Completed Event: Softball at #12/14 Texas A&M on May 1, 2026 , Loss , 5, to, 8
Final
Softball
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at #12/14 Texas A&M
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Top-Five Showdown Hits Norman
March 30, 2007 | Softball
NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 3 Oklahoma softball team will host one of the biggest softball series in the country this year as a top-five showdown against No. 2 Texas A&M begins Saturday at 2 p.m. at the OU Softball Complex.
The Big 12 matchup will be televised live on ESPN2 on Saturday with the series concluding at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
Both teams are coming off Big 12 losses to No. 10 Texas. The Sooners split with the Longhorns last weekend after losing a 10-inning contest on Sunday while the Aggies dropped Wednesday night's matchup in Austin, 5-0.
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MEDIA COVERAGE
The Sooners will appear on national television for the first time this season as OU and Texas A&M will square off on ESPN2 (Cox 28) Saturday afternoon. Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Jessica Mendoza (color) will be the analysts for both games.
Additionally, the Texas A&M series will be broadcast live with Brian Brinkley providing the play-by-play. The action can be heard live on KOKC (1520 AM) on Sunday and on Yahoo! on Saturday. Live stats of both games will be available on SoonerSports.com.
TICKETS AND PROMOTIONS
Seats to this weekend's games are still available for $10 (reserved), $7 (adult general admission), $5 (youth general admission) and $3 (groups of ten or more must be ordered 24 hours in advance) at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and at SoonerSports.com. The gates will open an hour and a half before game time.
Saturday's game will feature softball's first ever whiteOUt promotion at the OU Softball Complex. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free white OU t-shirt to wear during the game. In Sunday's action, the first 500 fans through the gates will receive a free OU visor.
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. The senior is leading the team with a .509 clip and has recorded 10 hits in her last 10 at bats.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
The Aggies enter the weekend match up as the No. 2 team in the country with a 28-4 overall record and 2-1 mark in Big 12 play after dropping Wednesday night's game to No. 10 Texas, 5-0. The top-five showdown will feature one of the league's top pitching teams, Texas A&M, against the best offensive team in the conference, Oklahoma.
Additionally, Texas A&M's speed (81-of-87 stolen bases) will go up against OU's powerful offense with a Big-12 best 46 home runs. Last season, the two squads split the series in College Station with OU taking game one, 4-0, and A&M closing out the series with a 5-1 victory.
The Aggies have two of the top pitchers in the Big 12 in Amanda Scarborough (1.30 ERA) and Megan Gibson (1.55 ERA). Scarborough is averaging over a strikeout an inning and holding opponents to a .170 clip.
Offensively, Sharonda McDonald, sister of OU's Iver McDonald, is sparking the offense in the leadoff position and using her speed to get around the bases as she is second in the league with 26 of 27 stolen bases on the year. Clean-up hitter Gibson is one of the best hitters in the country as she is hitting .400 in conference play and owns eight home runs on the year while fellow pitcher Scarborough has been hot at the plate since the start of Big 12 play with a .429 clip.
SISTER, SISTER
The McDonald family will be cheering for both teams this weekend as it has family on each team. Senior Sharonda McDonald is the leadoff batter for Texas A&M while little sister Iver McDonald is a freshman at Oklahoma and is used mainly as a pinch runner. Iver chose to go out of state from her hometown of Houston, Texas.
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 (7-0, 7-3) and finished out the weekend with a split of No. 10 Texas (7-0, 4-5 in 10 innings).
OU got back in the win column Wednesday night with a 7-3 victory over Central Arkansas as D.J. Mathis improved to 10-2 on the season and Samantha Ricketts recorded her 14th home run of the season.
Two-time All-American Norrelle Dickson has been the leader of the offense as she has reached base safely in 12 of her last 12 plate appearances and recorded 10 hits in her last 10 at bats. The reigning National Player of the Week became the OU career leader in hits and runs last week and needs one more hit in her next at bat to tie the NCAA record for consecutive hits in a row.
BIG 12 STANDINGS
School
Overall, Big 12
Baylor
32-9, 2-0
Kansas
25-9-1, 2-0
Missouri
25-17, 1-0
OKLAHOMA
37-3, 3-1
Texas A&M
28-4, 2-1
Texas
26-7, 2-1
Nebraska
24-11, 0-2
Oklahoma State
21-19, 0-2
Iowa State
19-24, 0-2
Texas Tech
17-17, 0-3
UP NEXT
The Sooners will continue their two-week home stand as they host part one of the Bedlam Series next Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game between the Sooners and Cowgirls will be shown on the Sooner Sports Network (KAUT-OK 43 in OKC) with Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Kenny Mossman (color) as the analysts. The Sooners will continue Big 12 play with Iowa State on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (11 a.m.) at the OU Softball Complex.
ONE MORE HIT
Norrelle Dickson has hit 10 consecutive times in her last 10 at bats and is one shy of tying the NCAA record. If Dickson records a hit in her next at bat, the senior will tie record holder Lindsey Cameron of Florida with 11 consecutive hits. Cameron set her record March 19-25 in 2005.
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 25-of-29 stolen bases on the season, which ranks third among all Big 12 players.
300/200/100
Now that Dickson has claimed the top OU 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 as well as only the 11th player in softball history to reach the milestone. Below is a look at the players Dickson would join on the list if she records two more steals:
Members of the 3-2-1 Club
(Compiled with help from the 2007 NCAA Softball Records Book)
Nicole Barber, Georgia (2001-04) 379 hits, 266 runs, 257 SB
Natasha Watley, UCLA (2000-03) 395 hits, 252 runs, 158 SB
Kelly Krestchman, Alabama (1998-01) 368 hits, 288 runs, 133 SB
Alison McCutcheon, Arizona (1995-98) 405 hits, 289 runs, 148 SB
Amy Chellevold, Arizona (1992-95) 371 hits, 252 runs, 113 SB
Lauren Bauer, Arizona (1998-01) 349 hits, 238 runs, 133 SB
Shamalene Wilson, Florida St. (1993-96) 310 hits, 223 runs, 161 SB
Tiff Tootle, South Carolina (1990-93) 351 hits, 207 runs, 114 SB
Lindsay Schutzler, Tennessee (2004-Present) 324 hits, 213 runs, 103 SB
Caitlin Lowe, Arizona (2004-Present) 309 hits, 220 runs, 134 SB
Norrelle Dickson, Oklahoma (2004-P) 300 hits, 214 runs, 98 SB
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 sixth 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 tied for seventh on the all-time list with 23 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 (.482) and leading the pack with a .695 slugging percentage.
HOME IS WHERE THE “W” IS
The Sooners will put their 24-game home win streak to the test this weekend at the OU Softball Complex. The streak stretches back to last season when Oklahoma beat Tulsa, 3-0, on April 19 to begin the streak. This season the Sooners have won 19 straight at home, but will be facing their first top-25 opponent of the season at the OU Softball Complex.
SOME OF BIG 12'S BESTS ARE SOONERS
The Big 12 released its conference stats this past Thursday and OU claimed three of the top four hitters in the Big 12 in Norrelle Dickson, Samantha Ricketts and Susan Ogden. Dickson, last year's Big 12 batting leader, is leading the league again with a .509 batting average in all contests while Ricketts currently leads with 59 RBI. Below is a look at all of the categories that the Sooners are leading the Big 12 as of March 29.
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NATION'S BEST IN RUNS SCORED
As the pitching continues to improve, so does the offense. The Sooners are an offensive juggernaut averaging 7.80 runs per game. Below is a look at the top five teams in the country in runs scored as of March 28.
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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 (March 18-25) 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.
OFFENSE TO DEFENSE RATIO
OU has scored 312 runs in 40 games, compared to 63 for its opponents. OU averages 7.80 runs per game while holding opponents to 1.58. Additionally, 15 of OU's 40 games have been shortened to five or six innings by run rule.
LEADING THE PACK IN OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
A good recipe for a 37-3 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 1.49 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.
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 .629 slugging percentage this season with a .281 batting average.
WINNING STREAK ENDS
Oklahoma's 23-game winning streak came to an end against Tulsa on March 7. It tied with the 2001 squad for the second-longest in school history behind the 2005 team that produced a 29-game winning streak. It marked the best start in school history and the 16th winning streak under head coach Patty Gasso of 10 or more games.
WINNING STREAK DETAILS
OU recorded the best start in school history by winning 23 consecutive games from Feb. 9 to March 7. Below are the details:
* It marked the second-longest streak in school history.
* OU's streak began with a 9-5 come-from-behind win over then-No. 16 Louisville on Feb. 9 and ended with a 2-0 loss to Tulsa.
* OU outscored its opponents 203-30 during the stretch
* The offense hit .364 with 26 home runs and 182 RBI.
* Eight regulars hit above .300 with four (Dickson, Mena, Ogden and Flores) of those topping .400.
* OU scored 10 or more runs on 10 different occasions and run-ruled its opponents 11 times.
* The pitching staff had a combined ERA of 1.31 ERA and Mathis and Eckermann combined for three no-hitters in one week.
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.
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 616-202-2 (.752) mark at OU since taking over the Sooner program in 1995. She is 17 wins away from her 800th career victory.
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:
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Sunday, May 24
Saturday, May 23
Saturday, May 23
Friday, May 22
