Bedlam Looms Large for OU Softball

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 9/10 Oklahoma softball team (42-12, 10-5) will attempt to snap a four-game losing streak in a Bedlam rematch with Oklahoma State (32-17, 7-8) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Stillwater, Okla. OU has won five straight in the Bedlam Series, presented by Bank of Oklahoma and your local Ford Dealers, but has been in an all-around funk since splitting four games with top-10 teams Texas A&M and Baylor.

Fans can follow the Bedlam action live through several outlets. The game will be broadcast on the radio waves by Sooner Sports Properties on KOKC (1520 AM) with the voice of OU softball, Brian Brinkley, on the one man show. The radio broadcast will also be carried on the internet through Yahoo! audio.

Fans with a subscription to the O-Zone will be able to watch the webscast live from Stillwater. Lastly, live stats will be available at no charge on SoonerSports.com.

Live Statistics | Live O-Zone Video | O-Zone? | Yahoo! Audio

Despite the Sooners' success against the Pokes under head coach Patty Gasso, the Bedlam rivalry remains arguably the fiercest on the Sooners' schedule each season.

The Softball Bedlam Bell has never left Norman in the four years of its existence. OU has swept the season series three of the four years and retained it after a split in 2003. In fact, since the start of the Big 12 in 1996 Gasso's squads has done no worse than split with OSU, while collecting the sweep seven times.

In the first meeting this season OU turned a pitcher's duel into a rout in a matter of moments. OU opened up a 2-0 lead off OSU ace Marjorie Johnson in the fifth inning and then blew the doors wide open with seven runs in the sixth inning off of OSU reliever Jessica Hoppock. Jessica Leslie led the Sooners with three RBI, all of which came on a walk-off, run rule clinching home run to end the six inning contest at 9-0. Jamie Fox started the scoring with a two run double off Johnson.

See how the Sooners stack up against OSU in the Bedlam Series presented by the Bank of Oklahoma and Your Oklahoma Ford Dealers!

OU will wrap up Big 12 play this weekend when No. 25 Nebraska visits the OU Softball Complex. The Saturday game at 11 a.m. will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and the Sunday game at 1 p.m. will be carried on ESPNU. The broadcast team for the series is Eric Collins on play-by-play and Dr. Dot Richardson on color commentary. The Saturday contest can be heard within the state of Oklahoma on KOKC (1520 AM), while both contests will be available on the internet through Yahoo! audio. Both games will also be webcast on the O-Zone.

Game Notes PDF | Big 12 Notes PDF

Scouting Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State is 32-17 on the season and 7-8 in conference play. OSU has won four of its last five Big 12 games and has moved into fifth place in the Big 12 standings.

The top OSU hitter is leadoff slapper Shanel Scott, who is hitting .404 and has swiped 20 bases this season. The slugger on the squad is Stephanie Nicholson, who has 10 HR and 37 RBI this year. As a team OSU is hitting .289.

The ace of the staff is Marjorie Johnson, who is 12-4 with a 1.23 ERA in 19 starts this season. In her last outing, against Nebraska on Sunday, she tossed a no hitter despite walking six Huskers.

Cowgirl Corraller
Senior Christina Enea is one of the clutchest players in OU history. Her Sooner legacy will be characterized by the way she has shined in the biggest games and against the best competition.

No team is more aware of her capabilities than Oklahoma State. She has haunted the Pokes for three seasons. Enea is hitting .363 (8-for-22) against OSU with one home run, five runs, eight RBI and three game-winning hits.

Enea has single-handedly won three games against the Pokes. In 2002's first meeting, OU mounted a five-run seventh-inning rally that was sealed by an Enea RBI single for the 6-5 win. In the 2002 finale, a two-run single sealed the extra innings win for the Sooners. Last season, the senior from California hit a two-run homer to clinch a 2-1 win in Stillwater. She was forced to sit out the rematch in Norman due to a strained Achilles.

Kansas Leftovers
The Oklahoma softball team traveled to Lawrence and was swept by the Jayhawks for the first time since 1993 ... The sweep put the Sooners three losses behind Big 12 leader Texas A&M ... OU is tied with Baylor for second place, although in reality they both trail Texas who only has four conference losses ... OU, which led Division I softball in batting average going into the contest, was only able to muster five runs on 13 hits in the series ... OU has lost four of its last six Big 12 games, after controlling its own destiny after taking the opener against Texas A&M on April 16 ... Tayl'r Hollis' first home run in 20 games, sent the opener into extra innings ... In extra sessions Heather Scaglione hit her 11th home run of the season to move within five blasts of OU career leader Ashli Barrett ... OU's only run on Sunday was driven in on an RBI double by Scaglione ... Kami Keiter gave up six earned runs in two appearances on the weekend ... For the first time this season, Kristin Vesely was held hitless for an entire Big 12 series, dropping her batting average to .467.

Scouting Nebraska
The Huskers won the Big 12 Regular and Tournament Championship in 2004 but have struggled in their first season without Peaches James, who was the 2004 Big 12 Player of the Year. Nebraska is 30-17 and tied with Missouri for sixth place in the Big 12 with a 6-7 record.

The team is hitting .287 overall and just .195 in Big 12 play. The Husker bats really struggled during their recent series with Oklahoma State. OSU ace Marjorie Johnson no hit the Huskers on Sunday and limited NU to four hits on the weekend. NU had more walks, 13, than hits, 4, and runs, 2, combined.

The leading hitter for Nebraska is slapper Anne Steffan, who might be the fastest player in the Big 12. She is hitting .419 on the season but she has fallen on hard times since the start of the Big 12 season. She is hitting only .196 in Big 12 games. In conference games the only player that is hitting above .300 is Jessica Yoachim. Yoachim is swinging at a .316 clip.

The ace of the Husker staff is Ashley DeBuhr, who has a 6-7 record in Big 12 play despite a strong ERA of 1.98.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with OU 35-25 and has won three straight. The most recent loss came in the 2004 Big 12 Tournament, when Peaches James tossed a perfect game to give OU its first loss of the tourney. The last time Nebraska played in Norman was 2000 when the squads split a two-game set.

Three Sooners Up For Player of the Year
Oklahoma softball players Jessica Leslie, Heather Scaglione and Kristin Vesely were announced as three of the final 25 candidates for USA Softball Player of the Year on April 6. It marks the second consecutive year that Scaglione has made the list of 25, while it is the first such honor for Vesely and Leslie.

“This is a tremendous honor for the players and I know the team is very excited for them, but we never talk about individual accolades. This group is focused on the team's goals,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “I know that if you asked these three players, they would give all the credit to their teammates, first and foremost. We are lucky to have a very unselfish team and that attitude is a major reason we have been so competitive this season.”

Oklahoma is one of only four teams with three members on the 25-player list. Scaglione was on the Preseason Watch List that was comprised of 40 players. She was joined by fellow Sooners Norrelle Dickson and Kami Keiter.

Player of the Year Profile - Jessica Leslie
Jessica Leslie got off to a quick start in 2004. She has followed the same recipe in 2005, but this season she carried the streak over the course of the season. Leslie, an All-America candidate and USA Softball Player of the Year finalist, is hitting .343 with 20 doubles, seven home runs and a 52 RBI, which ranks second in the Big 12.

Her doubles total is tied with Ashli Barrett (2000) as the second best single season mark in OU history. She is just four shy of Becky Burroughs record of 24 from 1994. The Raytown, Mo., native has catapulted up the career doubles chart where she ranks No. 5 with 37 two-baggers. She is also moving up the single season charts in RBI, where her current mark is three shy of the top 10.

Recently, she filled Christina Enea's No. 3 spot and hit .500 with 14 RBI to claim national and Big 12 Player of the Week honors. She hit .356 with 31 hits, 25 RBI and 14 extra base hits in that role. She ranks second in the Big 12 in RBI and leads the league doubles, while ranking in the top 10 of four other categories.

Her defense has also been exceptional for the last three seasons. She recently (4/9 at Texas) committed her first error in a span of 119 games, dating back to her sophomore seasons.

Player of the Year Profile - Heather Scaglione
Perhaps the forgotten force in the OU lineup, Heather Scaglione needs to just step in the batter's box to understand the type of respect she has garnered. She has become the most feared hitter in the Big 12 after leading the league in 12 offensive categories (overall and Big 12 only) last season.

If it weren't for her Big 12 leading 31 base on balls, Scaglione might be again dominating the conference offensive races. Regardless, her numbers are ahead of pace in several categories (BA, 2B, RBI) and on pace with last season in every category except home runs.

In the Big 12 ranks, Scaglione ranks No. 3 in RBI and comes in no lower than eighth in walks, hits, home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, doubles and total bases.

Player of the Year Profile - Kristin Vesely
OU junior center fielder Kristin Vesely is locked into a hitting zone that no other player in OU history has touched. She has hit safely in 43 of 54 games this season, including 41 of the last 47. The Phoenix, Ariz., native has already set career single season highs in runs (53), hits (84), doubles (17), RBI (30), total bases (111) and stolen bases (25).

Vesely leads the Big 12 in batting average, hits and runs while ranking second in total bases, on base percentage and doubles. She is ranked in the top-10 of every Big 12 offensive category except home runs, in which she has tied a career single season high with two blasts.

She also set the OU record with 23-game hitting streak during which time she hit .638 and improved her season average to .556. During the streak Vesely accumulated 32 runs, 51 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, one home run, 23 RBI, 69 total bases, .863 slugging percentage, .659 on-base percentage and 15 stolen bases.

The smooth center fielder, who gets as good of a jump on fly balls as anyone in the country, has also been nearly flawless in the field. She recently had a 46-game errorless streak snapped (4/11).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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