Softball Closes Out Big 12 in Waco

OU (41-11, 14-2) at Baylor (22-19, 4-11)
Game 1	Wednesday, April 30 - 5 p.m.
Game 2	Wednesday, April 30 - 7 p.m.
Location	Waco, Texas \| Getterman Stadium
Online	Live Audio in All-Access
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com / GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF) \| OU Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 8 Sooners will close out their regular season this Wednesday as they head to Waco for a doubleheader against the Baylor Bears. The first game of the twin bill is set to begin at 5 p.m. while the second game will start at approximately 7 p.m.

The Sooners enter the final Big 12 series of the season with a 41-11 overall record and a 14-2 record in conference action. Oklahoma has already wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Championship, but still has an outside shot of sharing the Big 12 regular season title with Texas A&M. The Sooners must win both games on Wednesday against Baylor while Texas A&M needs to lose to Texas in College Station this Wednesday. The Aggies are 16-1 in conference action and swept the Sooners earlier this season, but a TAMU loss and two OU wins would give both teams an equal 16-2 record as they would share the title. However, Texas A&M has already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Championship after beating the Sooners in the head-to-head matchup.

Baylor, a WCWS participant last season, is looking to get back on track as it enters Wednesday's doubleheader with a 22-19 record and a 4-11 mark in conference play. The Bears have dropped five straight Big 12 losses and are looking to get back in the win column.

RADIO
Both games of the doubleheader will be broadcast live on the internet with Brian Brinkley calling the play-by-play.

LIVE STATS
Live stats are available for all games this season on SoonerSports.com.

SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor is looking to get back on a winning track on Wednesday as it has dropped four straight and five straight Big 12 contests. With an overall mark of 22-19 and 4-11 in the Big 12, the Bears currently sit in seventh in the Big 12 standings.

The Bears opened the season in the top 10 in both preseason polls, but have slipped out of the top 25 since Big 12 play began.

The offense is one of Baylor's best weapons as the Bears lead the league with an overall batting average of .312, but are only hitting .258 in Big 12 action. Center fielder Nicole Wesley has been hitting lights out in Big 12 play as she owns a .441 average in conference action which is second among all league players. Third baseman Brette Reagan has continued her solid play this season as she leads the team with 30 RBI and seven home runs while hitting .333 in conference action.

Baylor's pitching staff has put together a 4.03 ERA in conference action this season. Kristen Shortridge has seen the most action with 10 appearances in Baylor's 15 Big 12 games this season. Shortridge boasts a 3.79 ERA and a 2-5 record in Big 12 play while throwing two shutouts. Freshman Shaina Brock (4.97 ERA, 2-3) is also seeing a lot of time in the circle in Big 12 action as she has made nine appearances in the circle.

SERIES RECORDS
Oklahoma leads the series against the Bears, 33-7, and has won 26 of the last 30 from the Bears. OU swept the Bears last season in Norman, but has not swept the Bears in Waco since 2002.

LAST MEETING
Oklahoma swept Baylor last season, but the Bears still topped the Sooners for the Big 12 regular season title. The two squads played a doubleheader in Norman on April 18 last season as the Sooners came out with the 3-2 victory in extra-innings in the first game. Samantha Ricketts recorded the walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to hand Baylor its first Big 12 loss of the season. Pitcher Lauren Eckermann picked up the win as she only allowed one earned run and struck out eight in the game.

In the second game of the twin bill, both teams brought more offense to the table. Baylor took the early 3-0 lead in the top of the second, but Oklahoma added three runs in the fourth and four in the sixth to eventually win, 7-4. The Sooners hit three home runs in the game while Savannah Long led the team with a home run and two hits. D.J. Mathis earned the win against the Bears after coming in for relief of Eckermann in the final five innings and only surrendering one run on five hits while striking out six.

UP NEXT: FRIDAY NIGHT FAN FEST
Oklahoma closes out the regular season this Wednesday, but still has its Senior Night and Fan Fest this Friday night at the OU Softball Complex for fans to enjoy. The Fan Fest will be a way for Sooner fans to say thank you to seniors Lauren Eckermann, Savannah Long, Susan Ogden and Jadyn Smith. There will be autographed merchandise giveaways, inflatable games, contests between the fans and players, food and drinks and much more. Admission is free and the events will start at 6 p.m.

Oklahoma will open postseason action with the Big 12 Championship (May 9-11) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The Sooners have already locked up the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will open tournament action on Saturday, May 10 at 11 a.m. on the main field of ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The Sooners will play the winner of the No. 10/7 seed game.

BEST BIG 12 RECORDS IN OU HISTORY
Owning a 14-2 Big 12 record with two games remaining, the Sooners are putting together one of their best conference records in school history. Below is a look at the top five Big 12 records in OU history.

Season	Record	Percentage
2000	17-1	.944
2008	14-2	.875
2001	14-2	.875
2002	14-2	.875
1999	11-3	.786

14TH STRAIGHT 40-WIN SEASON FOR GASSO
Head coach Patty Gasso notched her 14th straight 40-win season last weekend with a sweep of Texas. It marks the 15th straight 40-win season for the program and the 18th time in school history. The Sooners have been the only team in Big 12 Conference history to notch 40-win seasons in all 13 years since the league's existence. Below is a look at the number of 40-win seasons by each Big 12 team since the conference began.

Team (40-Win seasons since 1996)
Oklahoma (13)
Nebraska (7)
Texas (6)
Texas A&M (5)
Baylor (4)
Missouri (4)
Oklahoma State (2)
Texas Tech (1)

HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
The Sooners closed out their regular season with a 20-1 home record at the OU Softball Complex with its only blemish of the season in a 3-2 loss against Missouri State.
* OU owns an 10-game win streak at home
* Including the 2007 season, the Sooners own a 47-2 regular season record at home.
* The Sooners have won 16 consecutive home Big 12 contests dating back to last season

LUCKY NUMBER FOUR
Anytime the Sooners have scored four runs this season, Oklahoma has won as OU owns a 30-0 record when scoring four or more runs this season. That is good news for the Sooners who are averaging 5.9 runs per game.

HOME RUN CENTRAL
The Sooners are leading the Big 12 with 68 home runs, which also ranks sixth in the country. Below are a few facts on OU's home runs this season.
* The school record for home runs in a single season is 85 (2000)
* Four different Sooners own double-digit home runs this season
* Nine players have recorded at least one home run this season
* OU also leads the Big 12 with 19 home runs in Big 12 games
* The Sooners notched 72 home runs during the entire 2007 season

VANDEVER BRINGING IN THE RBIs
Sophomore catcher Lindsey Vandever has turned it on in the last part of Big 12 play. The senior has been OU's most clutch hitter in the last eight games of Big 12 play. In the last eight games, Vandever has notched a .381 batting average with 11 RBIs and a .619 slugging percentage.

ECKERMANN STEPS IT UP IN BIG 12 PLAY
Senior pitcher Lauren Eckermann has been a big key to OU's success in Big 12 play this season. Last year's Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year struggled at the beginning of the season, but has come on strong in Big 12 play, allowing the Sooners to have a strong 1, 2 punch with Mathis and Eckermann. Below is a look at Eckermann's Big 12 stats compared to her non-conference stats.

	ERA	Record	App.	Innings	Earned Runs
Conference	0.92	5-1	7	38.0	5
Non-Conference	2.51	8-3	16	61.1	22

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