Jayhawks Fly In For Weekend Softball Set With The Sooners

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April 19, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. -

The Kansas Jayhawks (29-19, 5-7 Big 12) fly into Norman for the weekend for a two-game set against the 11th-ranked Oklahoma (36-12, 9-2 Big 12) squad. The series begins on Saturday at 3 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the OU Softball Complex. OU, who sits in second place, looks to return to their conference-winning form after dropping their last two Big 12 games to No. 16 Texas. KU has made a recent gradual ascent up the conference standings into a tie for sixth place after winning three of its last four conference outings.

Saturday's contest is designated as the OU Softball Alumni Reunion game and an OU On-Board Sign is scheduled to be given away to the first 500 fans through the gate. Sunday is Fan Appreciation Day and those in attendance will be able to purchase $.50 hot dogs and Cokes. The giveway for the series finale is team trading cards.

Sunday's game will be broadcast live in the Norman/Oklahoma City area on KREF 1400 AM and can also be listened to on the Sooners' official athletic web site www.soonersports.com.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Softball Challenge Recap
11th-ranked Oklahoma dropped their two games of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Softball Challenge earlier this week. The Sooners lost a 4-0 game to No. 12 Fresno State and a 1-0 contest in nine innings to No. 1 Arizona. The Sooners ran into two of the nation's top pitchers in FSU's Jamie Southern and UA's Jennie Finch and were only able to generate seven hits in the two shutouts.

OU dropped their third game in a row as the Bulldogs shutout the Sooners, 4-0, Tuesday evening in the first game. Southern (25-6), who leads the nation in ERA, held the Sooners scoreless on four hits, while striking out five. Sooner senior hurler Jennifer Stewart (15-5) lasted 5.1 innings and was responsible for all four runs. Oklahoma squandered several scoring chances in the game as they stranded runners in scoring position in four innings.

Arizona shortstop Lovieanne Jung delivered a clutch two-out double in the top of the ninth inning to plate the only run of the ballgame as the top-ranked Wildcats defeated 11th-ranked Oklahoma, 1-0, in the final game on Wednesday night. Until the Wildcats scored in extra frames, UA starter Jennie Finch (23-1) and OU starting pitcher Kami Keiter (9-6) dueled it out in the circle the entire contest as Finch held the Sooners to three hits, while Keiter matched the effort by scattering four hits.

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Wildcat centerfielder Crystal Farley (1-for-2) hit a hard shot back at Keiter to leg out a single. Jung (1-for-5) then placed her double in deep center field to allow Farley to sprint home from first base for the winning run.

Scouting Kansas
After losing 15 of their first 34 games to begin the season, the Kansas Jayhawks (29-19, 5-7 Big 12) are beginning to put it together by winning 10 of their last 13 games. In their latest contest, however, the Jayhawks, who sit in a tie for sixth place in the Big 12 Conference, lost to ninth place Missouri, 4-2, at home. Prior to losing to the Tigers, the Jayhawks had won three of their last four league contests as well.

At .272, KU's team batting average ranks near the middle of the pack in the conference in games overall and league games only. Senior leftfielder Christi Musser leads the team in average at .373 which ranks fourth in the conference in games overall. However, Musser is struggling in Big 12 games where she is only batting at a .194 clip. Musser also puts up threatening team-leading numbers like 50 runs scored and seven home runs.

Kansas also poses a threat on the base paths where they currently rank third in the conference in stolen bases with 72. The team has four players that have swiped 10 or more bases this season.

The Jayhawks utilize a deep and experienced pitching staff that combined has recorded a 1.73 ERA. Each member of the staff has logged 53 or more innings. Freshman righthander Serena Settlemier has worked the most innings at 107 and also leads the team in shutouts (5), strikeouts (94) and opponent batting average (.206). Settlemier has won her last three decisions and stands at 9-7 on the year.

Scaglione Captures Team's Second Straight Big 12 Weekly Honor
For the second week in a row, the ninth-ranked Oklahoma softball team claimed Big 12 Softball Player of the Week honors Tuesday afternoon as freshman catcher Heather Scaglione captured the league's top weekly honor for her week-long performance. Scaglione followed junior centerfielder Erin Evans' conference-best effort from the previous week by batting .538 (7-for-13) with five runs scored and two RBI. She hit safely in all four games tying her career high streak which she set earlier in the year.

Scaglione's performance in the Missouri doubleheader was a key factor to winning the honor. The San Diego, Calif., product hit a solo home run and scored a career best three runs in the first game and then followed with a second solo homer in game two as part of a career high three hit performance. Scaglione's doubleheader performance helped the Sooners tie their best start (9-0) in Big 12 Conference history and match a season best 12-game win streak.

Against Texas, Scaglione collected one hit in each game of the Sunday twinbill and scored a run in the second game. Behind the plate, she also gunned down a baserunner at second base in game one with the Longhorns threatening to extend their lead.

Scaglione's accomplishment adds to the Sooners' 2002 total to give them three Big 12 Player/Pitcher of the Week honors on the year. Senior pitcher Jennifer Stewart started off the team's string of honors after winning Pitcher of the Week accolades at the end of the first week.

Tough Luck Losses
Pitcher Kami Keiter has been the victim of several close losses this season. Her 9-6 record is deceiving considering the fact that four of those losses have been 1-0 ballgames and of those four losses, three have come to top 25-ranked opponents. The other 1-0 loss came to a tough Texas squad early in the season who was unranked at the time, but who is now ranked 16th in the country. The other two of her two losses were a 5-3 loss to then-No. 20 Florida Atlantic and a 3-2 loss to No. 18 Texas on Sunday.

The Sooners have not been able to generate enough offense in Keiter's six losses to aid the Arvada, Colo., freshman on to victory. In the six losses, OU has not collected more than four hits in any game and has scored only twice in those games, while being shut out four times.

Catching On
Since seeing increasingly more playing time behind the plate over the last month, freshman Heather Scaglione has become one of the more productive members of the team offensively. Over the last month, 10 of her 14 appearances have been starts at the catcher's position and she has been the team's second leading hitter during that time by batting .318. Scaglione has also raised her average from .256 to its current mark of .279 and put together a recent five-game hitting streak.

Her performance last week earned Scaglione her first Big 12 Player of the Week distinction as she batted .538 with five runs scored and two RBI, including two homers in the Missouri doubleheader.

Sooners Decorate National Rankings
In the second edition of national statistical rankings that were released by the NCAA this week, Oklahoma finds itself on several of the lists. As a team, the Sooners ranked sixth in scoring, 15th in the country in winning percentage, moved up six spots in ERA to 20th and ranked 25th in batting average.

The Sooner freshman duo of pitcher Kami Keiter and catcher/first baseman Christina Enea continue to be ranked among the nation's elite. Keiter is sixth in ERA, while Enea jumped four spots to No. 12 in doubles per game and moved up three spots to No. 8 in RBI per game.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Jayhawks Fly In For Weekend Softball Set With The Sooners

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