Softball Prepares For Big 12 Tournament

May 7, 2001

SOONERS ARE THE NO. 2 SEED IN BIG 12 TOURNEY:
After waiting out the final weekend of Big 12 action, it turned out sixth-ranked Oklahoma (41-7, 14-2 Big 12) remained the second seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament. The four-day event runs from May 9-12 at the Don Porter Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

The hottest team in the league right now, the Sooners have won their last 14 games, but were beat out for the top seed by percentage points. Tenth-ranked Nebraska won the regular-season title with a 16-2 record and .889 winning percentage.

The bottom four seeds will have a play-in at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. While the loser goes home, the winners advance to play No. 1 seeded Nebraska and No. 2 seeded Oklahoma. The Huskers will play the No. 8 Missouri-No. 9 Texas winner, while OU will square off against the No. 6 Texas A&M- No. 10 Iowa State victor. Both games will follow immediately at 7:30 p.m.

The Sooners' second game will be on Thursday regardless of outcome. A win means OU will play the winner of the Texas Tech-Baylor game at 7:30 p.m. While an OU loss means a 1:30 p.m. game against the loser of the Nebraska-Missouri/Texas game.

WEATHER:
Wednesday: hi - 81, lo - 59
Thursday: hi - 83, lo - 59
Friday: hi - 82, lo - 58
Saturday: hi - 82, lo - 60

RADIO: KREF 1400 AM (selected games)

INTERNET: SoonerSports.com (selected games)

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT TIDBITS:
The Sooners have won the tournament only once--the first year the conference was formed in 1996... Oklahoma has played in the championship game in three of the four years since... OU has a 13-7 all-time record in the Big 12 tournament and owns winning records over five of the eight teams it's faced. Only Kansas (0-1), Texas A&M (0-1) and Texas Tech (0-1) have a winning percentage against the Sooners in the tournament.

WINNING STREAK BREAKS RECORD:
The Sooners have ended the 2001 season in record fashion...rolling off 14-consecutive wins. It's the longest winning streak in school history, breaking the previous mark of 12 games set during both the 1997 and 2000 seasons.

JUST AN OLD HABIT:
Since the inception of the Big 12, Oklahoma has finished first or second every year in the regular-season race. Under head coach Patty Gasso, the Sooners have won three Big 12 titles (1996, 1999 and 2000) and finished second another three times (1997, 1998 and 2001). In the six years of the Big 12 Conference, OU has an amazing 85-20 record for an .810 winning percentage.

LOAD UP THE BASES:
If there's one thing OU isn't afraid to do, it's swing the bats. And it has paid off, especially when the bases are loaded. The Sooners are hitting .413 when the bases are filled. And who's done the most damage? It's Kelli Braitsch, who is 6-for-7 in those opportunities. Senior LaKisha Washington and sophomore Erin Evans have also cleaned up a bit. Washington is 3-for-5 (.600) while Evans is 6-for-11 (.545).

WEDLAKE RETURNS IN TIME FOR POSTSEASON:
After transferring from the University of Tulsa, Angela Wedlake was in the midst of a medical redshirt season because of a back injury. But after plenty of rest through most of the fall and spring, her back has gotten better and she has been cleared to play for the remainder of the season, giving OU's pitching staff an extra kick as the team makes a run at the Big 12, NCAA Regional and national championships.

While pitching for the Golden Hurricane, Wedlake compiled a 17-21 record and 2.30 ERA. During her sophomore season, she went 11-11 in 149.2 innings, struck out 130 and shut out five opponents.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M:
The Aggies earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament after going 7-11 against conference foes... Went 23-6 in non-conference action to finish 30-17 overall... A&M swept the Iowa State and Texas series before being swept by Oklahoma State, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma... Splits came at Texas Tech, Missouri and versus Baylor... Three players are hitting above the .300 clip and leading the team to a .289 batting average... Hollee Hayden leads all hitters with a .357 average on 50 hits... The pitching staff combines for a 1.54 ERA and is led by Linda Wilhelmson's 1.09 ERA in 15 appearances... Amy Vining has tossed the most innings, going 11-6 with a 1.54 ERA in 118.1 innings in the circle... Thieves on the base paths, the Aggies have 103 stolen bases in 120 attempts... They have committed 55 errors for a .961 fielding percentage.

THE TEXAS A&M SERIES:
The two teams are neck-and-neck in the all-time series with OU holding a slight 22-19 advantage. However, since head coach Patty Gasso took the reigns in 1995, the Sooners are 14-3 against A&M and have won six of the last seven meetings. Texas A&M won the last meeting at the 2000 Big 12 tournament, stunning the Sooners 9-6 in the second round.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE:
The Cyclones closed out the regular season with a 14-26 overall record and 2-12 mark in conference games... Their two league wins both came on the road, one at Missouri (2-0) and another at Texas Tech (7-3)... Since OU and ISU met on April 1, Iowa State has gone 5-10... With a .248 team batting average, Molly McNertney leads with a .400 mark... Among regular starters, Erica Martinez is hitting .354 with a team-high seven homers and 22 RBIs... ISU has a 3.40 team ERA with Jen Bice tossing most of the innings. She has a 9-15 record and 2.96 ERA to go with her 135 strikeouts... Martinez has also made 13 appearances in the circle where she is 2-10 in 12 starts.

THE IOWA STATE SERIES:
The Sooners hold a 41-24 advantage in the 23-year old series... ISU dominated the series early but since 1990, OU is 29-6 and has won 17 of the last 18... Head coach Patty Gasso has amassed a 16-1 mark against the Cyclones with her only loss coming in a 1-0 game during the 1996 season... Since then, OU has rolled to nine-consecutive wins.

DAVIS LOST FOR POSTSEASON RUN:
The final 9-0 win over Tulsa didn't come without a major price. The Sooners lost senior Andrea Davis when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left leg during the top of the fourth. The West Jordan, Utah, native was playing right field and chasing down a ball hit to right center. When centerfielder Jaime White called her off and she stopped, that's when the season-ending injury took place. The Sooners will miss her bat, that has really been coming on lately. She was hitting .389 with two homers, a double and 9 RBIs in the 14-game winning streak.

JUST ONE THING MISSING:
There isn't much that this year's six seniors haven't done in their time at OU. When you take into account the fact that they've won two Big 12 regular season titles, an NCAA Regional title and a national championship, you probably think they've done it all. Not so...for these players there's one more item on their agenda that still needs completion. This class hasn't won a Big 12 tournament title...a goal they set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year.

THEY'RE SIXTH, THEY'RE SEVENTH:
If you look at how pollsters rank Oklahoma each week, they just can't figure out how good OU is this year. Since Mar. 27th, the Sooners have been ranked sixth or seventh...depending on the week. They have been flip-flopping with Alabama between the two spots. In the latest poll released on May 2, OU is No. 6 and the Crimson Tide is No. 7.

USE AN ERASER ON THAT RECORD BOOK:
It was just last year that the Sooners broke the OU team record with a .329 batting average. But as the 2001 team enters the postseason, it is on pace to re-write the one-year-old record. Hitting .342 as they head into the Big 12 Tournament, the Sooners also have four individuals whose average would rank among the top 10 in OU history. If Kelli Braitsch keeps up at her blistering pace, her .460 would be the highest ever by a Sooner in a single season. The others that would be ranked include Lisa Carey (fourth, .406), Ashli Barrett (t6th, .389) and Christy Ring (10th, .375).

OU PERFECT AGAINST THE STATE:
The Sooners have played other state schools six times and are a perfect 6-0. Of course, the only other Division I softball teams in the state are Oklahoma State, which the Sooners defeated by a 19-0 margin in two games, and Tulsa, who they've outscored 46-4 in four contests.

THIS IS A GREAT STATE:
With 14 games at the OU Softball Complex and a game at Oklahoma State and Tulsa, the Sooners won all 16 games they played in the state borders.

SOONERS DOMINATING HITTING IN BIG 12:
There's not another team in the Big 12 that is within 40 points of Oklahoma's .342 batting average. Missouri (.293), Texas A&M (.289) and Kansas (.280) are the nearest competitors and even still, there's a lot of distance between them.

In conference games, OU (.352) is the only teams hitting over the .300 clip. The Sooners have seven of the league's top hitters with Kelli Braitsch (.491) and Lisa Carey (.451) ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

PITCHING COMES THROUGH IN BIG 12 GAMES:
Sure it was the hitting that made most of the headlines earlier this year, but it was the pitching that took a surprising big step up during conference action. In fact, OU's league-best .352 batting average in Big 12 games was backed up with the top pitching performances.

Led by junior Jennifer Stewart, OU had a 1.29 ERA to out-do Nebraska's 1.33. The Sooners gave up just 19 earned runs in 103.1 innings. In fact, in the last seven conference games, the hurlers gave up just four earned runs and shut out four-consecutive opponents.

NO WEAK LINK IN THIS CHAIN:
If an opposing pitcher gets into a jam, good luck getting out unscathed. In most lineups there's that weak link that allows pitchers to escape. Not the case in the Oklahoma lineup. Since a season-low batting average of .321 following the Nebraska games--and coincidentally their last losses--the Sooners have bee slowly raising their average to what is now a Big 12 best .342. In the 14 games since, OU has raised its average nearly 20 points because five starters are hitting above the .400 mark in that stretch.

BARRETT TIES SCHOOL RECORD WITH 7 RBI VS. BAYLOR:
Thanks to a three-run double in the first inning and a grand slam in the second, Ashli Barrett became just the fourth Sooners to get seven runs batted in during a single game. That brings the seniors total to a team-high 46 this year, which ranks eighth on OU's single-season charts. In the career race, she is just one shy of Lisa Carey, who owns the record with 175.

NUMBERS IMPRESSIVE IN STREAK:
Oklahoma has bounced back from a pair of losses at Nebraska by rolling to 14 straight wins. During this 14-0 run, the Sooners have a .390 batting average and have outscored their opponents 120-16.

OU's candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year, Kelli Braitsch has been unstoppable in that span. She is hitting .612 with seven doubles, two triples, four homers, 17 RBIs and a 1.082 slugging percentage.

The pitching staff has been equally impressive where it has a 0.95 ERA and has given up only 14 hits for extra bases--all doubles. Leading the way in the circle is Jennifer Stewart, who has a 0.64 ERA with three shutouts, six earned runs, 39 strikeouts and only nine walks in 66 innings. She is also holding opponents to a .186 batting average.

MONEY ON THE MOUND:
There isn't much that Jennifer Stewart hasn't done for the Sooners this year. The 2000 Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player has earned wins in 29 of her 32 starts, completing 22 of those outings, and shut out seven opponents. She has even added a pair of saves to her record and combined with freshman Adrianne Ratliff for another three shutouts.

After pitching a pair of shutouts at Texas Tech, Stewart was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. She shut down the Texas Tech batters, tossing 12-consecutive scoreless innings while giving up only one extra-base hit. She held the Red Raiders to a .186 batting average, walking only one and striking out 10 in her two appearances.

A DOUBLE DIP:
It's no secret that the senior class contains some of the most potent hitters in school history. And it shows on the career charts where three of them--Lisa Carey, Ashli Barrett and Mandy Fulton--rank among the school's top four for career doubles.

Carey and Barrett are one and two with 55 and 47 doubles, respectively. Fulton is fourth with 33 and needs only four more to move past Becky Burroughs (1993-94) and into third.

STEWART BREAKS OU RECORD:
Junior Jennifer Stewart did in less than three years what many pitchers couldn't do in four years which was reach 85 career wins. In game one of the Texas series, the Yukon, Okla., native helped OU to a 4-1 win over Texas and broke the record previously held by Jill Most (1994-97). Stewart recorded 22 wins as a freshman, 34 as a sophomore and already has 29 this year.

HOME SWEET HOME:
For the first time since the stadium opened in 1998, the Sooners went a perfect 14-0 at the OU Softball Complex in 2001. In its four years of existence, the home field has been very good for the Sooners where they have posted an .867 winning percentage.

OU accomplished its goal of going undefeated at home in dominating fashion. The Sooners outscored their opponents 97-15 in Norman and are hitting .383 to the visitor's .178. Pitchers Jennifer Stewart and Adrianne Ratliff have a combined 0.62 ERA compared to opponents' 7.23 ERA.

In conference games, OU is fairing better at home where it is hitting .393 compared to .326 on the road. Opponents are only hitting at the .214 clip in Norman compared to .220 in their own park.

RBI RACE IS GETTING INTERESTING:
With a sacrifice fly and a single to center against Texas on April 8, Lisa Carey broke the Oklahoma career RBI record that was held by Casey Dickson (1994-97) for four years. She held the record for a total of 25 days...that's when her teammate Ashli Barrett knocked out two home runs against Tulsa (May 3) to pass her.

The two round-trippers brought Barrett's career total to 179. Carey trails her by three with 176 as the two players head down the final stretch of the season.

RUNNIN' AWAY:
OU was the first to score more than 200 runs this year and with 301 runs so far, it's no wonder that three of the top five scorers in the Big 12 hail from the Sooner state. Sophomore Kelli Braitsch, junior Christy Ring, and senior Lisa Carey hold down the one, two and fourth spots, respectively, in the conference rankings for runs scored.

Braitsch has 53, Ring has 46 and Carey adds another 39 runs. The trio's combined total of 138 runs is more than Oklahoma State (128) and Iowa State (117) have scored all year.

In conference games, OU was the only team to pass the century mark with 117. Nebraska, who finished first in the standings, was a distant second with 79 runs. The Sooners also have five of the top 10 scorers with Braitsch (first), Ring (second), Jennifer Stump (fourth) and Carey and Ashli Barrett tied for fifth in Big 12 action.

GOING, GOING, GONE!:
Senior Ashli Barrett broke the OU career home run record as a junior and each one this season has just added to the mark. With a team-high 13 this year, she currently has 42 in her career which ranks tied for 17th all-time in the NCAA. With a pair of round-trippers against Tulsa, it brought her total to 44 and she now needs only two more to crack the top 10.

NCAA All-Time Home Run Leaders
t1. Leah Braatz, Arizona (1994-1995, 1997-1998)85
Laura Espinoza, Arizona (1992-1995)85
---
t10. Kim Rondina, UNLV (1994-1997)46
Scia Maumausolo, Cal State Northridge (1993-1996)46
Karyn Thompson, UNC Greensboro (1993-1996)46
13.Julie Marshall, UCLA (1996-1997, 1999-2000)45
14.Ashli Barrett, Oklahoma (98-2001)44

THREE SELECTED TO TRYOUTS:
Three players on the Oklahoma softball team were selected to participate in the USA Softball Women's National Team Camp. Seniors Ashli Barrett and Lisa Carey, along with sophomore Kelli Braitsch were among the 51 players invited to compete for spots on the 2001 National Teams.

The camp will be held May 30-June 3 at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. Following the camp, USA Softball will select two 16-player teams to represent the U.S. in international competitions such as the U.S. Cup in Honolulu, the Canada Cup in Vancouver and the Pan Am Qualifier in Maracay, Venequela, during the 2001 season.

GASSO SELECTED TO USA COACHING POOL:
Oklahoma softball head coach Patty Gasso was one of 12 collegiate coaches named to form the USA Softball National Team Coaches Pool through the 2004 Olympic Games. The announcement came from the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA). Joining Gasso on the pool are Arizona's Mike Candrea, South Florida's Ken Eriksen, Cal State Fullerton's Michele Gromacki, Florida's Karen Johns, DePaul's Eugene Lenti, Missouri's Jay Miller, Alabama's Pat Murphy, Stanford's John Rittman, Oregon State's Kirk Walker, Arizona State's Linda Wells and Washington's Teresa Wilson.

These 12 coaches will participate in the USA Softball National Team Camp, May 30-June 3rd in Chula Vista, Calif., and will be eligible for selection to such important coaching assignments as the 2001 U.S. Cup in Hawaii, 2001 Canada Cup in Vancouver, the 2002 ISF Women's World Championship in Canada, the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

SOONERS IN NCAA RANKINGS:
Four Sooners rank in among the NCAA leaders in batting, home runs, runs batted in and victories. Below are where the Sooners are ranked:

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS				TEAM RANKINGS
Player	Category	Rank	Avg.	Category	Rank	Avg.
Kelli Braitsch	batting	3rd	.452	Batting	3rd	.338
	RBIs	t23rd	0.87	Fielding	13th	.973
	doubles	t16th	0.33	Scoring	6th	6.40
Lisa Carey	batting	20th	.411	Win-Loss Pct.	9th	.851
	RBIs	18th	0.89
	doubles	t19th	0.32
Ashli Barrett	home runs	24th	0.24
	RBIs	9th	1.04
J. Stewart	victories	t5th	28

MERCY ME!:
Through the first 48 games this year, 15 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 (three times), Wichita State, Indiana State, Creighton, Western Michigan, North Carolina, Utah State, No. 20 Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor.

PRESEASON POLL PICKED OU:
It's not the first time a preseason poll was incorrect, but OU was unanimously predicted to win the 2001Conference title in the Preseason Big 12 Coaches' Poll released prior to the start of the season. The Sooners were coming off a national championship season where they compiled a 66-8 record and won their third Big 12 regular season title (1996, 1999 and 2000).

HOME GROWN TALENT:
Of the 18 players on the Oklahoma roster, 11 hail from the Sooner state. Seniors Ashli Barrett, Mandy Fulton and LaKisha Washington, juniors Jennifer Stewart and Angela Wedlake, sophomores Kelli Braitsch and Erin Evans, along with freshmen Lindsey Abbott, Kaycee Clark, Katie Overton and Adrianne Ratliff lead the Okie contgency.

The remaining seven players are from five other states. Only California (Leah Gulla and Christy Ring) and Kansas (Lisa Carey and Jaime White) have more than one player. The remaining three players came to OU from Florida (Jennifer Stump), Maryland (Megan Hube) and Utah (Andrea Davis).

THE CAPTAINS:
It should come as no surprise that the captains of the 2001 Sooners happen to be two of the most visible players on the team. Seniors Ashli Barrett and Lisa Carey will co-captain the Sooners as they begin their flight towards an unprecedented third-consecutive Big 12 title and second NCAA Championship.

CAREY BREAKS CAREER HIT RECORD:
As if four OU career records weren't enough, senior Lisa Carey added another to the list at the Texas-Arlington/Isuzu Classic. The returning All-American knocked a double to right center in the second inning against Tulsa, which happened to be the 219th of her career. It was the sixth hit of the year and broke Cari Graves (1989-92) mark of 218.

Carey will already go down as one of the most successful players in Oklahoma softball history as the career leader in runs scored (138), doubles (43), extra base hits (78) and total bases (367). With those five records already in grasp, she has the potential to add another three to her resume. Two of those should be easy as Carey needs only 111 at-bats and 27 runs batted in to own those records. The third record--for batting average--would require her to raise her current .349 average to .370 to beat out Becky Burroughs' record set in the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

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 7-3 record in games decided by one run and are 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 twice at Nebraska (6-5, 3-1).

OUT IN LEFT FIELD:
Junior Jennifer Stewart already has 152 strikeouts after tallying just 147 heading into last year's postseason. She closed out the national championship season with 171... With 112 total bases, Kelli Braitsch has already tied her 2000 total... The 13-2 win at Tulsa on April 25th was the 900th in OU history. Oklahoma is in its 27th year of sponsoring softball... Junior Christy Ring leads the team with nine sacrifice hits, while Lisa Carey's six sac flies are also a team high... If there's a runner on third and less than two outs, there's a 61 percent chance that the Sooners are going to get that runner home. Braitsch leads that category, hitting .846 in those situations... Senior Ashli Barrett leads the team with 21 two-out RBIs. Seven of those came in the form of a homer.

ON DECK:
The Sooners will find out their fate in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday AT 7:30 p.m. Central. Hoping to host a regional for the second-consecutive year, the committee will announce the 48 teams and eight sites on selected Fox Sports Net affiliates.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Prepares For Big 12 Tournament

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