Softball Takes on Texas in Red River Battle

April 6, 2001

#7 Oklahoma (30-7, 5-2 Big 12) vs. Texas (19-19, 2-4 Big 12)

DATES: Friday-Saturday, April 7 - 8

FIELD: OU Softball Complex (Norman, Okla.)

FIRST PITCH:
Saturday - 1:06 p.m.
Sunday - 1 p.m.

WEATHER:
Saturday: hi - 77, lo - 57, partly cloudy
Sunday: hi - 83, lo - 59, partly cloudy

TELEVISION: Saturday - Fox Sports Southwest

SOONERS TAKE ON TEXAS IN RED RIVER RIVALRY
Seventh-ranked Oklahoma (30-7, 5-2 Big 12) continues its Big 12 home stand against Texas (19-19, 2-4) this weekend. The two teams will meet on Saturday and Sunday at the OU Softball Complex.

Since dropping two games at Nebraska, the Sooners have won their last three conference outings by a 27-5 margin. OU's potent offense is carrying a .324 batting average and will face a UT pitching staff that ranks eighth in the league with a 2.61 ERA.

Saturday's game will be televised by Fox Sports Net and will begin at 1:06 p.m. Bill Land will call all the action while Tracy Warren will handle the color analysis. The first 500 fans through the gates will receive Oklahoma Softball licence plates.

The two-game series will conclude on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. The featured give-away is license plate frames which will be given to the first 500 fans through the gate.

SCOUTING TEXAS
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Connie Clark, Texas is 19-19 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12... The Longhorns are hitting at the .243 overall and just .210 in conference action... UT suffered a two-game sweep at Kansas With All-American Lindsay Gardner out with an injury, the Longhorns have only one player hitting .300... Catcher Marlo Hanks has a .300 average with 15 runs batted in and a homer... The pitching staff has a 2.61 ERA with 180 strikeouts... Senior RHP Charla Moore is 11-9 with a 2.18 ERA. She has 96 Ks to only 48 walks.

THE TEXAS SERIES
Since the Longhorns began softball in 1997, the two teams have met 14 times... OU leads the series 9-5... OU and UT have played at least three times every year since 1997 and neither team has been swept... The Sooners have won the last four meetings, all coming in 2000... Oklahoma won 8-1 at the 2000 NFCA Leadoff Classic, 5-1 and 9-5 in Austin and shut out UT 11-0 in teh Big 12 Tournament... Texas' last win came in 1999 when the two teams split the series in Austin... The Longhorns closed out the series with a 1-0 shutout of the Sooners.

SHUTOUT CITY
The Oklahoma pitching staff has shut out eight opponents this season and five of those have come at the OU Softball Complex. And if Norman is the shutout city, then left-handed pitcher Jennifer Stewart is the mayor. The junior has four of the shutouts at home and claims another two on the road. Opponents have gotten only eight hits off Stewart in the four games in Norman and only a combined 14 in all six shutouts she has tossed.

Freshman Adrianne Ratliff has also had her hand in two shutouts, shutting down Wichita State (Feb. 18) and Utah State (Mar. 15). She had a perfect game in the 9-0 win over the Shockers and allowed just one hit as OU defeated the Aggies 8-0.

STEWART TIED FOR WINNING 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 tied the school's all-time career record with her win against Oklahoma State. Stewart recorded 22 wins as a freshman, 34 as a sophomore and already has 20 this year. She has 76 career wins in her first 2 1/2 years and tied Jill Most, who recorded 76 victories from 1994-97.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Sooners return to the OU Softball Complex where it is 9-0 on the year. Over its four years of existence, the home field has been very good for the Sooners where they have posted an .859 winning percentage.

With a goal to go undefeated at home this year, OU is well on its way. The Sooners have outscored their opponents 54-9 in Norman and are hitting .333 to the visitor's .146. Pitchers Jennifer Stewart and Adrianne Ratliff have a combined 0.58 ERA compared to opponents' 5.48 ERA.

On defense, OU has committed only four errors for a .984 fielding percentage compared to 10 Es and a .958 clip by visitors.

YearRecordPct.
199819-5.792
199912-3.800
200027-3.900
20019-01.000
Total67-11.859

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 WORK SHUTOUT MAGIC AGAINST OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma starting pitcher Jennifer Stewart (20-3) limited Oklahoma State to just three hits as the Sooners shut out the Cowgirls 3-0 in front of 1,201 fans on Wednesday. The crowd was the third-largest in OU Softball Complex history.

After giving up three hits in the first three innings, Stewart turned it up a notch and dominated the game. The junior didn't allow a hit in the final four innings and retired the last 10 batters in order. It was her 20th win of the year and brings her career total to 76, tying the school record held by Jill Most.

The Sooners struggled to hit Cowgirl starter Lauren Bay (8-6) in the first three innings. Sophomore Kelli Braitsch got OU's first hit of the night with a double that sailed fair just inside the left-field line. But OU failed to bring her home after the next three batters were retired.

Oklahoma broke the scoreless tie in the fifth and rallied for three runs with two outs. Senior Mandy Fulton reached first when she got hit by Bay's pitch. She scored from first on a Leah Gulla double to center field. After Erin Evans grounded out to third, senior Andrea Davis pinch hit for LaKisha Washington and walked.

A Christy Ring strikeout put the second out on the board and Bay walked Braitsch to load the bases. Senior Lisa Carey lined a ball to third baseman Jenny Kipp, who misplayed the ball and allowed Carey to reach first and a run to score. Senior Ashli Barrett was the recipient of Bay's third walk of the inning that resulted in OU's final run of the game.

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 tied with her is Barrett, who drove in eight runs during the two Iowa State games and another against Oklahooma State to tie Carey.

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.

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 eight 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
--- t14Shannon 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

IN THE BIG 12 RANKINGS
Oklahoma continues to lead the league with a .324 batting average. Its nearest competitor is Missouri, who is 18 points behind at .306. In conference games there's no team within 30 points of OU's .314. Kansas (.282), Texas Tech (.241), Texas A&M (.240) and Nebraska (.238) 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 overall (1.90 ERA) and Big 12 (1.96 ERA) games.

RUNNIN' AWAY
OU is the only school that has scored more than 200 runs this year so it's no wonder that the top three scorers in the Big 12 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. Since the Nebraska games, the Westminster, Calif., native reached base nine times with walks out of her 19 plate appearances. She currently leads the Big 12 with 22 on the year and nine in league games.

MERCY ME!
Through the first 37 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.

STREAKIN'
Although the Sooners had some trouble hitting Oklahoma State pitcher Lauren Bay, three were able to keep up their hitting streak. Sophomore Kelli Braitsch went 1-for-2 to extend her mark to four games, while Erin Evans' one hit carries her streak to three games.

OUT IN LEFT FIELD
With the 3-0 shutout of Oklahoma State, the Sooners won just their second game while wearing shorts, raising their record to 2-4... The crowd of 1,201 at Wednesday's Oklahoma State game was the third-largest in school history... The shutout tossed by Jennifer Stewart was the 25th of her career in just 86 starts... OU has swept two conference opponents this year--Texas A&M and Iowa State... Junior Christy Ring and sophomore Erin Evans have started every game out in left and right field, respectively... OU recorded its 30th win of the year, a feat it has accomplished every year under head coach Patty Gasso.

ON DECK
Oklahoma will take off during the midweek and resume action over the weekend at Texas Tech. The Sooners and Red Raiders will play at 6 p.m. on Friday and conclude the two-game series with a noon first pitch on Saturday.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Takes on Texas in Red River Battle

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