Softball Set for Busy Four Days

Texas Tech (13-27, 3-4) at OU (33-9, 6-0)
Game 1	Thursday, April 10 - 5 p.m.
Game 2	Thursday, April 10 - 7 p.m.
Location	Norman, Okla. \| OU Softball Complex
Radio	KOKC 1520 AM for Game 2
Webcast	Live Video on All-Access
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com / GameTracker
Promotions	OU Faculty and Staff Day
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF) \| OU Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 7 Sooners have a busy Big 12 schedule ahead this week as Oklahoma will play four key Big 12 conference games. OU (33-9, 6-0 Big 12) will host Texas Tech (13-27, 3-4) in a doubleheader on Thursday night at the OU Softball Complex. The first game of twin bill is set for 5 p.m. with the second contest beginning at approximately 7 p.m.

OU will have a day off before facing No. 5 Texas A&M (36-6, 8-0) in a weekend series in College Station, Texas. Currently, the Sooners and the Aggies are the only Big 12 teams with a perfect conference record as the weekend will be a key series in the Big 12 race. The first game of the series will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. and the series will conclude on Sunday with a 12 p.m. contest.

RADIO COVERAGE
The second game of the Texas Tech doubleheader will be broadcast live on KOKC 1520 AM with Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and former Sooner Norrelle Dickson (color) calling the action. The first game of the twin bill will be available on internet only via Oklahoma All-Access.

Saturday's game against Texas A&M will also be available on internet only via Oklahoma All-Access due to the OU football spring game while Sunday's game can be heard on KOKC 1520 AM.

LIVE STATS & WEBCAST
Live stats are available for all games this season on SoonerSports.com. A live webcast of both Texas Tech games will be available at Oklahoma All-Access.

PROMOTIONS
Thursday night will feature OU Faculty and Staff Day at the OU Softball Complex while the first 500 fans will receive free OU mini helmets.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders have been on a roll lately as they have won four straight games, including a series sweep of Nebraska in Lubbock last weekend. Texas Tech enters Thursday's doubleheader with a 13-27 overall mark and a 3-4 record in the Big 12. In addition to knocking off Nebraska, Tech also topped Texas earlier this year and lost to No. 4 Texas A&M in nine innings.

The Tech pitchers have put together a staff ERA of 3.23 in Big 12 play this season while ace Ashly Jacobs is leading the team with a 3-1 record in Big 12 play and a 1.27 ERA. Jacobs is the current Big 12 Player of the Week after shutting out Nebraska last weekend.

Offensively, the Red Raiders own a team batting average of .209 in conference action. Three-hole hitter Montana Patin has been stellar since Big 12 play started with a .350 average , which includes nine RBI in seven games. Patin is also leading the team through all games this year with 27 RBI and three home runs. Leadoff batter Leah Legler has been solid on the base path this year as she has stolen 11-of-13 bases while the team is 40-of-46 on the year.

TEXAS TECH SERIES RECORDS
The Sooners lead the Red Raiders, 26-4, in the all-time series records and have won 15 of the last 16 from the Red Raiders. Since the inception of the Big 12, OU is 22-4 against Tech. In Texas Tech's last visit to Norman in 2006, the Red Raiders and Sooners split as OU lost 4-2 in the first game and bounced back with a 7-3 victory in the second game.

LAST MEETING
The Red Raiders and Sooners met three times in 2007, including the final match up in the Big 12 Championship title game. The Sooners came out on top in the championship contest in Oklahoma City, 6-3. Lauren Eckermann earned MVP honors in the tournament and picked up the win against the Red Raiders after allowing only one earned run and striking out eight. Traci Dickenson was OU's offensive leader as she went 2-for-2 in the contest with three RBI.

In the 2007 regular season, the Sooners topped the Red Raiders in a doubleheader in Lubbock with scores of 7-0 and 7-3. Eckermann pitched the first game shutout while D.J. Mathis picked up the win in the 7-3 victory. Samantha Ricketts highlighted the offense in both games as she picked up four RBI in the twin bill.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
This weekend's series against Texas A&M could be a big determining factor in the Big 12 race as the Sooners (33-9, 6-0) and Aggies (36-6, 8-0) are the only conference teams with a perfect Big 12 record. Prior to meeting each other, the Sooners will have to face Texas Tech in a doubleheader on Thursday night while the Aggies will play one game against Texas on Wednesday in Austin. The two teams are very similar on paper as Texas A&M leads the conference in batting in Big 12 games while Oklahoma is second. The Sooners lead the conference in pitching and Texas A&M is second.

Saturday and Sunday will feature a battle of the league's top two pitchers as OU's D.J. Mathis (21-4, 0.89 ERA) and TAMU's Megan Gibson (22-0, 0.93 ERA) will go head-to-head. The Sooners will look to blemish Gibson's perfect record. The All-American has had to step up for the Aggies as fellow standout pitcher Amanda Scarborough is out for the year with a foot injury. Gibson has been solid with 10 shutouts this year while holding opponents to a .171 average and averaging over seven strikeouts in each appearance this season.

Offensively, the Aggies are solid as they own a .353 batting average in Big 12 action this season. Natalie Villarreal is leading the power side of the offense with 10 RBI and two home runs in eight Big 12 games this season while Jamie Hinshaw, the current Big 12 Co-Player of the Week, has eight RBI and two home runs. Alex Reynolds is another strong threat with a team-best .550 average in Big 12 action and seven RBI.

SERIES RECORDS
Oklahoma owns the 34-25 lead over Texas A&M in the all-time series, but the series has been very even since 2004. In the last four years, Texas A&M leads 6-5.

LAST MEETING
The two teams have split their last two series in Norman and College Station. Last season in Norman, OU took the first game 4-2, but fell 9-4 in the second game of the series. Lauren Eckermann took the win in the first game, while D.J. Mathis took the loss in the second game.

SOONERS MOVE BACK INTO TOP 10
Following its sweep of Missouri last weekend, the Sooners moved back into the top 10. Oklahoma is No. 7 in the NFCA/USA Today Poll and moved up to No. 9 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 180 weeks long. OU and Arizona are the only programs to be ranked in the NFCA Top-25 every week of its existence.

UP NEXT
Following its trip to Texas A&M, the Sooners will have a light week as their next game will not be until Saturday, April 20 when they take on Iowa State in Ames, Iowa at 2 p.m. The second game of the series will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

FLORES NAMED BIG 12 CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Amber Flores was named the Big 12 Co-Player of the week for games March 31-April 6. It marks the second weekly award this year for Flores, who is sharing the honor with Texas A&M's Jamie Hinshaw. Flores went 5-for-7 (0.714) from the plate last week helping Oklahoma sweep its weekend series with Missouri. The leadoff batter recorded a 0.857 slugging percentage with two RBI and six total bases while also leading the team with a .750 on-base percentage and scoring a team-best three runs. The sophomore also tallied five consecutive hits in her first five at bats.

MATHIS, FLORES CANDIDATES FOR POY
OU junior pitcher D.J. Mathis and sophomore left fielder Amber Flores have been named two of the 25 candidates for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, announced the Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, on April 9.

It marks the sixth straight season that the Sooners have had at least one candidate on the list of 25 and the second consecutive year that OU has had two players on the list. Last season, Samantha Ricketts was one of three finalists for the award. Oklahoma is the only Big 12 team with more than one candidate on the list. Texas A&M's Megan Gibson is the only other Big 12 player on the list. Neither Mathis or Flores were on the Preseason Watch List comprised of 40 players.

On May 7, just days before the start of post-season play, a list of 10 finalists will be named from the players on this list. On May 21, the list will be cut to three and those final three players will travel to Oklahoma City for the announcement of the winner at the 2008 NCAA Women's College World Series Party at the Park on May 27.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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