Softball Heads West for Road Trip

OU at Fresno and Sacramento
Dates	March 13-16
Thursday	at No. 18 Fresno State (7 p.m. CT)
Friday	vs. Cal Poly (12 p.m. CT) vs. Colorado State (5 p.m.)
Saturday	vs. Sacramento State (12 p.m.) vs. California (2:30 p.m.)
Sunday	vs. Princeton (11 a.m.)
Webcast	None
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com / GameTracker
Game Info	Tournament Central / Game Notes

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The No. 8 Oklahoma softball team has been in the state of Oklahoma the last two weeks and will now hit the road for a contest against No. 18 Fresno State on Thursday followed by the Capital Classic in Sacramento (March 14-16). The Sooners will first head to Fresno, Calif., on Thursday to take on No. 18 Fresno State at 7 p.m. (CT).

Following its Fresno State game, the Sooners will jump on the bus and head to Sacramento. The Sooners will open tournament action with a 12 p.m. (CT) contest against Cal Poly on Friday followed by a 5 p.m. meeting against Colorado State. On Saturday, Oklahoma will face Sacramento State (12 p.m.) and California (2:30 p.m.). The Sooners will round out tournament action on Sunday with an 11 a.m. meeting against Princeton.

LIVE STATS
Live stats for all of OU's games will be available at SoonerSports.com.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma will return to the OU Softball Complex as it hosts Missouri State at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19. The Sooners will follow that with its Big 12 opener at the OU Softball Complex. Oklahoma will host the Kansas series March 21-22. The Sooners will play Kansas at 7 p.m. on Friday followed by a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday.

SCOUTING NO. 18 FRESNO STATE
Fresno State will be a tough challenge for the Sooners as the Bulldogs are ranked No. 18 in the country and own a 22-5 overall record. The only losses Fresno State has dropped are to San Diego State, Ohio State and UMass and twice to Houston. In addition, Fresno has notched key wins over Texas, Oregon, DePaul and Houston. The Fresno State offense has been solid this season as it owns a team batting average of .306 and brings speed with 30-of-30 stolen bases this season. The defense has been equally solid for Fresno State as the four-member pitching staff has combined for a 1.24 ERA. Leading the way is freshman lefthander Morgan Melloh who owns a 13-2 record and a 0.80 EAR. Melloh owns 148 strikeouts in 105 innings of work and has recorded eight shutouts this season.

SCOUTING CAL POLY
Cal Poly and Oklahoma are meeting for the second time this season as Oklahoma edged the Mustangs in the earlier meeting, 3-2. Both teams recorded six hits in the earlier meeting while OU pitcher D.J. Mathis earned the win after coming in for relief in the final 6.2 innings and only giving up one hit. The Mustangs will enter the Capital Classic with a record of 9-11. The Cal Poly offense owns a .250 batting average with Melissa Pura leading the way with four home runs and 14 RBI on a .292 batting average. Pura recorded a two-run homer against the Sooners in the earlier meeting this year. Defensively, the pitching staff boasts a 3.36 ERA as opponents are recording a .257 clip against the Mustangs. Freshman lefty Anna Cahn has seen the most action this season with a 205 record in 10 appearances. Cahn took the loss against the Sooners, but only allowed one earned run in the contest.

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
The Rams are off to a strong start this season as they own a 13-3 record with key wins over Nevada, Oregon and New Mexico State. The squad has been solid offensively as it owns a .324 batting average with 20 home runs and 33 doubles this season. Leadoff batter Lauren Cusick is highlighting the lineup with six home runs and 15 RBI this season while Caitlan Stem bats right behind Cusik and owns a .426 clip with two home runs and 13 RBI. Defensively, CSU boasts a team ERA of 2.74 with ace Cayte Billman leading the way with a perfect 7-0 record and a 1.65 ERA. She is also holding opponent batters to a .197 batting average.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
The host school, the Sacramento State Hornets, owns a current 10-9 record and will travel to Cal for a game against the Bears on Tuesday. The Hornets own a three-game losing skid after losing to Fresno State, DePaul and Houston last weekend - all top-25 teams. The Sac State offense has been solid with a .295 batting average and 14 home runs this season. The Hornest are led by catcher Jamie Schloredt who owns a .364 average with four home runs and 15 RBI as well as a .709 slugging percentage. Defensively, Kayla Meeks leads the staff with a 2.61 ERA and 5-4 record. Meeks owns 33 strikeouts in 56.1 innings and is holding opponents to a .279 batting average.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA
The Bears are off to a 19-9 start this season and will face Sacramento State, Princeton, Northern Colorado and Ohio State before meeting up with the Sooners. Cal has been solid on offense and defense this season. The Bears own a .321 batting average this season and have outscored opponents 174-84. In addition, they bring a lot of speed with 33-of-39 stolen bases this season. Leading the way, offensively, is first baseman Sanoe Kekahuna who owns six home runs, 32 RBI and a .415 batting average this season. Defensively, the staff has combined for a 2.22 ERA with ace Marissa Drewrey headlining the group. Drewrey boasts a 1.83 ERA with a 9-4 record and has thrown 112 strikeouts in 91.2 innings of work.

SCOUTING PRINCETON
Princeton hasn't had the luxury of playing as many games this season as the rest of the tournament field. The Tigers are 2-5 so far this season. Princeton's two wins have come against Lafayette and Niagara while it has dropped games to Niagara, Quinnipiac, George Mason, James Madison and South Carolina-Upstate. The team has put together a batting average of .256 with cleanup hitter Kelsey Quist leading the way. Through seven games, Quist owns a .435 clip with two home runs and six RBI. In the circle, the three-member staff has compiled a 4.53 ERA. Kristen Schaus has made six appearances in the circle and owns a 3.62 ERA and 1-4 record in the circle. Schaus has thrown 37.1 innings and has given up 31 hits while striking out 64.

SOONERS MOVE TO NO. 8 IN USA SOFTBALL POLL
The Sooners improved to No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and remained at No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll. Last week the Sooners were No. 9 in the ESPN.com poll and No. 11 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 176 weeks long. OU and Arizona are the only programs to be ranked in the NFCA Top-25 every week of its existence.

RICKETTS MOVES UP TO NO. 5
Junior Samantha Ricketts has caught fire in the last two weeks and has hit five home runs in the last nine games. Prior to that, Ricketts hadn't hit a home run yet this season. The 2007 second team All-American is quickly moving up the OU career list for home runs as she is now No. 5 on the list with 32 home runs.

VANDEVER STEPPING UP
Sophomore catcher Lindsey Vandever has been one OU's best hitters as of late. Vandever has caught fire since the UNLV Desert Classic. Below is a look at Vandever's stats in the first 11 games of the season compared to the last 15 games.

2008 Season	Avg.	HR	Doubles	RBI	Slug %
First 11 Games	.138	0	0	3	.138
Last 15 Games	.415	5	2	16	.829

POWER HITTERS
After hitting 20 home runs in the last two weeks, the Sooners are establishing themselves as one of the power teams of the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma currently leads the league in home runs (37), slugging percentage (.550), on-base percentage (.419) and RBI (149).

2007 vs. 2008
The 2007 Super Regional team was one of the most prolific offenses in school history. However, the 2008 squad is on track to be even better. Below is a look at a comparison of the 2007 and 2008 squads through 26 games.

Year	Home Runs	Doubles
2007	27	37
2008	37	42

SMITH PERFECT IN RELIEF
Senior pitcher Jadyn Smith only owns a 2-1 record but has been solid in relief work for the Sooners this season in seven appearances. Smith posts a team-best 0.31 ERA and is even better in relief situations as she owns a perfect 0.00 ERA when not starting. She has thrown 15 innings of relief and owns 14 strikeouts during that time. She also picked up a win against Pacific in relief effort.

LONG BALL
Senior Savannah Long is off to a hot start for her final season as she owns a team-best .375 batting average through 26 games this season. In addition, the shortstop has been one of the team's top power hitters as she owns a .750 slugging percentage and leads the Big 12 with nine doubles and also owns six home runs.

"LITTLE MANNY"
Head coach Patty Gasso often refers to sophomore left fielder Amber Flores as "little Manny Ramirez." The 5-4 sophomore put up strong numbers as a freshman and is producing Ramirez-esque numbers at the start of the 2008 season. Through 26 games this season, Flores owns a team-best 26 RBI and owns a .368 batting average as well as a .809 slugging percentage (eight homers, four doubles, one triple). Flores' eight home runs this season ranks second among All Big 12 players.

HOT TROTT
Freshman Wendy Trott has drawn comparisons to current OU All-American Samantha Ricketts. The rookie struggled early in the season but has been trying to solidify a spot in the starting lineup as the designated player. Trott made people notice last weekend at the OU Worth Invitational as she hit .600 (3-for-5) with three home runs and a 2.400 slugging percentage.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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