Softball Hosts A&M in Home Finale

April 17, 2009

Texas A&M (27-15, 5-5 Big 12) at #15 Oklahoma (32-13, 9-4 Big 12)
Dates	Saturday, April 18, 2009 \| 2 p.m. CT Sunday, April 19, 2009 \| Noon CT
Location	Norman, Okla. \| OU Softball Complex (1,000)
Tickets	Available for as low as $7
Television	Saturday: SSP (Brian Brinkley, Kenny Mossman) Sunday: ESPN (Beth Mowins, Michele Smith)
Audio	Internet only at www.SoonerSports.com
Promotions	Saturday: 1,000 free pink t-shirts \| Baserunning/ for kids postgame and postgame autographs \| Inflatable games Sunday: 250 pairs of OU Crocs \| Inflatable games
Game Info	Live Stats \| Oklahoma Game Notes

SATURDAY'S GAME TO AIR STATEWIDE
Saturday's game will be broadcast across the state of Oklahoma and parts of Texas and the Kansas City area. Brian Brinkley and Kenny Mossman will call the action. Fans in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City area can watch on Cox Channels 7 and 3. Other broadcasting stations are KOMI (Woodward, Okla.), KTEW (Ponca City), PTSI (Guymon, Okla.), KSWO (Lawton, Okla.), KSOK (Enid, Okla.), KYTX (Tyler, Longview, Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas) and Metro Sports (Kansas City).

WORLD WIDE LEADER TO BROADCAST SUNDAY GAME
Sunday's game will air nationally on ESPN with Beth Mowins and two-time Olympic gold medalist Michele Smith calling the action. Fans are asked to contact their local cable or satellite provider for channel and coverage information.

AUDIO AVAILABLE FOR BOTH GAMES
Both games are an Internet only broadcast at www.SoonerSports.com. Tony Sellars will call the action on Saturday with Brian Brinkley calling Sunday's game.

SOONERS/AGGIES SERIES HISTORY
Overall Record: Oklahoma leads 35-28
In Norman: Oklahoma leads 14-7
In College Station: Texas A&M leads 11-9
At Neutral Sites: Oklahoma leads 12-10
Oklahoma's Series Streak: Lost 3
Oklahoma's Series Streak in Norman: Lost 1
Last Loss in Norman: April 1, 2007 (4-9)
2008 Meetings: 4/12 (L 2-4) and 4/13 (L-0-1) in College Station

SOONER REWIND: JUNIORS LEAD OU TO BEDLAM WIN
Oklahoma won the first softball game of the 2009 Bedlam Series, presented by The Oklahoman and Oklahoma Farm Bureau, 8-1. The Sooners got four runs in the third and fourth innings to defeat the Cowgirls in front of a crowd of 1,317 on Wednesday evening. After two scoreless innings, the Sooners broke the drought in the third. Sophomore Dani Dobbs singled to center field and moved to second on an error before senior Samantha Ricketts was intentionally walked with two outs. Freshman and Stillwater native Katie Norris came through for Oklahoma with a single through the left side to score Dobbs, who was called safe at home after a fantastic slide around OSU catcher Ashley Boyd. With two runners aboard, junior Lindsey Vandever belted her season-high seventh home run of the season over the center field wall to put OU up 4-0. In the bottom half of the fourth inning, sophomores Krystle Huey and Haley Anderson each reached on singles, and freshman Evan Sallis singled through the left side to load the bases. Junior Amber Flores then turned on an 0-1 count to deliver the second grand slam of her career and 13th home run of the season over the left center field fence. Flores went 2-for-4, scoring a run and driving in four on the grand slam. Vandever was 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and one scored. OU starter D.J. Mathis went 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and the one earned run. She fanned seven and walked two to move to 11-4 on the year. Freshman Allee Allen pitched the remaining 1.2 innings, striking out two in the brief appearance.

FLORES TOP 25 FINALIST FOR NATIONAL POY
University of Oklahoma junior Amber Flores has been named a top 25 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. Flores joins the nation's best players on the list to determine college softball's top player. Flores currently leads Oklahoma and the Big 12 in a majority of statistical categories. Hailing from Calexico, Calif., Flores leads Oklahoma in batting average, hitting .407 on the year. She is 48-118 with 49 runs driven in and 47 scored on the year. While having 118 official at-bats, Flores has registered two sacrifice flies, been hit by a pitch 15 times and leads the team with 37 walks drawn. Her slugging percentage stands at an astounding .839. She reaches base 58.1 percent of the time. She has 12 doubles and 13 home runs, just two shy of her season high set in 2008. Flores is 8-for-9 in the stolen base department.

RICKETTS A LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS TOP 10 FINALIST
University of Oklahoma senior Samantha Ricketts of San Jose, Calif., has been named a top 10 finalist for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for softball. Fan balloting is open through May 7 and will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award. Winners will be announced during the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, scheduled for May 28-June 3. Fans can vote for Ricketts by visiting http://www.seniorclassaward/com/vote or text SB8 to 839863.

A LOOK INTO THE TEXAS A&M-OKLAHOMA SERIES
Although Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Texas A&M, the series has evened out through the last several seasons. Considered by many to be the two best Big 12 squads in the post-Osterman era, the Aggies are coming off a season where they were national runner-up at the Women's College World Series. The two teams have met seven times in the last four seasons and have split the series in Norman the last two. It's the first time in those seven meetings that neither team is ranked in the top 10. In the last 10 games, Texas A&M holds a 6-4 advantage and in the last 10 games in Norman, Oklahoma leads 8-2. The Aggies swept the series a season ago, the first for either team since 2004. The last time Oklahoma won the season series was 2003.

NCAA RATINGS PERCENTAGE INDEX
The NCAA released its first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on March 31. The Sooners are 11th in the latest report, calculated for games played through April 12.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE ONE OF NATION'S TOUGHEST
A tough schedule is nothing new for Oklahoma and this season is no different. Of the squads on the Sooners' slate, 24 have been ranked or receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll at some point this year.

GASSO MOVING TOWARD 900 CAREER WINS
Already Oklahoma's all-time winningest softball coach, Patty Gasso won her 700th game as the Sooners' head coach against Northwestern (3/7). Gasso's mark at the school is 718-237-2; while her career record stands at 880-296 -2.

FLORES ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST HITTERS
There's no question that junior Amber Flores is one of the nation's best hitters. Flores is getting on base, coming around to score and driving in runs. She hit her second career grand slam Wednesday evening. Her 13 home runs on the year trail only her sophomore total of 15. Flores leads the Big 12 in the majority of statistical categories.

VANDEVER BACK IN THE GROOVE
With her three-run shot against Oklahoma State, junior Lindsey Vandever recorded her first home run since March 25. Vandever has surpassed her previous season high of six home runs with her seven this year.

ANDERSON HAVING A BREAKOUT SEASON
Sophomore Haley Anderson is having a breakout season in 2009. After seeing time in a limited role as a freshman, Anderson has earned a spot in the starting lineup and is proving her worth. Over the last five games, Anderson is hitting .571, tied for the team lead. She is 8-for-14 with three runs scored and five driven in. Anderson leads the Sooners in all Big 12 games with a .419 average (13-for-31). She has scored seven runs and a slugging percentage of .613 in those games.

BOTTOM HALF OF THE ORDER COMING THROUGH
With names like Flores, Ricketts and Vandever in the upper half of the lineup, what's making Oklahoma a complete offensive threat is the production from the bottom half of the order. Sophomore Haley Anderson is 7-for-12 in the last four games. In the last five, Anderson and fellow sophomore Krystle Huey have a .571 average.

TWO DOWN, WE'LL COME AROUND
All eight of Oklahoma's runs against Oklahoma State were scored with two outs. It's nothing new for the Sooners, who as a team hit .303 with two outs. OU is hitting .300 with runners in scoring position. Junior Amber Flores leads the way for the Sooners, hitting .417 with two outs. She and freshman Katie Norris each have 16 RBI with two outs. Flores is also .500 at the plate with the bases loaded. One of her two hits was her grand slam against Oklahoma State.

OU Fast Fact

Sophomore Haley Anderson has a .571 batting average in the last five games.

RICKETTS TIES CAREER HOME RUN MARK
With her solo shot in the fourth inning at Kansas, senior Samantha Ricketts tied the OU career record for home runs (46, Ashli Barrett, 1998-2001).

SOONERS GETTING RUN PRODUCTION
The Sooners average just over six runs per game and have posted double digit run totals in seven games this season. In fact, the Sooners have scored six, seven and nine runs, respectively - in three different losses. The Sooners started the year on an obliterating pace, outscoring opponents 58-9 at the Hawai'i Paradise Classic.

SCORING FIRST EQUALS POSITIVE RESULTS
Oklahoma is 24-5 when scoring first this season. In fact, the Sooners have scored 64 runs in the first inning this year - that's 23.5 percent of OU's output and the most in any inning this season.

MATHIS ON THE COMEBACK AFTER INJURY
Senior pitcher D.J. Mathis is on the comeback after sitting out several weeks due to shoulder soreness. Mathis went an entire month between starts (Feb. 22 vs. Massachusetts - March 21 vs. Iowa State). During the lull, Mathis worked 5.1 innings across two games. Since March 21, Mathis is 5-2 with a 3.70 earned run average. She has 48 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched.

A DAZZLING YEAR FOR A ROOKIE
Freshman pitcher Allee Allen has been wowing audiences, dazzling opponents and uplifting her teammates with her outings this season. The rookie is 14-3 on the year; only one other Oklahoma pitcher had that great of a first year campaign (Jennifer Stewart in 1999, one year before she led OU to the National Championship and Most Outstanding Player honors). While Allen's numbers are not quite as a comparable to Stewart's, she is getting the job done on the mound. In 27 appearances, Allen leads the pitching staff with 107.1 innings thrown and a 2.67 earned run average.

FLORES MAKING THE MOST OF PLATE APPEARANCES
Junior Amber Flores leads Oklahoma with a .407 batting average (48-of-118). Flores has had 172 total plate appearances - meaning she has drawn 37 walks and been hit by a pitch 15 times. She's only registered 12 strikeouts on the year. Needless to say, Flores makes it a priority to get on base, and she does so 58.1 percent of the time. Her slugging percentage is a ridiculous .839. She is two home runs shy of tying her single season record of 15 set in 2008 and on pace to break her single season walks drawn record of 45 set in 2008.

RICKETTS: 181 STRAIGHT AND COUNTING
Senior Samantha Ricketts currently holds the longest active starting streak by an Oklahoma player. Ricketts has started 181 straight games, dating back to April 26, 2006 (vs. Oklahoma State). She has started all but 14 of those games at first base. Ricketts started the final 14 games of the 2006 season as the designated player.

LONG EARNING SPOT IN LINEUP
Freshman Karolyne Long has earned her way into the Oklahoma starting lineup. The younger sister of former OU All-American Savannah Long, Karolyne has reached base safely in eight out of the last 10 games and has been making the plays at shortstop for the Sooners.

AND THAT'S THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES
Of Oklahoma's 13 losses, six are by one run. In those one-run losses, the Sooners hit just. 209 (45-of-215) and only one player hit above .350. In contrast, in the 27 wins, Oklahoma hit .337 (14-of-59) and four players above the .350 mark.

GO SPEED RACER
Freshman Evan Sallis leads the Sooners with 14 stolen bases on the year. Sallis is 14-for-16, while junior Amber Flores is 8-of-9. Sophomore Krystle Huey is 7-of-9 on the year.

FLORES EARNS SECOND BIG 12 POW AWARD
For a second time this season, Oklahoma junior shortstop Amber Flores was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on March 23. The Calexico, Calif.-native previously earned the honor during the first week of the 2009 campaign. On Saturday against Iowa State, Flores went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate, drove in five runs and scored two as the Sooners defeated Iowa State, 10-7, on Flores' walk-off home run in the seventh inning. In the second game, Flores went 1-for-2 with a run scored and drew a walk. She hit .857 on the weekend, going 6-for-7 with a slugging percentage of 1.857. Flores also scored three runs total on the weekend. Overall on the week, Flores hit. 600 as Oklahoma went 3-0 with a pair of wins over ISU and a five-inning 8-0 blanking of Northern Iowa. In those three games, Flores produced a slugging percentage of 1.300 and an on-base percentage of .889.

OU, ARIZONA RANKED IN EVERY NFCA POLL
The Sooners have been ranked in the NFCA poll since its inception, which spans 205 weeks. Oklahoma and Arizona are the only programs who have been ranked every week the poll has been released.

FLORES EARNS BIG 12, NATIONAL AWARDS
For her MVP performance at the Hawai'i Paradise Classic, junior shortstop Amber Flores was named Big 12 Player of the Week, Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week and Co-Player of the Week by USA Softball on Feb. 10. It is the first time an OU softball athlete has earned both national honors in the same week. Flores hit .643 over a five-game span. Flores was 9-for-14 with nine runs scored and drove in 15 runs. Of her nine hits, two were doubles and three were home runs. Flores posted a slugging percentage of 1.429 and an on-base percentage of .737. She totaled 20 bases on the weekend, along with three walks and two hit-by-pitches. In OU's 18-0 win over UAB, Flores tied the OU school record with eight RBI in a single game. In the first inning, she drove in two runs on a double and later in the inning, cleared the bases with her three-run shot. She added a second three-run home run later in the contest.

MATHIS, RICKETTS TAKEN IN NPF DRAFT
Pitcher D.J. Mathis and infielder Samantha Ricketts were selected by the Akron Racers in the 2009 National Pro Fastpitch Senior Draft. Mathis went second overall, while Ricketts was the second pick in the third round, going 12th overall. Oklahoma was one of four schools with two players taken. Oklahoma has now had 13 players drafted to the NPF league since its inaugural draft prior to the 2004 season.

DUO PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
A pair of University of Oklahoma softball athletes were named Preseason All-Americans by ESPN. Junior Amber Flores earned first team honors, while senior Samantha Ricketts was named to the second team.

MATHIS, RICKETTS NAMED TO WATCH LIST
Oklahoma seniors D.J. Mathis and Samantha Ricketts were named to the 2009 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List. Both are All-Americans and Ricketts was a top three finalist in 2007.

OU UNANIMOUS SELECTION TO WIN BIG 12
The Sooners received nine of 10 first-place votes and tallied 81 points to receive top billing in the 2009 Big 12 coaches' preseason poll. The selection the first time the Sooners were chosen a unanimous selection to win the league title since 2000, when OU won its first National Championship.

SIGNING CLASS RATED NATION'S BEST
The 2010 University of Oklahoma softball singing class has been rated the nation's best by ESPN.com's Garland Cooper. Cooper rated the Sooner's class based on its depth in signing left-handed pitchers Keilani Ricketts and Michelle Gascoigne. The class also includes catcher Jessica Shults.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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