Oklahoma Clashes With Oklahoma State In Bedlam Battle

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April 2, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - No. 9 Oklahoma (31-8, 4-0 Big 12) and Oklahoma State (22-11, 3-3 Big 12) will meet for the first time this season in the annual Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series presented by your Oklahoma Ford Dealers on Wednesday in Stillwater. Set for 6:30 p.m. at Cowgirl Stadium, OU will be looking for its 12th-straight victory over Cowgirls.

OU enters the contest tied with Texas for first place in the Big 12 Conference, while OSU currently sits in seventh place.

It's Bedlam Time Again!
The Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series present by your Oklahoma Ford Dealers turns its attention Wednesday to the first of two softball matchups between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State this season. Oklahoma won the first annual Bedlam Cup awarded to the sport last year with a two-game regular season sweep of Oklahoma State. The Sooners also defeated the Cowgirls in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game at the end of the season to claim the program's third Big 12 title.

Last year, the Sooners shut out the Cowgirls in all three meetings and outscored them 25-0. OSU currently owns the lead in the series at 62-47, however, the Sooners have rattled off 19 wins in the last 24 meetings.

Oklahoma State won the overall sport Bedlam Cup last year and currently lead the overall series this year, 6.5-4.5.

Texas Tech Series Recap
Ninth-ranked Oklahoma claimed its second straight Big 12 Conference series of the year with a doubleheader sweep of Texas Tech (3-1 & 4-0) on Friday night at the OU Softball Complex. OU, who improved to 4-0 in Big 12 play with the wins, edged Tech 3-1 in game one. After the Red Raiders got on the scoreboard first with a 1-0 lead, junior rightfielder Jennifer Stump began the scoring for the Sooners in the third inning with a solo home run, her third homer in the last two games. Oklahoma then manufactured the next two runs of the inning on a RBI-single by junior third baseman Leah Gulla before she crossed home plate on an error by the Texas Tech shortstop.

Pitching dominated the second game of the twilight doubleheader as Sooner starter Angela Foster (6-1) recorded a pair of personal OU career highs en route to helping OU win the game and the series with the 4-0 victory. Foster, who transferred to Oklahoma from Tulsa following her sophomore campaign, tossed her first seven inning complete game as a Sooner and fanned an OU career high eight batters. Two run-scoring doubles, by Gulla and junior shortstop Kelli Braitsch, in the game supplied the necessary offense for the victory. Gulla also hit her team-leading 10th home run of the season in the game.

Scouting Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State (22-11, 3-3 Big 12) sprinted out to a 19-8 record to begin the season, including eight-straight to kick off the year, but since entering Big 12 play, have dropped three of their last six contests. OSU started off conference action with a split with Kansas and then lost two one-run ballgames at home to Nebraska. Last weekend, Oklahoma State swept the two-game set at Missouri to even their Big 12 record.

At the plate, the Cowgirls have combined for a .257 batting average, which ranks next to last in the Big 12. Sophomore outfielder Jade Lindley paces the Cowgirls offensively with her team-leading .343 average and 11 home runs. Senior third baseman Jenny Kipp and junior catcher Ryan Realmuto are also batting over the .300 mark at .330 and .320, respectively.

The strength of the Cowgirls' team lies in its pitching. The staff's 1.15 ERA ranks second in the conference, while their staff ace, junior Lauren Bay, currently stands in fourth place individually in the league with a 0.90 ERA. Bay leads the staff in almost every pitching category with 14 wins, 17 complete games, 132.1 innings pitched and 198 strikeouts. The rest of the staff has combined for eight wins, seven complete games, 87.2 innings pitched and 77 strikeouts.

Looking Ahead To Iowa State
Iowa State has compiled a 13-10 record overall and 4-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play through an up and down season. After not being able to go more than three games without a loss, ISU recently put together a five game win streak which ended last weekend with two losses to Texas A&M. Prior to the two-game sweep, the Cyclones had blown through their first four Big 12 contests, sweeping both Texas Tech and Missouri to jump out to a 4-0 conference start.

Iowa State's team hitting and pitching both rank towards the bottom of the Big 12. At .263, ISU is eighth in hitting and they sit next-to-last in the league in pitching with a 3.29 ERA. The Cyclones have three players that are batting better than .300 on the season. Junior outfielder/pitcher Erica Martinez leads the trio with a .365 average and also sports team-leading totals of 15 runs scored, six home runs and 21 RBI. Freshman first baseman Lindsey Herrin barely trails Martinez in several of the categories as she ranks second on the team with a .354 average, third in runs scored with eight, is tied for the lead with six homers and has amassed 20 RBI, good for second on the team.

Martinez also serves double duty as one of the two pitchers that Iowa State relies on for almost all of their work. Martinez and junior Jen Bice have accounted for all but 3.2 innings this season and are responsible for all 13 of the team's wins. Bice at 7-5 leads the staff in wins, complete games (eight) and innings pitched (84.2). Martinez has struck out 70 batters in only 67.2 innings of work and has also logged both of the two shutouts on the season.

Liking It In The Leadoff Role
Most people were surprised when junior rightfielder Jennifer Stump stepped to the plate to lead off the game against Tulsa last week. But what was even more shocking was how well she produced from that spot in the lineup. After finishing off the weekend as the leadoff hitter, Stump, who has seen time in the three through five holes in the lineup this season, batted .545 (6-for-11) with four runs scored, five RBI and three home runs over the three game span.

Stump started off the week 3-for-5 with two runs scored against the Golden Hurricane as two of her hits left the park. Her two runs scored and three hits in the game tied her career marks as she also set a season high with four RBI in the game.

The West Palm Beach, Fla., native continued to produce in the role in Friday's doubleheader against Texas Tech. In the first game, she hit her third home run in the last two games in a 1-for-3 effort and followed later that night with a 2-for-3 effort in game two.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma Clashes With Oklahoma State In Bedlam Battle

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