Tournament Preview: Cathedral City Classic

Feb. 23, 2011

No. 6 Oklahoma (11-1) at Cathedral City Classic
Game Info	Thursday, Feb. 24 vs. #1 Georgia \| 5 p.m. CT Thursday, Feb. 24 vs. #10 Hawaii \| 7:30 p.m. CT Friday, Feb. 25 vs. Long Beach State \| 12:30 p.m. CT Friday, Feb. 25 vs. #2 UCLA \| 8 p.m. CT Saturday, Feb. 26 vs. Cal Poly \| 12 p.m. CT
Location	Field of Dreams \| Cathedral City, Calif.
Online	Live Stats \| Game Notes (PDF) \| Twitter

A LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND'S ACTION
The sixth-ranked University of Oklahoma softball team faces tough competition at the Cathedral City (Calif.) Classic this weekend. OU opens against top-ranked Georgia on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT and follows with No. 10 Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. CT. Friday features games against Long Beach State at 12:30 p.m. CT and defending national champion and No. 2 UCLA at 8 p.m. CT. The Sooners close out the event on Saturday morning with a noon CT contest against Cal Poly.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA AS A TEAM
• Oklahoma went 5-0 last weekend at the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces , N.M.
• The Sooners opened the year with a 5-1 mark at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
• Oklahoma is 166-146 (.532) all-time against ranked opponents. OU is 82-94 (.466) against ranked non-Big 12 teams.
• The Sooners are 1-1 this year with an 11-1 five-inning win over then No. 2- Arizona and a 4-3 loss to then-No. 13 Arizona State.
• OU is 1-0 against a ranked Georgia team. The Sooners have never faced Hawaii while the Rainbow Wahine are ranked.
• Oklahoma is 2-3 against a ranked UCLA team and 5-12 all-time against No. 2. OU is 10-5 all-time against No. 10.
• The Sooners are 3-11 against the nation's top-ranked team. The last time OU defeated No. 1 was at Washington last year (6-1).

Sooner to Watch
	Brittany Williams \| Fr. \| UTL • Leads team with a 1.333 slugging percentage • Has a .467 batting average • Has seven home runs and 19 RBI • Has scored 13 runs

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA INDIVIDUALLY
• A pair of sisters faceoff Thursday when OU faces Hawaii. Keilani Ricketts' older sister, Stephanie, is a pitcher for the Rainbow Wahine.
• It won't be the first time two Ricketts sisters have faced each other. Samantha played against Stephanie in Hawaii in 2009.
• Head Coach Patty Gasso is a 1984 graduate of Long Beach State. She played shortstop for the softball team.
• Sophomore Jessica Shults has hit lights-out to start the year. Shults has nine home runs and 29 runs batted in.
• Her 1.333 slugging percentage is tied for the team lead. Shults needs two RBI to reach half of her total from last year (62).'
• Shults leads the Big 12 with her 29 RBI. The next closest total is 19 (by two players).
• Freshman Brittany Williams is also off to a strong start. The rookie is second on the team in home runs (7) and runs batted in (19).
• Oklahoma has the top three hitters in the Big 12 - Shults (21), Destinee Martinez (20) and Brianna Turang (19).
• Ricketts has a 5-0 record and 1.40 earned run average in seven appearances this year. Her 57 strikeouts are third-best in the Big 12.
• OU's 1-2 hitters, Martinez and Turang, have a combined on-base percentage of .477 and account for 29 of OU's 113 runs scored.
• Likewise, Shults and Williams, OU's 3-4 hitters, account for 48 of the Sooners' 103 RBI and have a combined 16 home runs of OU's 23.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES HISTORY
• Oklahoma and Georgia have only met once previously. The Sooners won 3-0 on Feb. 24, 2008 in the Cathedral City Classic.
• Hawaii and OU have evenly split their series with two wins apiece. The two teams met in Honolulu in 2009 with each winning one game.
• The Sooners are 10-0 all-time against Long Beach State. OU won 10-0 last year at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Henderson, Nev.
• UCLA leads the all-time series with OU 7-2. The Sooners won the last meeting 7-0 on Feb. 10, 2008 in Los Angeles.
• OU had played Cal Poly four times previously, winning all four series meetings. The two teams last met at the 2009 Cathedral City Classic.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Tournament Preview: Cathedral City Classic

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