellation of OU's final two games in the OU Worth Invitational... The Sooners won the title as the only undefeated team... Senior Ashli Barrett went 3-for-4 against Louisiana-Monroe and was responsible for all of OU's runs in the 3-2 win... She had a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to lift OU past the Indians... The Sooners recorded their seventh run-rule of the year with an 8-0 shutout of North Carolina... Pitcher Jennifer Stewart posted the 23rd shutout of her career with the win over the Tar Heels. She also needs only seven more wins to become OU's all-time leader. Currently, Stewart has 70 and is chasing Jill Most's 76 wins from 1994-97... OU remained perfect at home with a 6-0 record... Junior Christy Ring jumped into second all-time for walks drawn. She now has 65 in her career.

ON DECK
The vacation is over and its time to get down to the nitty gritty as the Sooners begin the Big 12 portion of their schedule. Texas A&M will be the first opponent when it comes to town for a pair of games on Mar. 23 and 24. The Friday evening game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start and Saturday begins at 2 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball To Battle for Kia Klassic Title

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