Softball Ready to Square Off with Oklahoma State in Bedlam

April 3, 2001

NORMAN, Okla. - vs. Oklahoma State
DATE: Wednesday, Mar. 30
FIELD: OU Softball Complex (Norman, Okla.)
FIRST PITCH: 6:37 p.m.
WEATHER: hi - 86, lo - 62, partly cloudy
RADIO: KREF 1400 AM
TELEVISION: Sooner Sports Network

SOONERS, COWGIRLS SQUARE OFF IN BEDLAM
Sixth-ranked Oklahoma (29-7, 4-2 Big 12) enters the always important Bedlam game against Oklahoma State (18-14, 3-3 Big 12) trying to extend its two-game winning streak by one more and inch its way back to the top of the conference standings.

After dropping both games at Nebraska, the Sooners fall to a tie for second with Kansas, who has an identical 4-2 Big 12 record. The Huskers now have control of the regular-season race with a 5-1 league record.

First pitch is scheduled 6:37 p.m. on Wednesday and it's Foam Bat Night at the stadium. The first 1,000 fans through the gate will receive a foam bat.

The game will be televised on the Sooner Sports Network and can be seen locally on channel KSBI (ch. 9 on the Cox system). The game can also be seen throughout the state, including WB 19 in Tulsa, KOMI in Woodward and KSWO in Lawton. KREF 1400 AM and www.soonersports.com will also be carrying the game live. Brian Brinkley will be doing the play-by-play with Nancy Teehe handling the color duties.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Head coach Sandy Fisher has the Cowgirls at 18-14, 3-3 in the Big 12... They have lost their last three and four of the last five outings.... OSU went extra innings in both losses last weekend at Baylor, losing both games 1-0 in 14 and eight innings... OSU is hitting .255, but only .175 in conference games... Outfielder Amanda Hayes (.343 BA) is the only player hitting over .300 and leads the team in hits (35) and RBIs (19)... Five pitchers combine for a 1.47 ERA with 201 strikeouts and only 89 walks... The team ERA ranks second in the Big 12 for all and league games... In 17 appearances, Lauren Bay is 8-6 with a 0.66 ERA. She has struck out 118 and is holding opponents to a .168 average in 106.2 innings.

THE OKLAHOMA STATE SERIES Lopsided in the early years, the Cowgirls lead the all-time series 67-45... The Sooners have won the last eight meetings and 13 of the last 16... Since Patty Gasso took the reins in 1995, OU is 16-8 against the Cowgirls... The Sooners won both meetings in 2000, winning 4-2 in Stillwater and 10-5 in Norman... OU's senior class is 9-1 against OSU with its only loss coming in 1998 when it lost 2-1 in Stillwater.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS...AGAIN
There have been three changes made since the 2001 schedule was announced. A game from both the Texas and Baylor series in Norman and the game at Tulsa are the ones affected by recent changes.

The OU-Texas game on April 7 has been moved up to 1 p.m. for FOX television, who will show the game on a tape-delay basis.

In order to give OU fans every opportunity to experience all Sooner athletics, the Baylor game originally scheduled for Saturday, Apr. 21 at 2 p.m. has been moved up to noon so that fans can also attend football's Red-White Game at 2 p.m. The OU baseball game also pushed its game time back to 6 p.m.

The OU-Tulsa game that was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Apr. 24 has been pushed back one day. To help out the Golden Hurricane, the Sooners agreed to move the game to Wednesday, Apr. 25 at 5 p.m. It will be played at the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex on the Tulsa University campus.

SOONERS GET SPLIT ON ROAD
The weekend produced mixed results for the Sooners. After dropping two close games at Nebraska, the Sooners took out all frustrations on Iowa State where it scored 24 runs on 29 hits in the two games.

at NEBRASKA
Game 1 (L, 6-5): The game featured four home runs as the Sooners and Huskers battled until the last inning. OU took a 4-1 lead in the third on a Mandy Fulton three-run homer. NU scored a run in the fourth and a three-run shot gave it a 5-4 advantage. After Jennifer Stump tied it up with a solo homer to left in the sixth, Nebraska got a bases loaded single in the bottom of the seventh to steal game one.

Game 2 (L, 3-1): Senior Lisa Carey made her pitching debut and lasted 4.1 innings in the loss. The teams combined for only nine hits and OU got only one run out of a bases loaded fifth. Nebraska used a two-run homer by Cindy Roethemeyer in the fifth to preserve the sweep.

at IOWA STATE
Game 1 (W, 11-2): A 1-0 game through four innings, OU broke it open with an eight-run fifth that included a three-run homer by Ashli Barrett. The Sooners added two more runs in the seventh on Lisa Carey's round tripper. Jennifer Stewart earned her 19th win by limiting the Cyclones to just two runs on four hits.

Game 2 (W, 13-3): A grand slam by Jennifer Stump in the fifth inning opened the game up. The Sooners scored two more in the fourth and one in the fifth and sixth before an Ashli Barrett grand slam put the finishing touches on the win. Freshman hurler Adrianne Ratliff gave up 10 hits, but only three scored as she picked up her 10th win of the year.

RBI RACE IS HEATING UP
The race for Oklahoma's career RBI record is beginning to heat up. Although Casey Dickson still holds the mark with 166 from 1994-97, two of OU's big sluggers are closing in on the four-year-old record.

Seniors Lisa Carey and Ashli Barrett could have this race coming down to the wire. Carey added five more RBIs last weekend and is second on the all-time list with 164. And right behind her is Barrett, who drove in eight runs during the two Iowa State games to bring her career total to 163.

CAREY DEBUTS IN THE CIRCLE
Did you read the story or boxscore and do a double take....Lisa Carey was the starting pitcher in game two at Nebraska? Your reaction was probably similar to that of the opponent. It was the unexpected to say the least to those outside the program.

The senior pitched in high school--after all, she had a 48-3 record, 0.31 ERA and recorded 130 strikeouts. But she had yet to toss in a collegiate game. After working on her pitches during the fall and throughout the season, Carey debuted against the Huskers on Mar. 30.

The appearance didn't exactly end the way she wanted. Carey gave up two earned runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. She struck out three and walked only one, but OU lost the game 3-1. She also finished out the first game of the Iowa State series, throwing two scoreless innings and allowing only two hits.

ON THE WINNING SIDE AGAIN
With a loss and three no-decisions in her last four outings, Adrianne Ratliff was in a bit of a slump. But in game two of the Iowa State series, the freshman hurler got help from her offense and defense to earn her first win since Mar. 15. Ratliff held the Cyclones to three runs on 10 hits as the Sooners scored 13 runs and played nearly flawless defense.

The No. 2 starter in the circle, Ratliff is 10-3 on the year and carries a 2.60 ERA while holding opponents to a .237 batting average.

SOONERS SLIDE DOWN A SPOT

After taking a pair of losses from Nebraska, the Sooners drop to second in the Big 12 race where they are tied with Texas Tech and Kansas. At 5-1 in the league, Nebraska holds down the top spot. Meanwhile, the Sooners and Red Raiders are battling for the second spot with 4-2 marks.

GOING, GOING, GONE!
After hitting just five home runs in OU's first 29 games, Ashli Barrett's bat has caught fire. The senior has knocked out five home runs in the Sooners' last seven games, including a grand slam to close out the Iowa State game.

During this seven-game span, she has driven in 11 runs and boosted her OU career record tally to 41, which ranks 18th all-time in the NCAA.

NCAA All-Time Home Run Leaders
t1...Leah Braatz, Arizona (1994-95, 97-98).......85
.....Laura Espinoza, Arizona (1992-95)...........85
---
t14..Shannon Beeler, Minnesota (96-99)...........43
.....Stephanie DeFeo, La.-Lafayette (94-97)......43
.....Jennifer Cline, Washington (93-96)..........43
17...Nina Lindenberg, Fresno St/LBS (95-98)......42
18...Ashli Barrett, Oklahoma (98-2001)...........41

ONE TIES THE RECORD
Some tremendous pitching has gone through Oklahoma, especially during Patty Gasso's reign as head coach. So it may come as a surprise that Jennifer Stewart needs only two more wins to break the school's all-time career record. Stewart recorded 22 wins as a freshman, 34 as a sophomore and already has 19 this year. She has 75 career wins in her first 2 1/2 years and trails only Jill Most, who recorded 76 victories from 1994-97.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONE
If there's one thing OU has done well this year, it's been winning the close games. The Sooners currently have a 6-3 record in games decided by one run and 5-1 when it comes down to two runs. The only setbacks have come at the hands of Southern Mississippi (2-1), DePaul (3-2) and Nebraska (6-5 and 3-1).

IN THE BIG 12 RANKINGS
Oklahoma continues to lead the league with a .329 batting average. Its nearest competitor is Missouri, who is 19 points behind at .310. In conference games there's no team within 50 points of OU's blistering .337. Kansas (.282), Iowa State (.276), Texas A&M (.256) and Texas Tech (.241) fill out the top five in Big 12 games.

Pitching has been a different story for the Sooners, who rank in the middle of the pack. They are fifth in all games with a 1.96 ERA and their 2.31 ERA in Big 12 games is sixth.

RUNNIN' AWAY
OU is the only Big 12 school that has scored more than 200 runs this year so it's no wonder that the top three scorers in the conferece hail from the Sooner state. Junior Christy Ring, sophomore Kelli Braitsch and senior Lisa Carey hold down the top three spots in the conference rankings for runs scored.

Ring has 35, Braitsch has 32 and Carey adds another 30 runs. The trio's combined total of 97 runs is more than Oklahoma State (94) and Iowa State (79) have scored all year.

PATIENCE AT THE PLATE
Junior Christy Ring has been exceptionally patient at the plate in her last few outings. Over the weekend, the Westminster, Calif., native reached base eight times with walks out of her 16 plate appearances. She currently leads the Big 12 with 21 on the year and eight in league games.

MERCY ME!
Through the first 36 games this year, nine 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, North Carolina, Utah State and No. 20 Texas A&M.

HOT BATS, COLD BATS
Last year the Sooners were quick to come out and dominate their opponents, putting up a lot of runs quickly. But this year, the bats have been slow to warm and the scoring coming in spurts.

In the first inning, OU has scored 26 runs, but has allowed opponents to score 18 for a +8 differential. The second has been better where the Sooners have put 38 runs on the scoreboard while holding opponents to just five (+33).

The same inconsistencies are echoed in the third and fourth innings, where OU has outscored opponents 28-13 in the third (+15), but hold a 33-run advantage in the fourth where it has 41 runs to opponents' eight.

Overall, the Sooners have outscored their opponents by more than 130 runs (214 to 78) on the year.

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 hasn't been so much an indicator of a Sooner win as much as if they will lose. In games where OU has hit at least one homer, the team has a 16-2 record. But in games where no Sooners go yard, they have suffered five of their seven losses and are 13-5.

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 52 percent of the time. With just 25 attempts, only 12 thefts have been successful. Davis has thrown out six runners on nine attempts, while Barrett has thrown out another seven on 16 attempts.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Sooners return to the OU Softball Complex where it is 8-0 on the year. Over its four years of existence, the home field has been very good for the Sooners where they have posted an .857 winning percentage.

YearRecordPct.
199819-5.792
199912-3.800
200027-3.900
20018-01.000
Total66-11.857

STREAKIN'
Thanks to a pair of wins at Iowa State, six Sooners have multiple game hitting streaks heading into Bedlam. Two of those players--Kelli Braitsch and LaKisha Washington--scored a hit in the second Nebraska game and have current streaks at three.

For Washington, it's the longest of the season, while Braitsch will be trying to build towards her seven-game hitting streak from the beginning of the year that ties Christy Ring as the longest on the team.

Those towing two-game hitting streaks into the Oklahoma State game include Lisa Carey, Erin Evans, Andrea Davis and Ashli Barrett.

OUT IN LEFT FIELD
With identical .407 batting averages, Kelli Braitsch and Lisa Carey are tied for second in the Big 12... Senior Ashli Barrett leads the conference in home runs (10), RBIs (35) and slugging percentage (.755)... Junior Jennifer Stewart's 5.44 strikeouts per game ranks fifth in the league... OU is hitting .358 with the bases loaded... Barrett, Braitsch and Jennifer Stump each have 13 baes-loaded RBIs to lead the team.

ON DECK
From Bedlam the Sooners move to the Red River Rivalry when Texas comes to Norman for a two-game series. The two teams will play single games at 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's game will be televised by Fox Sports Southwest.

The giveaways continue through the weekend when the first 500 fans through the gate on Saturday will receive an OU license plate. In Sunday's series finale, another 500 fans can get an OU license plate frame.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Ready to Square Off with Oklahoma State in Bedlam

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