Oklahoma Hosts OU/Worth Invitational

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March 8, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma returns home this weekend to host the fifth annual OU/Worth Invitational at the OU Softball Complex in Norman, Okla. The tournament, which runs March 8-10, is a four-team field which includes Creighton, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Wichita State. The event will feature four games a day with play kicking off at 11 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and a 10 a.m. Sunday start time.

OU will open on Friday with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 3:30 p.m. with a second game against Wichita State immediately following at 5:45 p.m. Saturday's action has the Sooners playing the Islanders for the second time at 1:15 p.m. and the Creighton Bluejays at 3:30 p.m. Oklahoma matches up against CU at 2:30 p.m. and WSU at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday to conclude tournament play.

FIU Golden Panthers Invitational Recap
The Sooner softball team finished the Florida International Golden Panthers Invitational with a second place finish after completing tournament play with a 3-2 record. Fourth-ranked Oklahoma fell 5-3 to No. 20 Florida Atlantic in the championship game on Sunday, their second straight loss to the Owls.

OU opened the tournament on Friday with two wins over host FIU and Auburn. Senior pitcher Jennifer Stewart tossed a one-hitter, coming within three outs of a perfect game, against FIU as the Sooners run-ruled the Golden Panthers, 9-0. Oklahoma then broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning of the Auburn contest with four runs in the bottom of the inning to secure the 6-2 victory over the Tigers.

Sophomore Adrianne Ratliff turned in a complete game performance in OU's 4-2 win over UConn on Saturday morning before the Sooners suffered the first of their two heartbreaking losses to the Owls. Leading FAU 5-3 entering the seventh inning, OU gave up three unearned runs to allow the Owls to come from behind and edge the Sooners, 6-5.

Diamond Notes
* The team's 12-0 start to begin the season matched the program's best start ever which was set just a year ago.

* Sophomore lefthander Adrianne Ratliff still has only given up one walk in 19.1 innings pitched on the season. Ratliff owns the staff's best strikeout to walk ratio at 9:1.

* Junior centerfielder Erin Evans and freshman second baseman Jessica Leslie remain perfect on the season in stolen attempts. Evans is 7-for-7 on the season, while Leslie is 8-for-8. Evans swiped two bases last weekend and Leslie stole three more.

* With only two inside-the-park home runs credited to Christy Ring in her OU career, the senior leftfielder sent her first home run over the fence as a Sooner with a two-run shot on Saturday against No. 20 Florida Atlantic.

* Freshman second baseman Jessica Leslie has put together a modest eight-game hitting streak over the last two weekends. Leslie is batting .409 (9-for-22) with six runs scored, a RBI and two extra-base hits. The streak ties the longest established by a Sooner this season which was also set by junior third baseman Leah Gulla and junior rightfielder Jennifer Stump.

FIU Golden Panthers All-Tournament Team
Oklahoma secured three selections to the Florida International All-Tournament last weekend after the team wrapped up a second place finish in the event. Senior leftfielder Christy Ring, junior third baseman Leah Gulla and freshman catcher Christina Enea were named to the all-tournament team after leading the Sooners to a 3-2 record.

Gulla led the team with a .471 average throughout the tournament and also record team highs in runs scored with five and RBI with four. Ring hit her first home run of the season, a two-run shot, against No. 20 FAU and batted a respectable .313. Enea was also a solid contributor at the plate for the Sooners over the weekend with a .385 average, two runs scored and three RBI.

On The Brink
Not only is staff ace Jennifer Stewart about to break numerous school career records this season, but the senior lefty is also set to establish a personal milestone of 100 career wins. At 99 career victories, Stewart stands just one win shy of the century mark. Stewart, who owns the all-time wins crown at OU, already outdistances the next closest Sooner on the list by 23 victories.

Nearly Perfect Again
Lefthander Jennifer Stewart came within three outs of tossing her second perfect game of the season when Oklahoma faced Florida International in the team's opener of the Golden Panthers Invitational on Friday. The senior hurler had a flawless performance going through five full innings before giving up a bloop single to left field to the Golden Panthers' leadoff batter in the sixth frame which fell just out of reach of the outstretched arms of OU shortstop Kelli Braitsch.

The Sooners had already secured an eight-run run-rule advantage by scoring nine runs in the first six frames.

Changes In The Field
During the Golden Panthers Invitational last weekend, the right side of the Sooner infield took on a different look. Beginning with OU's first game of the tournament against host Florida International, freshman Jessica Leslie started the first of her five straight starts at second base. Junior Tiffany Weight, who up until the FIU contest had received 10 starts at second base, took over for sophomore Katie Overton at first base midway through the game versus the Golden Panthers and started at the right corner the remainder of the weekend.

During her starting stint last weekend, Leslie was one of the most productive Sooners offensively as she completed tournament play with a .400 batting average, five runs scored and one home run. Weight hit .167 during the invitational and drove in a pair of runs while performing solidly at first base.

Moving On Up
Over the last three seasons, senior leftfielder Christy Ring has made a steady ascent up many of the Sooners' career offensive record lists. Now in her fourth and final season at Oklahoma, the Westminster, Calif., native is nearing the peak of several of those charts. As Ring enters the weekend, she sits three runs scored and four stolen bases short of tying the school records. Ring has also moved into the top five spots on the career walks drawn (second), total bases (fourth), triples (fifth) and hits (third) list.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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