OU Ready for Home Tournament

OU Residence Inn Invitational
Dates	March 1-2, 2008
Saturday	vs. North Texas (2:30 p.m.) vs. Memphis (4:45 p.m.)
Sunday	vs. Memphis (1:15 p.m.) vs. North Texas (3:30 p.m)
Promotions	Saturday and Sunday
Webcast	Oklahoma All-Access
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com / GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF) \| OU Media Guide

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Enjoying a five-game home stand, the No. 9 Oklahoma softball team will close out the week with the OU Residence Inn Invitational at the OU Softball Complex this Saturday and Sunday. The three-team field will include North Texas and Memphis as the Sooners will play each team twice over the course of the weekend.

The Sooners will open the tournament with North Texas at 2:30 p.m. and conclude the Saturday doubleheader with a 4:45 p.m. contest against Memphis. In Sunday's action, the Sooners will play another doubleheader as they take on Memphis at 1:15 p.m. and play North Texas in the tournament finale at 3:30 p.m.

LIVE STATS AND VIDEO COVERAGE
Fans that can't attend the games can follow the games via live stats. In addition, All-Access will provide video for all four OU games this weekend.
All-Access is a subscription service part of SoonerSports.com that offers inside video coverage exclusive to subscribers.

PROMOTIONS
On Saturday, there will be free posters and schedule magnets for all fans in attendance. In Sunday's action, there will be a free 2008 team photo for the first 250 fans. In addition, the OU softball team will sign autographs following its second game on Sunday.

TOURNAMENT TICKETS
Tickets for this weekend's tournament are single-day tickets and are available for $10 (reserved), $7 (general admission), $5 (youth and senior citizen) at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and at SoonerSports.com. The gates will open an hour before the first games of the day. North Texas and Memphis will open each day with a 12:15 p.m. contest on Saturday and an 11 a.m. meeting on Sunday.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS
The Mean Green and Sooners have become very familiar with each other in the last few years as the two squads have played each other 11 times since 2004 as OU owns a 13-0 lead in the all-time series. North Texas enters the tournament with a 5-9 record. The Mean Green have notched wins over Creighton, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma State and Sam Houston State but have also dropped losses to Tulsa, Texas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston State and Texas A&M. North Texas has a new Oklahoma connection this season as former Sooner and three-time All-Big 12 selection Erin Evans is in her first year as an assistant coach at North Texas.

Offensively, the Mean Green own a .234 batting average and have pounded eight home runs this season with Kristina Fowler leading the way with three home runs while Lauren Bergstrom owns the squad's top average with a .308 clip. Defensively, Fowler is also leading the way in the circle with a 2.41 ERA and a 1-4 record while Jennifer Smith (3.15 ERA, 2-2) has seen the most action in the circle this season as she has thrown 40 complete innings while striking out 33.

SCOUTING MEMPHIS
Memphis and Oklahoma will be meeting for the first time in each program's history. The Tigers own an 8-5 record, with two of their losses coming against current top-five teams Florida and Arizona State. Memphis has won eight of its last 10 games with key wins over Big 12 foes Texas Tech and Nebraska.

The Tigers also bring a lot of slugging power as they have recorded 17 home runs this season and seven doubles. Leading the power is Leila Dolfo, who owns a .317 batting average with a team-leading four home runs and 10 RBI. As a team, Memphis owns a .250 batting average. In the circle, the three-member pitching staff has combined for a 3.08 ERA with freshman pitcher Janelle leading the way with a 1.23 ERA and a 4-1 record in eight appearances. Valle has thrown one shutout and is holding opponents to a .197 batting average.

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners hosted Tulsa in part one of the turnpike series last Wednesday at the OU Softball Complex as Oklahoma came out on top with an 8-0 run rule win in six innings. Despite the eight runs, Oklahoma only produced four hits in the contest with Savannah Long highlighting the night with her three-run homer in the sixth. Tulsa walked six batters in the first inning as OU took the early 3-0 lead. D.J. Mathis recorded her fifth shutout of the season as she only allowed three hits and tied her career-high with nine strikeouts.

UP NEXT
Following the OU Residence Inn Invitational, the Sooners will head to Tulsa next Wednesday (March 5) for the second part of the turnpike series. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m.

Oklahoma will follow that and host its second straight tournament at the OU Softball Complex as the OU Worth Tournament will take place March 8-9 on Marita Hynes Field. The three-team tournament will include OU, McNeese and Drake with each team playing each other twice. The Sooners will host McNeese at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday followed by a 4:45 contest against Drake. In Sunday action, the Sooners will face Drake at 1:15 p.m. and McNeese at 3:30 p.m.

SOONERS STAY IN TOP 10
After notching a 3-2 record at the Palm Springs Classic last weekend, the Oklahoma softball team fell to No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and No. 10 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll. Last week the Sooners were No. 6 in the ESPN.com poll and No. 8 in the USA Today poll.

OU AND ARIZONA ONLY TWO SCHOOLS TO BE RANKED IN NFCA POLL ITS ENTIRE EXISTENCE
The Sooners have been ranked in the top 25 of every NFCA poll since its inception, which spans 174 weeks long. OU and Arizona are the only programs to be ranked in the NFCA Top-25 every week of its existence.

ANOTHER BIG 12 HONOR FOR MATHIS
Junior pitcher D.J. Mathis picked up her second Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honor for her play at the Palm Springs Classic last weekend (Feb. 22-24). Mathis led the ninth-ranked Oklahoma softball team to a 3-2 record over the weekend including two wins over top 25 teams. The lefty posted a 0.65 ERA and a 2-1 record in four appearances. Mathis only allowed two earned runs in 21.2 innings of work while also striking out 20. She walked four batters and held opponents to a .132 batting average. The junior also shut out two nationally ranked foes in wins over No. 25 San Diego State (1-0) and No. 18 Georgia (3-0).

MATHIS LEADING BIG 12
The Sooners have had to put a lot on the shoulders of pitcher D.J. Mathis this season. The lefty has been a workhorse for the Sooners and has pitched more than any other Big 12 pitcher, but still leads the conference in almost every category. Below is a look at where Mathis ranks among Big 12 pitchers.

Stat	Number	Big 12 Ranking
Shutouts	5	First
Innings Pitched	67	First
Appearances	12	First
Wins	9	Tied First
Complete Games	8	Tied First
Starts	9	Tied First
Saves	1	Tied First
Strikeouts	74	Second
Opp. Batting Avg.	.134	Second

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