SB Opens Home Stand Wednesday at 6

NORMAN, Okla. - The third-ranked Oklahoma softball team will begin its two-week home stand on Wednesday night as it steps out of conference play to take on Central Arkansas (8-24) at 6 p.m. inside the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners will follow that contest with one of their biggest conference series of the year this weekend.

A top-five showdown between No. 3 OU and No. 2 Texas A&M will take place this Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.) at the OU Softball Complex. Saturday's contest will be shown on ESPN2 and will also be a whiteOUt promotion with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free white OU t-shirt to wear during the game.

Live Stats | 2007 Schedule

MEDIA COVERAGE
Fans that can't attend the game Wednesday can follow the game on live stats. In addition, the game will be available on the O-Zone. Brian Brinkley will also be calling Wednesday night's game that will be aired on Sooner flagship station KOKC (1520 AM).

SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS
The Bears of Central Arkansas enter Wednesday night's game with an 8-24 overall record and are looking to snap an 11-game losing streak. The only similar opponent between Oklahoma and Central Arkansas is Evansville, whom UCA lost a close 4-2 game to while the Sooners beat Evansville twice with scores of 6-2 and 6-0. UCA's eight victories this year have come against Jackson State (four times), Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alabama A&M (twice) and Eastern Illinois.

Offensively, the team owns a .218 batting average and is led by lefty outfielder Audra Finley who is hitting at a .264 clip in the leadoff position. Janae Owens is the team's slugger with 20 RBI on the season, including a team-best 20 home runs.

In the circle, the staff is averaging a 5.49 ERA as opponents are hitting .338 against them. The ace of the staff is Edmond, Okla., native Lyndsey Harris who owns a 3-11 record with a 5.21 ERA in 98 innings pitched.

PLAYER TO WATCH
The National Player of the Week, Norrelle Dickson made history this past week as she became the career hits and runs scored leader at the University of Oklahoma. The two-time All-American passed Christy Ring's (1999-2002) career high of 206 runs scored to become the new leader. Two days later against No. 10 Texas, Dickson passed Kristin Vesely s record (293) to become the new hits leader at OU. Dickson had an impressive week as she hit .750, including a perfect 7-for-7 performance in her two games against No. 10 Texas.

SOONERS STAY AT NO. 3
Following a 3-1 start to the Big 12 season, the Sooners remained at No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and also received one first place vote. The ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll isn't released until Wednesday so the Sooners remain at No. 4 in that poll. The No. 3 ranking marks OU's highest since the 2001 team opened the season at No. 2.

The Sooners have been ranked in the top 25 of every NFCA poll since its inception, which spans 163 weeks long. OU and Arizona are the only programs to be ranked in the NFCA Top-25 every week of its existence.

BIG 12 STRENGTH
The Big 12 is making a strong case for one of the top softball leagues in the country. The conference currently has three teams in the top 10 (No. 2 Texas A&M , No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 10 Texas ) a well as one more in the top 15 with No. 12 Baylor. Additionally, Kansas is receiving votes in both polls.

UPDATING THE SOONERS
The Sooners opened the Big 12 season this past week with a road trip through the state of Texas. The Sooners notched a sweep of Texas Tech and finished out the weekend with a split of No. 10 Texas.

Oklahoma began the start of conference play with a trip to Lubbock, Texas for doubleheader this past Thursday night. Lauren Eckermann threw the shut out in game one as the Sooners topped the Red Raiders, 7-0, and were led by Samantha Ricketts' three RBI in the game.

The Sooners recorded the sweep as D. J. Mathis earned the win in OU's 7-3 victory over Tech. Norrelle Dickson highlighted the lineup with her 4-for-5 outing including two runs scored as she became the career leader in runs scored during the contest, passing Christy Ring's mark of 206.

OU carried momentum from Lubbock into its game against No. 10 Texas on Saturday. The Sooner offense took off and Lauren Eckermann pitched the eighth shut out of her career as the Sooners downed Texas, 7-0, behind home runs by Traci Dickenson and Susan Ogden.

Despite a 5-for-5 outing by Dickson, the Sooners couldn't pull off the sweep of Texas on Sunday. The Sooners dropped a 5-4 contest to the Horns in a contest that went 10 innings and was won on an error during the international tie breaker. The highlight of the game was Dickson as she became the career hits leader at OU, passing Kristin Vesely's previous mark of 293.

UP NEXT
The Sooners will continue their two-week home stand as they host No. 2 Texas A&M in the weekend series. The top-five showdown between No. 3 OU and No. 2 Texas A&M will open this Saturday at 2 p.m. with the game being televised on ESPN2. The contest will also be a White OUt for all OU fans in attendance. The series will conclude on Sunday at 12 p.m. with no TV.

DICKSON NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior third baseman Norrelle Dickson picked up her first USA Softball National Player of the Week in her career after hitting .750 (12-for-16) this past week against Texas Tech and No. 10 Texas. The two-time All-American went 7-for-7 in the two games against Texas and also became the career hits and runs scored leader at OU. Dickson became the third OU player this season to earn a National Player of the week honor, marking a school record. The senior was also named Big 12 Player of the Week for her efforts last week.

CAREER HITS LEADER
Senior Norrelle Dickson made history against No. 10 Texas as she became the all-time hits leader at the University of Oklahoma. The third baseman did it in strong fashion as she went 5-for-5 against Texas (March 25) to pass Kristin Vesely's (2003-06) previous mark of 293. To the left is a look at the updated career chart.

MAKING HISTORY ... AGAIN
The opening of Big 12 was very historical for Norrelle Dickson. In addition to becoming the all-time hits leader, the senior also took the title of runs scored leader at Oklahoma. Dickson became the all-time leader in runs scored against Texas Tech (March 22) as she passed Christy Ring's (1999-2002) previous mark of 206.

DICKSON BREAKS STOLEN BASE RECORD
Senior Norrelle Dickson stole the 87th base of her career against Ohio State (Feb. 25) in Palm Springs. The theft broke the career stolen base record at OU that was previously held by Christy Ring (1999-2002) with 86. Dickson leads the Sooners with 24-of-28 stolen bases on the season, which ranks third among all Big 12 players.

300/200/100
Now that Dickson has claimed the top career mark in hits, runs and stolen bases, the leadoff hitter is aiming to become the first Sooner to ever record 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases in her career. Dickson will also be the first Big 12 player to accomplish the feat. Currently, Dickson owns 297 hits, 211 runs and 97 stolen bases.

DICKSON ALL OVER THE CHARTS
Two-time All-American and 2007 Player of the Year Watch List candidate Norrelle Dickson has left her mark on the OU program and nowhere is it more noticeable than the career record book at Oklahoma. The senior owns the top career marks in stolen bases, on-base percentage, batting average, hits, and runs. She has also moved to No. 5 in at bats and seventh in total bases.

RICKETTS SHOWING UP ON CAREER CHARTS
Despite only being a sophomore, first baseman Samantha Ricketts is beginning to climb up career charts. Ricketts is 10th on the all-time list with 22 home runs. Her career averages are also on pace to set records as she is second in career batting avg. (.383) and on-base percentage (.480) and leading the pack with a .686 slugging percentage.

NATION'S BEST IN RUNS SCORED
As the pitching continues to improve, so does the offense. The Sooners are an offensive juggernaut averaging 7.82 runs per game. Below is a look at the top five teams in the country in runs scored as of March 25.

Rank/School	Runs Per Game
1.OKLAHOMA	7.82
2.Georgia Tech	7.02
3.Alabama	6.76
4.Oregon	6.68
5.UCLA	6.27

LEADING THE PACK IN OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
A good recipe for a 36-3 record is strong defense and a potent offense. The Sooners are making a strong case as they currently lead all Big 12 teams in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, runs, home runs and RBI while also ranking last in strikeouts in overall games this season.

The pitching staff is also one of the best in the Big 12 with a 1.45 ERA (third in the league). However, the girls in the circle have depended heavily on the Sooner defense as OU is only seventh in the conference in strikeouts. The defense ranks tops in the league with a .974 fielding percentage and a Big 12-low 28 errors, shared by Texas A&M.

NINE-HOLE STRENGTH
Second baseman Traci Dickenson is making a case for the best nine-hole hitter in the country. The sophomore is second on the team with eight home runs and 33 RBI behind clean-up hitter Samantha Ricketts. Dickenson is also recording a .644 slugging percentage this season with a .287 batting average.

OFFENSE TO DEFENSE RATIO
OU has scored 305 runs in 39 games, compared to 60 for its opponents. OU averages 7.82 runs per game while holding opponents to 1.54. Additionally, 15 of OU's 39 games have been shortened to five or six innings by run rule.

BEST START EVER
Oklahoma made history with its 23-0 start to the 2007 season. No other Sooner squad in OU history has recorded a better mark. The previous best was a 12-0 start by both the 2001 and 2002 squads. SOONERS VS. RANKED TEAMS
The Sooners became the last team in the top-25 to end their perfect record against teams in the top-25 as No. 10 Texas beat the Sooners, 5-4, in 10 innings this past Sunday. However, Oklahoma still owns an impressive 7-1 record against top-25 opponents.

RICKETTS NEARING SINGLE SEASON BESTS
Clean-up hitter Samantha Ricketts is off to a record start in 2007 and is on pace to break a few single season records. Below is a look at where Ricketts stands currently and what the OU single season record is:

Samantha Ricketts Current Season Record

Home Runs	13	20
RBI	56	77
Slugging %	.838	.808

SWEET 600 & 800
Gasso won the 600th game of her OU coaching career on Feb. 25, 2007 in a 7-2 win over Ohio State in the Palm Springs Classic this past weekend. The winningest coach in Big 12 history now owns a 615-202-2 (.752) mark at OU since taking over the Sooner program in 1995. She is 18 wins away from her 800th career victory.

HOME RUN CENTRAL
Head coach Patty Gasso added more power to the lineup this season and it has been evident as OU leads the Big 12 with 45 home runs. Samantha Ricketts is leading the way with a league-best 13 home runs. Additionally, OU has also recorded six grand slams this season by Ricketts (three), Susan Ogden, Stacia Aleman and Traci Dickenson.

EXTRA BASES
The Sooners had their streak of 18 straight games with an extra-base hit snapped against North Texas. The Sooners had recorded at least one extra-base hit in all 18 games prior to that. Oklahoma has notched an extra-base hit in 37 of its 39 games and has recorded more than one multiple-base hit on 30 different occasions this season.

PERFECT IN FEBRUARY
Head coach Patty Gasso has recorded her first perfect February. The Sooners went 18-0 in the month of February, marking the first time in OU school history an Oklahoma squad has done that.

RECORD PACE
It's only about the half-way point of the season, but OU's offense is on a record pace. They are averaging 7.82 runs per game, which over an entire season would set the OU school record. The 2000 National Championship squad averaged 6.2 runs per game. The Sooners already have 305 runs in 39 games, while they scored 347 in 62 games in 2006. Below are the averages for the last six seasons:

Year	Runs Per Game
2007	7.82
2006	5.60
2005	5.70
2004	4.47
2003	4.57
2002	5.32

VANDEVER SETTLES IN
Freshman catcher Lindsey Vandever has often drawn comparisons to former All-American OU catcher Heather Scaglione. The rookie has taken over the starting role in the lineup. Vandever has shown her all-around talent since entering the starting lineup as she is hitting at a .333 clip and has thrown out nine base runners in 16 attempts.

OGDEN TAKING OVER DP ROLE
Last year's starting catcher, Susan Ogden, still remains an integral part of the Sooner lineup. The former catcher has taken over the designated player duties in the lineup and has done an impressive job. Ogden is third on the squad and fifth among all Big 12 players with a .420 average that includes 24
RBI and a .515 slugging percentage. Currently hitting in the five spot, Ogden has done her job as she is hitting .429 with runners in scoring position.

BLOSSOMING IN MARCH
D.J. Mathis has come on strong in the month of March and looks like a different pitcher compared to the beginning of the season. Below is a comparison of her pitching stats in March to her stats in February:

D. J. Mathis March February

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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