Softball Heads North to Iowa St.

April 17, 2008

OU (35-11, 8-2) at Iowa State (26-19, 3-6)
Game 1	Saturday, March 19 - 2 p.m.
Game 2	Sunday, March 20 - 11 a.m.
Location	Ames, Iowa \| Southwest Athletics Complex
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF) \| OU Media Guide

PREVIEW
After enjoying almost a week off, the No. 8 Oklahoma softball team (35-11, 8-2 Big 12) will look to get back on a winning track this weekend as it heads to Ames, Iowa, for a two-game series against the Iowa State Cyclones (26-19, 3-6 Big 12). The series will begin on Saturday with a 2 p.m. matchup and conclude on Sunday with an 11 a.m. meeting.

LIVE STATS
Live stats of the Iowa State series will be available at www.cyclones.com.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE
The Cyclones have caught momentum in the last week as they beat Oklahoma State last Sunday in Stillwater and followed that with a 13-4 run rule over Nebraska on Tuesday night in Ames. ISU currently owns a 26-19 and a 3-6 mark in the Big 12. In addition to its wins over Oklahoma State and Nebraska, the Cyclones also defeated then-No. 15 Baylor earlier in the year.

The Cyclones own a team batting average of .241 in Big 12 action with cleanup hitter Ariel Coburn leading the way. The power hitter has only played in four of the team's nine league games, but has made an impact with a .33 average, including two home runs and five RBI in conference action. Coburn also leads the team in overall games with a .389 average and a team-best eight home runs and 25 RBI.

Defensively, the Cyclone staff has put together a 5.38 ERA in conference action. Freshman Rachel Zabriskie has been the top Cyclone performer in Big 12 action with a 4.64 ERA and a 2-2 record. Zabriskie is holding opponent batters to a .260 batting average and struck out 24 batters in 31.2 innings of Big 12 action.

IOWA STATE SERIES RECORDS
The Sooners own a commanding 52-25 lead against the Cyclones in the all-time series records. The Sooners have claimed seven of the last nine from Iowa State, but split with the Cyclones in the last trip out to Ames in 2006. Since the Big 12 started in 1996, OU leads the series 21-4.

LAST MEETING
The two teams met last year in a doubleheader in Norman and played in snowy conditions with the Sooners earning the sweep of the Cyclones. Oklahoma run ruled Iowa State in the first contest, 8-0, and rallied to top Iowa State in the second contest, 3-2, in 10 innings. Traci Dickenson was the offensive star for the Sooners as she recorded four RBI and two home runs in the first game and notched the game-winning sacrifice fly in the second contest. Lauren Eckermann earned both wins as she threw a three-hit shutout in the first game and came in for relief of D.J. Mathis in the second game and only allowed one hit and struck out nine the final 4.2 frames.

UP NEXT: RIVALRY WEEK
Next week, Oklahoma will play four more key games in the Big 12. In addition, all four games are considered rival games by many fans. The Sooners will open the week on Tuesday in Stillwater against OSU in a postponed game from April 2. OU owns the 2-0 lead as the game will resume in the bottom of the second inning. OU will follow that with a rematch with Oklahoma State on Wednesday in Norman with the contest set to begin at 7 p.m. Oklahoma will end the week with a two-game series against Texas at the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners and Longhorns will open the series on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by a 12 p.m. contest on Sunday.

SOONERS FALL TO NO. 8 AND NO. 11 IN POLLS
Despite being swept by No. 5 Texas A&M last weekend, the Sooners still remain in the top 10 as they are No. 8 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll and No. 11 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball 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 181 weeks long. OU and Arizona are the only programs to be ranked in the NFCA Top-25 every week of its existence.

UPDATING THE SOONERS
The Sooners are looking to bounce back after being swept by No. 4 Texas A&M last weekend in College Station. Last weekend's series was a match up of the top two teams in the conference. The Sooners entered the series with a perfect 8-0 record in Big 12 play before falling to second in the conference standings after being swept by the Aggies.

Texas A&M took the first game of the series with a score of 4-2 after scoring all four of its runs in the first inning. The Sooners rallied back and scored two runs in the sixth, but it wasn't enough as the Aggies held on for the victory.

Sunday featured a pitcher's dual between TAMU's Megan Gibson and OU's Lauren Eckermann. The game was held scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when the Aggies' Jami Lobpries recorded an RBI double to score the game-winning run. Gibson pushed her perfect record in the circle to 25-0 after holding the Oklahoma offense to only two hits.

Player to Watch

Lindsey Vandever | Soph. | C Sophomore catcher Lindsey Vandever has been OU's top performer at the plate in the last week as she owns a .455 (5-for-11) average in the last four games. Vandever was the lone Sooner to record an RBI last weekend against No. 5 Texas A&M. The sophomore kept the Sooners in the game with her two-RBI single in OU's 4-2 loss to the Aggies. Vandever has been solid in Big 12 play this season with a .360 batting average against other conference teams.

LUCKY NUMBER FOUR
Anytime the Sooners have scored four runs this season, Oklahoma has won as OU owns a 25-0 record when scoring four or more runs this season. That is good news for the Sooners who are averaging 5.9 runs per game.

SHORTSTOP LONG AMONG THE BEST
Senior shortstop Savannah Long is one of the smoothest fielding infielders around the Big 12 and has played a key role in OU' s defensive success this season. Long is proving she's one of the best at the toughest positions on the field by her stats. The senior captain leads all Big 12 shortstops in fielding percentage and least amount of errors. Below is a look at Long's stats compared to the rest of the shortstops in the Big 12.

Player, School	Errors	Fielding %
Savannah Long, OU	3	.980
K.J. Freeland, BU	6	.947
Macie Morrow, TAMU	9	.939
Leah Legler, TTU	12	.938
Carrie Monroe, ISU	8	.932
Mariah Gearhart, OSU	13	.920
Loryn Johnson, UT	11	.914
Whitney Barrett, NU	---	.913
Stevie Crisosto, KU	9	.908
Abby Vock, MU	13	.904

FEARED HITTERS
The Sooners own three of the five most feared hitters in the Big 12 according to the statistics. Samantha Ricketts, Traci Dickenson and Amber Flores rank No. 3, 4 and 5, respectively, in walks drawn among Big 12 players. Ironically, the hitters aren't getting many good pitches to swing at but are also three of the squad's top home run hitters.

VANDEVER CLUTCH AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Sophomore catcher Lindsey Vandever has been clutch against ranked teams this season. Last weekend, Vandever recorded OU's only two RBI of the weekend against No. 5 Texas A&M. The sophomore has one home run and owns a .318 batting average against ranked teams, which is nine games of the 44 Vandever has played this season. Against non-ranked teams, Vandever boasts just a .280 average with two home runs. Vandever is leading the team in batting average against ranked teams this season and also leads the team with six RBI against top-25 foes this year.

LEGENDRE "HOT" IN THE HOT CORNER
OU third baseman Jessica Legendre has been stellar at the hot corner this season, but has been perfect in Big 12 play. Legendre is the lone infielder, aside from first baseman Sam Ricketts, to own a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage at third base in Big 12 play. The junior has recorded 13 put outs and 33 assists in Big 12 play while turning one double play in conference action.

Last weekend, Legendre was stellar in OU's two losses to No. 5 Texas A&M. She recorded four putouts, while assisting on seven. Texas A&M head coach Jo Evans praised Legendre following the series saying," Legendre really sparked OU and kept Oklahoma in the game with her tough defensive plays."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors