Streaking Softball Enters Busy Week

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 11 Oklahoma softball team (15-4) enters the busiest week of the regular season in the midst of a 13-game win streak. OU will play seven games in five days this week, while adding in a thousand-plus flying miles in route to Las Vegas, Nev., and back.

OU begins the weekly slate with a Wednesday home doubleheader against Arkansas (7-8) at 3 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Fans who can't make it to Norman can follow the game through free live stats and O Zone video, both of which are provided by SoonerSports.com.

Oklahoma will begin play in the Las Vegas Classic with a doubleheader on Friday. OU will face Illinois-Chicago (7-5) and Oregon (8-6) in a 4 p.m. (CST), tourney doubleheader on the campus of UNLV. The Sooners will also play a twin bill on Saturday with No. 12 Washington (10-5) at 11:45 a.m. and UNLV (10-8) at 6:15 p.m. Patty Gasso's squad will close the tourney on Sunday morning with a 11 a.m., contest against Drake (8-1).

Scouting Arkansas
Former Tulsa head coach Jamie Pinkerton is in his first season with the Lady'Backs and has UA off to a 7-8 start. Arkansas is hitting .259 as a team and the pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.16. The leading Lady'Back hitter is Rachel LeMaster, who is hitting .422 with five RBI. Valanna Lyons is headlining the staff with a 5-4 record in nine appearances. OU leads the all-time series with Arkansas 6-0.

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Scouting Illinois-Chicago
Illinois Chicago is off to a 7-5 start thanks in part to the efforts of reigning Horizon League Player of the Week Cameron Astiazaran. Astiazaran hit .500 last week at the USD Invitational and leads the Flames with a .462 batting average. Brittany McIntyre has received the majority of the starting pitching assignments but has a struggled to a 5.25 ERA and 2-5 record. OU and UIC have met four times previously with the Sooners winning three of those contests.

Scouting No. 20 Oregon
Oregon was in Columbus, Ga., with the Sooners for the NFCA Leadoff Classic last weekend. The Ducks went 2-2 and are 8-6 on the season. UO is hitting .304 as a team and Breanne Sabol is the top hitter among regulars. Sabol is hitting .395 with seven RBI and six stolen bases. The staff is anchored by ace Alicia Cook. Cook is 4-2 with a 1.91 ERA in 33 innings. OU leads the all-time series with Oregon, 4-3.

Scouting No. 14 Washington
Washington and OU will renew a rivalry that has been fostered in three of the last four postseasons. The all-time series is tied 5-5 with OU having the latest laugh, a 6-2 win in the 2004 WCWS. Washington is led by All-American catcher Kristen Rivera, who is hitting .471 with 5 HR and 17 base on balls. Ashley Boek is the ace of the staff and is off to a 7-2 start thanks to a 1.31 ERA. Washington is 10-5 on the season with a recent win over Oklahoma State (1-0) and a recent loss to Texas A&M (10-0).

Scouting UNLV
UNLV, who is hosting the Vegas Classic, is off to a 10-8 start under head coach Lonni Alameda. Alameda is an OU graduate that competed under former coach Michelle Thomas-Grost from 1990-92. UNLV's top hitter is Marissa Nichols who is hitting at a .455 clip with four home runs and 16 RBI. The staff is led by Jacque Sheridan who is 8-7 with a 2.07 ERA. OU has won the only meeting between the schools, a 5-2 victory in the 2003 Kia Klassic.

Scouting Drake
Drake has the best record of any team in the Vegas Classic field at 8-1. The Bulldogs have a well-rounded attack. They are hitting at a .323 clip and the staff has combined ERA of 1.62. Five Bulldogs are hitting over .300 with Shanna Cook at the top with a .444 mark. Cook also leads in home runs, 2, and RBI, 13. The ace of the staff is Jessica Hicks, who is 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA. The only previous meeting between Drake and OU was a lopsided affair in 2002. The Sooners run-ruled the Bulldogs 15-0 during play in the OU/Nike Classic.

Balancing Act
Balance is a magic word for any coach. The early success of the Sooners this season is largely due to the balance throughout their offensive lineup and pitching staff. The top six in OU head coach Patty Gasso's current lineup are hitting above .314, with junior Kristin Vesely (No. 2 hitter) leading the six pack with a .443 batting average. All of the No. 2-6 batters - in order Vesely, Christina Enea, Heather Scaglione, Jessica Leslie and Kami Keiter - have at least 10 RBI, with Leslie heading the group with 17. The Sooners are one of six teams in the top 25 (2/22) that can claim five batters with 10 or more RBI.

In the circle OU's pitching staff has a miniscule ERA of 1.01. Three pitchers - Kami Keiter (6-1), Nicole Denes (5-0), Stacy Braddock (4-2) - have at least four wins. Only four teams in the top-25 can claim a staff with that much well-rounded success.

The Sooners are one of only three teams in the top-25 that has five batters with 10 or more RBI and three pitchers with four or more wins. The other two schools happen to be fellow Big 12ers Texas A&M and Baylor.

Armed & Ready
Through four weekends of competition, the OU pitching staff has already shown why it may be the deepest of the Patty Gasso era. After carrying the team in the opening weekend, the staff has taken it to a new level during the current 13-game winning streak. As a group they have a combined ERA of 0.88 and have only allowed 10 runs in that last 13 wins. Senior Kami Keiter (6-1, 0.50) has worked 35 innings of scoreless ball since the season-opening Clearwater Invitational. Freshman Stacey Braddock (4-2, 1.05) has worked 33.1 innings and allowed five earned runs. Junior Nicole Denes (5-0, 1.11) has been spectacular the last two weekends and has her own scoreless streak of 14.2 innings going. Even No. 4 starter Jadyn Smith (0-1, 2.55 ERA) is averaging nearly a strikeout per inning (10 in 11 inn.).

Keiter Named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week
Oklahoma senior Kami Keiter was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the games of Feb. 22-28, the league office announced. Keiter (6-1) extended her scoreless innings streak to 35 innings and her consecutive shutout streak to four while leading the Sooners to the NFCA Leadoff Classic championship.

Keiter began the weekend by limiting Michigan State to one hit and striking out six, while also not allowing a single Spartan to reach scoring position. The Colorado native came back the next day and out-dueled 2004 All-American Casey Hunter and No. 21 Florida State. Keiter held the Seminoles' lineup to three hits while striking out eight batters. On the weekend Keiter did not walk a single batter and only allowed five runners (all against FSU) to reach scoring position. The Spartans and Seminoles combined to hit .100 against OU's ace.

Streaks
Notable streaks entering the Las Vegas Classic:
136 - Consecutive games started by Kristin Vesely.
132 - Consecutive weeks since the inception of the NFCA Poll that OU has been ranked in the top-25.
95 - Consecutive games without committing an error by Jessica Leslie.
35 - Length of Kami Keiter's current scoreless innings streak.
14 - Consecutive season openers won by the OU softball team, including 11 straight under Patty Gasso.
12.1 - Innings Stacy Braddock worked without allowing an earned run to start her career.
11 - Consecutive trips to the NCAA postseason.
11 - Consecutive seasons of 40 or more wins, 10 under Gasso.
12 - Current hitting streak by Kristin Vesely, which is the longest by an OU player since 2001.
13 - Current winning streak, the longest since an 18 game stretch in 2003.
13 - Consecutive games OU has hit a double.
10 - Consecutive games that OU scored five or more runs. The record streak was snapped vs. FSU (2/26).
8 - Current hitting streak for Norrelle Dickson, which began on Feb. 12 against Houston.
5 - Consecutive Regional Championships.
5 - Consecutive Women's College World Series appearances.
2 - Consecutive seasons that head coach Patty Gasso has started a freshman at shortstop.

More Streaks
OU is in the midst of a 13-game winning streak and an all-around effort has been the catalyst.
Below are the details:

- OU has outscored its opponents 94-10 during the streak.
- The offense is hitting .375 with 16 home runs and 85 RBI.
- Eight regulars are hitting about .300 with three of those topping .400.
- Kristin Vesely is in the midst of the best stretch of her career. She is hitting .523 with 23 hits, eight extra base hits, 12 RBI, seven stolen bases and a .553 on base percentage.
- Jessica Leslie is also on a career run during OU's streak. She is hitting .378 with three HR, and a team-high 16 RBI.
- The pitching staff has a combined ERA of 0.89 and ace Kami Keiter is yet to allow an earned run during the streak.
- OU scored five or more runs in 10 consecutive contests (Feb. 12-26), which is a school record. The previous best was seven, which was set five times. The most recent time was in 2002.
- OU has hit a double in all 13 of the wins.
- The streak is the 17th of 10 or more games in OU history. Thirteen of those stretches have come under current head coach Patty Gasso.

Locked In
OU junior center fielder Kristin Vesely has that look of a player locked into an elusive hitting zone and her current 12-game hitting streak certainly illustrates how hot her bat is. The streak is the longest by an OU player since 2001, when Kelli Braitsch and Erin Evans both had 12-gamers. Her season numbers also substantiate the look. Vesely leads OU with a .443 batting average, 17 runs, 27 hits and seven doubles. She is third on the team in RBI (13) despite hitting in the leadoff and No. 2 spots all season.

Kicking It Up A Notch
Jessica Leslie got off to a quick start in 2004. She has followed the same recipe in 2005, but kicked it up a few notches. Leslie, a preseason All-America candidate, is hitting .352 with 10 extra base hits, a team-high three home runs and 17 RBI. The powerful righty has struck out just three times while hitting in the five spot all season. Her work in the field sets her apart from everyone else on the team. She is currently in the midst of a 95-game streak without committing an error. The streak stretches back to her sophomore campaign.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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