Sooners Face Tough Road Test at Missouri

April 15, 2011

No. 19 Oklahoma State (32-9) at No. 15 Oklahoma (32-11)
Game Info	Saturday, April 16, 2011 \| 3:30 p.m. CT Sunday, April 17, 2011 \| 3 p.m. CT
Location	University Field \| Columbia, Mo.
Saturday TV	Fox Sports Network (Brenda VanLangen and Tracy Warren)
Sunday TV	ESPN/ESPN3 (Cara Capuano and Michelle Smith)
Online	Live Stats \| Webcast \| Game Notes \| Twitter

A LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND
The 15th-ranked University of Oklahoma softball travels to Columbia, Mo. for a top 25 showdown with 14th-ranked Missouri. The series opens Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT and the finale is Sunday at 3 p.m. CT. Saturday's game airs regionally on the Fox Sports Network with Brenda VanLangen and Tracy Warren on the call. Sunday's game is an ESPN national broadcast with Cara Capuano and Michelle Smith. Live stats for both games are available at SoonerSports.com.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA AS A TEAM
•  Oklahoma is 9-7 against ranked opponents this season and 174-152 all-time against ranked teams. OU is 10-4 against a ranked Missouri team.
•  OU is 205-67 all-time in Big 12 games. OU split with Texas Tech, Nebraska and Baylor. The Sooners swept Kansas and defeated Oklahoma State Wednesday.
•  Oklahoma has hit 59 home runs this year; seven of those are grand slams.
•  OU has played one of the nation's toughest schedules to date. After this weekend, OU will have played 18 games against ranked opponents.
•  This weekend marks the fifth straight game against a ranked opponent for OU. They last did that when they played six straight against ranked teams in 2006.
•  Including the postseason, OU played 20 ranked opponents in 2010. OU's current schedule would have the Sooners playing potentially 23 ranked teams.
•  OU hasn't faced that many ranked opponents since facing 25 in the 2003 season (16-9).
•  The Sooners are 16-9 against the April 11 RPI top 50, 8-7 against the top 25 and 4-3 against the top 10.

Sooner to Watch
	Javen Henson \| Fr. \| INF • Has played shortstop this year • Started last five games at the position • Has been utilized as the flex player most of the year • From Red Oak, Okla.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA INDIVIDUALLY
• Senior Dani Dobbs set a new single game best in the second game against Kansas on April 6. Dobbs went 5-for-5 at the plate.
• She's the first Sooners to have five or more hits in a game since Amber Flores had five against Iowa State in 2009. It's also an OU single game record.
• Freshman Destinee Martinez leads OU and the Big 12 with 58 hits. She leads OU with a .363 batting average.
• After playing outfield all of last season and the majority of this year, Brianna Turang made the move to second base this year.
• Senior Chana'e Jones continues to have a breakthrough season. Jones has set single season highs in the majority of offensive categories.
• She's also playing a new defensive position - first base. Jones is errorless in conference games and been responsible for several highlight-reel plays.
• Keilani Ricketts' 636 strikeouts are third on the career list and 97 from tying for second-place. Ricketts averages 11.56 K's per game.
• In her 25 starts in the circle, she has registered double-digit strikeouts 17 times.
• Ricketts leads the Big 12 in strikeouts (290), innings pitched (175.2), appearances (33), games started (25) and complete games (22).
• Ricketts has 21 career shutouts, eighth on the career all-time list. She struck out a career-high 17 batters against DePaul on March 17.
• Jessica Shults, Brittany Williams and Haley Nix have provided the OU offense power this year.
• Shults leads OU with 19 home runs, 56 runs batted in and a .837 slugging percentage. She leads the nation in home runs.
• Shults' 19 home runs are a new single season best for her. The OU single season record is 20 (Lisa Carey, 2000 and Lynette Velazquez, 1999).
• Shults has two grand slams this year. Nix has the other two. Ricketts, Williams and Dobbs have the others.
• Williams leads the Sooners and Big 12 with 42 walks drawn this season. She also leads the team with a .550 on-base percentage.
• Nix is second on the team with a .333 batting average in conference games (10-for-30).
• Head coach Patty Gasso won her 800th Division I game on March 19 against No. 4 Washington. Gasso is 807-261-2 (.754) in 17 years at OU.
• Gasso is the 20th active coach to reach the mark and 30th all-time at the NCAA Division I level.
• Gasso is 969-320-2 (.751) in 21 seasons as a head coach. She needs 31 wins for career win No. 1,000.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES HISTORY
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Missouri, 49-37, and holds a 20-8 advantage in games played in Columbia.
• Gasso is 30-10 against Missouri. The two teams split the series last season in Norman.
• Oklahoma is 8-2 in the last 10 series meetings and 9-1 in the last 10 meetings in Columbia.
• Missouri's only home win against OU in the last 10 meetings was a 5-1 victory on April 15, 2007.
• Complete series history information begins on page 139 of the 2011 Oklahoma softball virtual guide.

A LOOK AT WHAT'S NEXT
• The Sooners return home to host Texas A&M on Friday, April 22 at 7 p.m. CT and Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m. CT.
• Both games air statewide on the Sooner Sports Network - Cox Channel 3 (HD 703) in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Face Tough Road Test at Missouri

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