OU Plays Host to Missouri in Top 10 Match Up

April 19, 2012

Oklahoma (36-6, 11-3) vs. Missouri (33-8, 10-5)
Game 1	Friday, April 20- 7 p.m.
Game 2	Saturday, April 21 - 2 p.m.
Game 3	Sunday, April 22 - 2:30 p.m.
Location	Norman, Okla. \| Marita Hynes Field
Tickets	OU Athletics Ticket Office
TV - Friday & Saturday	Cox Channel 3/703 HD
TV - Sunday	ESPN
Radio	N/A
Online	Live Webcast on Oklahoma All-Access \| Live Stats
Game Info	Game Notes \| OU Twitter

NORMAN, Okla. --The race for the 2012 Big 12 Softball Championship heats up this weekend in Norman as No. 5/6 Oklahoma (36-6, 11-3 in the Big 12) hosts No. 10 Missouri (33-8, 10-5) in a three-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. Action between OU and MU, currently first and third in the Big 12 standings, continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

The first two games of the series will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network on Oklahoma's Cox Channel 3 and 703 with Chad McKee on the call. ESPN will air Sunday's game with Beth Mowins in the booth alongside analysts Michelle Smith and Jessica Mendoza.

The Sooners enter the weekend with the nation's top pitching staff, sporting an ERA of 0.97, and the Big 12's second best hitting team with a cumulative batting average of .328. The series will be a showdown of the Big 12's top two pitching staffs as Missouri enters No. 2 in the Big 12 with an ERA of 1.27. The Tigers are fifth in the Big 12 in hitting with an average of .283.

Both teams have played five Big 12 series with OU holding a 5-0 series record while Missouri has 3-2 series record. OU has won eight of its last 10 while MU has won seven of its last 10. The two teams met three times in 2011 with Missouri claiming all three including the elimination of OU at the Women's College World Series.

OU leads the Big 12 with 66 home runs and has six players with at least five home runs led by Big 12 leader Lauren Chamberlain with 19 home runs, just one shy of the OU single season record in the category. The freshman also leads the Big 12 in runs batted in (54), total bases (112) and slugging percentage (.889). Jessica Shults leads the Sooners and is second in the Big 12 with a .400 batting average.

In the circle, the Sooners are led by the one-two punch of Keilani Ricketts (21-5) and Michelle Gascoigne (14-1). The two rank second (0.98) and third (1.03), respectively, among Big 12 pitchers for ERA in all games while ranking second (1.17) and first (0.89), respectively, in conference only games. Ricketts ranks third nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (3.74), strikeouts (259) and third in ERA while ranking fourth in shutouts (10).

The Tigers are led by pitchers Chelsea Thomas (17-5) and Bailey Erwin (5-0), who currently rank first and fourth among all Big 12 pitchers with ERAs of 0.97 and 1.09, respectively. At the plate, Ashley Fleming (.385) is one of five Tigers batting at least .300 and leads Missouri with nine home runs among the 36 team total.

THE SERIES
• Oklahoma leads the overall series over Missouri, 49-40.
• Missouri won all three meetings between the two teams in 2011, including a 4-1 win at the Women's College World Series.
• The Tigers own a 19-13 series lead when the two teams meet in Norman.

GET OUTTA OF HERE
The Big 12 leader in home runs with 66, the Sooners have hit multiple home runs on 18 occasions this season and at least three in nine different games.

Oklahoma is undefeated in its 18 games with multiple home runs and have hit 24 in its 14 Big 12 games. Six players have hit at least five home runs with freshman Lauren Chamberlain leading the way with a Big 12 leading 19.

The Oklahoma team single season record for home runs in a season is 85 set by the 2000 team while Lynette Velasquez (1999) and Lisa Carey are tied for the individual single season record with 20 home runs each.

BATTLE OF TEAM USA PITCHERS
In Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts and Missouri's Chelsea Thomas, fans will get to see two of the top pitchers for the U.S. National Team. This past summer the two, along with OU catcher Jessica Shults, captured gold at the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City with Ricketts earning the save in the title game against Japan.

Ricketts and Thomas traveled to Mexico in October where the U.S. again claimed gold at the Pan American Games with Ricketts earning the win in the American's 11-1 win over Canada in the Championship.

At the World Cup of Softball, Ricketts finished with an ERA of 1.17 leading to a 2-0 record with one save. Thomas earned two saves at the event while taking the Americans lone loss in the event and an ERA of 2.62.

At the Pan Ams, Ricketts led all U.S. pitchers with an ERA of 0.43 and a record of 4-0. Ricketts gave up just one earned run in 16.1 innings of action while striking out 22. Thomas finished the event with a 2-0 record and an ERA of 0.64, striking out 17 in 11 innings of action.

CHAMBERLAIN CHASING
The Big 12 leader in home runs with 19, Lauren Chamberlain continues her chase for the OU single-season record of 20. The freshman has not connected on a home run in the last five games, her second longest streak of games without a home run this season.

Chamberlain's last game with a home run was on April 7 vs. Texas Tech when she knocked two out of the OU Softball Complex for her fifth game of the year with multiple home runs.

One home run would tie the OU record while the first-year Sooner is just five away from the Big 12 single season record of 24 as well.

BIG 12 SERIES
Entering the weekend, Oklahoma is 5-0 in Big 12 series while Missouri is 3-2 in its five Big 12 series. The two teams have series with four common opponents while OU has taken down OSU in two games and Missouri defeated Texas in two of three games.

vs. Oklahoma	Common Series Opponent	vs. Missouri
W, 2-1	Baylor	W, 3-0
W, 3-0	Kansas	W, 3-0
W, 2-1	Texas Tech	L, 2-1
W, 2-1	Texas A&M	L, 2-1

HITS PARADE
Oklahoma has registered at least seven hits in every game but seven this season and have hit double digits in the category on 10 different occasions including twice at the Judi Garman Classic with a season-high 19 hits against DePaul before collecting 18 against Virginia.

OU is 33-2 in the games it records at least seven hits with the only losses coming to Georgia when the Sooners out hit the Bulldogs, 7-4, but fell 3-2, and on April 6 when OU fell to Texas Tech, 5-4, despite collecting seven hits. Oklahoma is 3-4 in the seven games below seven hits.

Oklahoma has six starters hitting at least .323 and eight players with at least 27 hits.

RICKETTS VS. THOMAS
While there are plenty of other factors in this weekend's series, much of the focus is on the pitching duel between Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts and MIssouri's Chelsea Thomas. Below is a breakdown of the Big 12's top two pitchers.

	Keilani Ricketts (Big 12 rank)	Chelsea Thomas (Big 12 rank)
ERA	0.98 (2)	0.97 (1)
Strike Outs	259 (1)	183 (3)
Opp. Batting Avg.	.151 (1)	.156 (2)
Innings Pitched	164.2 (3)	130.0 (6)
Wins	21 (2)	17 (4)
Games Started	25 (3)	21 (4)

GASSO HITS 1,000 WINS
Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso hit a major coaching milestone as she hit the 1,000-win mark as her No. 7 Sooners defeated Virginia, 9-1, at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Gasso now stands at 853-275-2 at Oklahoma and 1,013-336-3.

Counting just NCAA Division I wins, Gasso entered the 2012 season 29th all time and has already moved up two spots to 27th.

SEVENTEEN STRAIGHT
Oklahoma's 17-game winning streak, its longest of the season and the longest since the 2003 squad won 18 straight, ended on March 25 in a 1-0 loss at Baylor. Under Patty Gasso, OU has 18 winning streaks of at least 10 games including three of at least 23 and six of at least 15 wins.

SCORING IN BUNCHES
During the 17-game winning streak, the Oklahoma team got it done at the plate and in the circle. Nothing illustrates that more than the fact the Sooners outscored their opponents 124-11 during the streak.

Five of the last 20 games have been run-rule wins while OU has shutout six of the last 20 opponents with nine others scoring just one run each. In the last 20 games, OU has outscored its opponents 122-26.

The Sooners have only been held to one run or less on four occasions this season, all losses.

RICKETTS SETS CAREER STRIKEOUTS RECORD
Keilani Ricketts needed just one appearance in the 2012 to capture the Oklahoma career strikeouts record. The junior pitcher entered the season with 798 strikeouts in her first two seasons and Norman and struck out 16 in her season debut versus UNLV to surpass the previous record of 805 set by Jill Most from 1994-97. Ricketts ended the opening weekend at the Sportco Kick-Off Classic with 36 strikeouts and 834 on her career.

With 259 strikeouts on the season, Ricketts now has 1,055 career strikeouts and is fourth in Big 12 history in the category (page 7). The junior is 97 strikeouts from moving up to third on the Big 12 career list. Cat Osterman of Texas (2002-03, 2005-06) holds the Big 12 career record in the category with 2,265 career strikeouts.

HOME SWEET HOME
With its sweep of Kansas and a win in the first game of the Texas Tech series, Oklahoma extended its home winning streak to 13 games dating back to its final home game of last season. The Sooners are now 14-1 at home this season.

Oklahoma has had eight home winning streaks of least 10 games, all under Patty Gasso. The Sooners record for consecutive wins is 45 as the Sooners did not drop a home game for two years, winning every game from April 14, 2000 to April 14, 2002. The longest home winning streak in a single season was 20 set by the 2007 OU squad as part of a 25-game winning streak.

PERFECTION
After racking up four one hitters this season, Keilani Ricketts was due for a one hitter. Against Kansas on March 30, she did that and then some with her first career perfect game in OU's 8-0 five-inning win.

Ricketts became eighth pitcher in Oklahoma history to accomplish the feat and joined classmate Michelle Gascoigne, who hit perfection last season against Appalachian State.

RACKING UP THE Ks
Keilani Ricketts didn't stop racking up the Ks after reaching the OU career plateau. After striking out 12 Texas A&M batters on April 13, the junior now has 14 double-digit strikeout games on the season.

Ricketts has racked up 51 career games with at least 10 strikeouts and has eight games with at least 15 strikeouts including one game this season, 16 at UNLV, and the school record, 19 last season versus Iona.

Strikeouts	Date	Opponent	Hits/Walks	Result
16	2/10	UNLV	3/0	W, 5-0
12	2/11	Kent State	2/1	W, 6-0
13	2/17	Georgia Tech	2/3	L, 1-0
10	2/24	Stanford	8/0	L, 5-0
10	2/25	Georgia	4/1	L, 3-2
14	2/29	North Texas	1/2	W, 4-1
13	3/2	LSU	1/1	W, 7-0
10	3/3	LSU	3/2	W, 5-0
11	3/4	Iowa	3/0	W, 4-2
14	3/23	Baylor	4/1	W, 2-0
10	3/28	Oklahoma State	1/1	W, 4-0
10	3/30	Kansas	0/0	W, 8-0
11	4/5	Texas Tech	1/2	W, 3-1
12	4/13	Texas A&M	5/0	W, 6-1

FIFTY FOUR STRAIGHT
When Kansas scored two runs on April 1, it marked the first time since OU's 4-2 win over Iowa on March 4 that Keilani Ricketts had given up a run, a streak that lasted 54 straight innings.

In her last 10 starts, Ricketts has allowed just 39 hits and has struck out 85 batters.

ONE AWAY FROM PERFECTION
Keilani Ricketts was just one out away from her first career perfect game against North Texas. Two straight walks were called for North Texas batters with two outs before Maddelyn Fraley's single broke up Rickett's no hitter in the bottom of the seventh.

The game was the first of five one hitters that Ricketts now has on the season.

Ricketts did it again in OU's first game versus LSU, retiring the first 19 batters before giving up her only hit with one out in the seventh. Ricketts recorded her third one-hit game of the season in OU's 14-0 five-inning win over Indiana on March 9 as the Hoosiers got one hit in the second.

OU's win over Oklahoma State on March 28 gave Ricketts her fourth one hitter as the Cowgirls recorded their lone hit in the second inning. Ricketts returned to her one-hit ways last weekend against Texas Tech as she gave up just one hit in the game.

Ricketts added her fifth one hitter of the year on last week in OU's 11-1 win over Oklahoma State.

AT THE PLATE TOO...
Keilani Ricketts has helped her own pitching efforts at the plate and those of her fellow pitchers when she's in the line up as a designated player. The junior is second on the team with a batting average of .393 and is tied for second with 12 home runs. Ricketts leads the Big 12 with an on-base percentage of of .529 behind 42 hits, 29 walks and three hit by pitches.

SAME OLD SHULTS
Jessica Shults missed the last six games of 2011 after undergoing treatment for pan-ulcerative colitis. The junior slugger showed to be back to form in Las Vegas as she led the Sooners with 11 hits. Shults batted .611 for the event with a double, a home run and six RBIs.

After a strong start to the season, Shults leads the team in batting with a .400 batting average and 52 hits.

The junior is second on the team with 12 home runs and 96 total bases this season and now has 46 home runs for her career. That number is third all-time in Oklahoma history and sixth in the Big 12.

Shults needs just two more slams to move to second in OU history and third in Big 12 history. Amber Flories (2007-10) holds both the Oklahoma and Big 12 career marks in the category with 56 career home runs.

THREE NAMED TO TOP 25 LIST FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lauren Chamberlain, Keilani Ricketts and Jessica Shults were all named finalists for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) announced. OU joined Cal as the only programs to place three athletes on the list.

Chamberlain is the lone freshman named to the final 25 as Ricketts and Shults were two of seven juniors on the list. Thirteen seniors and four sophomores comprise the remainder of the top 25 list for the award.

For Ricketts, THE announcement marks the third time she has made the list of 25 finalists in her career while Shults has advanced to the top 25 for the first time in her career after earning top 50 honors each of the last three years.

FIRE POWER
Pundits knew going into the season that OU had an ace in the circle with Keilani Ricketts. The question was if Ricketts would be the lone star in the circle.

With Ricketts and classmate Michelle “Gas Can” Gascoigne. who is 14-1 on the year, the Sooners have a one-two punch combination that rivals that of Manny Pacquiao. Gascoigne has given up just 13 earned runs and 49 hits on the year in 88.0 innings of action of fire power.

Gascoigne leads all Big 12 pitchers in Big 12 games only with an ERA of 0.89, just ahead of Ricketts at No. 2 at 1.17.

Senior Kirsten Allen has proven a solid third option, throwing a one hitter against Austin Peay and striking out 17 in 14.1 innings of action for the season.

HUNTING FOR GOOSE EGGS
Nineteen times this season, Oklahoma has not allowed an opponent to score a run including five Big 12 opponents. Eight of the 19 have come in five-inning run-rule victories. The other 11, however, have come in a full seven-inning contest.

Keilani Ricketts has pitched 10 of the 19 shutouts this season while Michelle Gascoigne has four and Kirsten Allen has one. Allen and Gascoigne have combined for four more shutouts.

Ricketts has 33 career shutouts, a number that ranks fifth in Oklahoma history and seventh in Big 12 history. The junior is just eight shutouts from capturing the Oklahoma record for the stat.

RANKINGS UPDATE
After going 2-1 in a road series at Texas A&M, OU rose one spot to No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA SOftball poll while holding seady at No. 6 in the USA Today/NFCA poll.

In the NCAA's RPI, the Sooners moved up a spot to No. 7.

STARING DOWN THE CHAMBER
Just a freshman, Lauren Chamberlain certainly doesn't act like it. The first-year power hitter leads the Big 12 with 19 home runs through 42 games to go along with 54 RBIs. A good eye has allowed Chamberlain to accumulate 19 walks as she has 47 hits and 42 runs scored on the season.

Chamberlain exploded with five home runs in three games against Kansas. The freshman picked up her second Big 12 Player of the Week honor after finishing the weekend with a .625 batting average as all five of her hits were home runs accounting for 10 RBIs. The Trabuco Canyon, Calif., native also picked up two walks and was hit by one pitch.

THE SOONER STATE
Oklahoma is known as the Sooner State and with the March 28 win over Oklahoma State, the name applies in softball terms. In the 141st meeting between the two schools, the Sooners broke a series tie with a 4-0 win over the Cowgirls to earn a 71-70 edge in the series history that began on April 9, 1975, also a Sooner win.

The Sooners extended the series lead to 72-70 with an 11-1 run-rule victory over OSU on April 11 in Stillwater. OU has won 20 of the last 23 games in the Bedlam battle. The two teams return to action next Wednesday, April 25 in Norman.

BIG 12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Oklahoma has racked up seven Big 12 honors in five straight weeks as Keilani Ricketts was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on March 6 before Lauren Chamberlain was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on March 13. Georgia Casey and Ricketts swept the two awards on March 20. Ricketts added her third and fourth pitcher of the week honors on March 27 and April 3 and was joined by Chamberlain as an award winner on April 3.

Ricketts earned her first honor after going 4-0 with a save in a week including back-to-back one-hit games against North Texas and LSU. For the week, Ricketts had 54 strikeouts in 30.1 innings with an ERA of 0.46.

Chamberlain became the 81st Sooner to receive a Big 12 weekly honor after connecting on five home runs and 14 RBIs in 14 at bats while hitting at a .571 clip during a 6-0 week for the Sooners.

Casey helped lead a balanced effort for Oklahoma at the plate with a batting average of .429 while driving in a team-leading seven runs. The Australian had two home runs and finished the weekend with six hits, 13 total bases and a slugging percentage of .929.

Ricketts did not give up a single run while going 3-0 in two starts and on relief appearance in Fullerton, Calif., en route to her second honor. The junior struck out 24 batters in just 14 innings of work while allowing just one walk and six hits.

Ricketts became the first in Oklahoma history to earn Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors three times in two different seasons on March 27 when she earned the honor after splitting her two starts at Baylor despite not giving up an earned run. Ricketts struck out 14 Baylor batters in her two appearances while walking just three.

Ricketts continued to add Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors with her fourth on April 3. It came after she went 3-0 in starts against Oklahoma State and Kansas while throwing her first career perfect game aginast KU. Ricketts struck out 26 batters in 19 innings of work in the week while allowing just one walk.

Chamberlain added her second honor of the season after extending her Big 12 lead with five home runs in three games against Kansas. The freshman led the Sooners with a .600 batting average over the week along with 11 RBIs and 21 total bases. Chamberlain had a slugging percentage of 2.100 while picking up three walks and being hit by a pitch in another at bat.

AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE! OYE! OYE! OYE!
Oklahoma's first ever international player, Georgia Casey from Australia, had been hampered this season by an ankle injury but made her debut in the starting lineup against Iowa.

After pinch hitting against LSU, she quickly made a presence in the OU lineup. After recording one hit in her first game, she blasted a two-run home run out of the OU Softball Complex in her second.

The Australian is third on the team with a .380 batting average and has smacked six home runs in 28 games.

WALKING WILLIAMS
If Brittany Williams said to you “Yo estoy desvelado,” you'd have to take her word for it because desvelado translated to English means watchful. The sophomore led the Big 12 as a freshman with 48 walks in 2011 and the watchful hitter is right back at it with 22 in 2012.

Williams is currently eighth in the Big 12 in walks this season with 22 and is joined on the Big 12 list by Keilani Ricketts who leads the Oklahoma team with 29 walks and an on-base percentage of .529.

EVOLUTION OF HENSON
Used as the flex player for the majority of the 2011 season, the evolution of Javen Henson at the plate has been a big story in 2012. The sophomore now has seven home runs in her career, all this season, including three in two games against Oklahoma State.

Henson is ninth on the team with an average of .295 but improves to .314 in Big 12 play.

WHO ARE YOU FACING?
Take a guess because in Oklahoma's 42 games, the Sooners have used 30 different lineups. Only eight lineups have been used more than once and those lineups are a combined 18-2.

Sixteen different players have gotten a start for the Sooners this year and two have started all 42 games - Lauren Chamberlain and Jessica Shults.

Thirteen different players have gotten starts at two positions with four different players starting at three different positions throughout the season.

ALLEN AT THE PLATE
Entering the 2012 season, senior Allee Allen had just seven at-bats in her career. Allen, who worked on her transformation at the plate over the offseason now has 54 at-bats in the season with a .259 batting average. The senior has 14 hits, two doubles, one home run and eight RBIs.

GRAND SLAM PACK
The University of Oklahoma Athletics Ticket Office announced the “Grand Slam Pack” which gives Sooner softball fans the opportunity to pick any four games off each team's schedule for a special low price.

Sooner softball fans can purchase any four contests of the 2012 slate for a low price of $28, a 30 percent discount off the normal reserved seating price.

OKLAHOMA ON THE TUBE
ESPN will air two home Oklahoma games the Big 12 Conference announced. The Sooners have become a favorite on TV as home games against Missouri (4/22) and Texas (5/6) will be shown on ESPN. In addition, the Sooner Sports Network will air every home game of the season beginning with the Texas Tech series that ESPN is not airing, a total of nine games, on Cox Channel 3 or 703 (HD) in Oklahoma.

Sooner Sports Network has already aired two games earlier this season as OU has had 44 games televised in the last five seasons.

SOONERS PICKED SECOND IN BIG 12
Coming off its sixth trip to the Women's College World Series, Oklahoma was picked to finish second in the Big 12 in a preseason poll of the league's coaches.

The Sooners led all nine Big 12 softball teams with four first-place votes and finished with 56 total points in the poll behind the 59 points of top-ranked Missouri.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Plays Host to Missouri in Top 10 Match Up

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