Softball Battery Claims Big 12 Weekly Honors

The battery for the No. 5 Oklahoma softball team swept the Big 12 weekly honors after turning in stellar performances at the NFCA Leadoff Classic last weekend. Junior catcher Heather Scaglione garnered the Big 12 Player of the Week honor after being the only catcher named to the Leadoff Classic all-tournament team. Sophomore pitcher Nicole Denes claimed the first Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honor of her career after throwing 95 percent of OU's innings in the weekend tournament.

“This was the biggest weekend of Nicole Denes' career,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “I saw her work out of some tough situations and she also dominated some pretty good teams. I am very proud to see her take another step forward in her career. Heather has been consistently good all year. She has been incredible defensively, especially considering no one has stolen a base on her this year. Offensively she keeps putting up the numbers and is once again very deserving of this award.”

It is just the second time in Sooner softball history that OU has garnered both awards in the same week. The other occurrence was in 1999 when Jennifer Stewart (pitcher) and Lynette Velasquez (player) received the awards on April 13.

Scaglione was the only catcher named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team, where the Sooners finished in fifth place with a 4-2 record. The junior's offensive numbers were the best by any catcher among the 25 team field, which included 14 ranked teams. Scaglione hit .474 with one home run and a team-tournament high six RBI. Her tourney efforts were highlighted by a 3-for-3 performance with a home run, her sixth of the season, and two RBI against UMass. In OU's final game of the tournament, Scaglione helped the Sooners avenge an earlier loss to Central Michigan by going 3-for-3 with two RBI as OU cruised to a 9-2 victory.

On the defensive end, Scaglione continued to shut down the base paths. Only four runners have attempted to steal on Scaglione this season and the only one who dared to in the Leadoff Classic was Florida State speedster Natasha Jacob, who she gunned down at second base. Scaglione was also named Big 12 Player of the Week on Feb. 10 after leading OU in the season-opening Tiger Classic.

Denes was a workhorse for OU in the stacked field at NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Coppell, Texas, righthander started all six of OU's games, completed four, and threw 95 percent (38.2 innings) of OU's innings for the 16-4-1 Sooners. Denes picked up four victories at the event while compiling a 1.27 ERA and allowing opponents to hit just .189. For the tournament, Denes tallied 40 strikeouts while allowing just seven earned runs. She recorded her fourth shutout of the year in a 4-0 victory over No. 7 Michigan and tied a career-best by allowing just two hits to the highly-ranked Wolverines. Denes (five innings) and Jessica Johnson combined to toss a shutout in OU's opening win against UMass, with the Denes recording six strikeouts. She saved her best for the top-10 competition as she recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in OU's 3-2 loss to No. 10 Florida State.

Denes, who has carried the pitching load in the absence of injured All-American Kami Keiter, is 12-4 on the season and has thrown 68 percent of OU's innings this season.

Oklahoma returns to action with a three-game set at Houston this weekend. The first game of the series is scheduled for 7 p.m., on Friday, with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Softball Battery Claims Big 12 Weekly Honors

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