Final Road Series Sends Sooners to Kansas

May 3, 2013

No. 1/1 OU (43-3, 11-1 Big 12) at Kansas (30-15, 5-7 Big 12)
Saturday (DH)	2 p.m./4 p.m.
Sunday	12 p.m.
Location	Lawrence, Kan. \| Arrocha Ballpark
Live Stats	GameTracker - Sat. G1\| GameTracker - Sat. G2 \| GameTracker - Sun.
Live Audio	Saturday \| Sunday
Game Info	OU Game Notes \| Twitter \| Tickets

No. 1 Oklahoma takes to the road for its final series away from Norman, visiting Kansas in a three-game set. The Sooners have won seven straight versus the Jayhawks and 11 of the last 12. In Lawrence, OU owns a 14-10 mark all-time.

Last year, OU swept a three-game set in Norman, winning by a combined score of 22-2. Keilani Ricketts threw the first perfect game of her career and the eighth in program history, while Lauren Chamberlain hit a pair of home runs in an 8-0, run-rule win. Game two was also won by OU, 8-0, in five innings and again Chamberlain hit a pair of homers. The Sooners finished the sweep by rallying from an early 2-0 hole to win 6-2 in the finale.

UNANIMOUS NO. 1
For the fourth time this season, Oklahoma is the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. It also marks the eighth straight week that OU is atop both polls.

The Sooners received all 31 first-place votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll and all 20 votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. Oklahoma has been ranked No. 1 by USA Softball for 12 straight weeks, while the NFCA has put the Sooners on top for eight weeks in a row.

The Sooners also maintained their spot as the No. 1 team in the fifth installment of the NCAA Division I RPI rankings on April 29. They have been No. 1 each week since the rankings first came out.

BEST BIG 12 STARTS
Now 11-1 in Big 12 games, this is just the second time in school history that the Sooners have lost once in their first 12 conference games.

Year	Start	Finish	Place	Postseason
2013	11-1	N/A	N/A	N/A
2000	11-1	17-1	1st	NCAA Champions
1997	10-2	14-4	2nd	NCAA Regional
1998	10-2	12-5	2nd	NCAA Regional Final
1999	10-2	11-3	1st	NCAA Regional Final
2002	10-2	14-2	2nd	NCAA Super Regional
2005	10-2	12-6	2nd	NCAA Super Regional
2008	10-2	16-2	2nd	NCAA Super Regional

SCORING MARKS FALL IN SWEEP OF IOWA STATE
Oklahoma swept a three-game series vs. Iowa State last weekend in dominating fashion, winning by a combined score of 44-1. All three games ended in the 5th inning, marking the first time in history that OU won three games in a row within Big 12 play via run rule.

OU won the opener, 24-1, in five innings to set the school record for most runs in a game. It broke the mark of 23-1 vs. Central Arkansas on 3/26/08. The 24 runs also tie with Georgia Tech for the most against a D-1 team this year. In addition to its 13 hits, the team also drew 15 walks, one off the school record of 16 set against Southwestern on April 12, 1975. The Sooners hit three home runs, including grand slams from sophomores Shelby Pendley and Kelley Reeves.

In game two, Pendley went 3-4 with 6 RBI in an 8-0, five-inning win, while Sunday saw Keilani Ricketts fire the fifth no-hitter of her career in a 12-0, five-inning win.

The 44 runs in a three-game span are the most in school history and mark just the sixth time OU has eclipsed 40 runs over three games.

HOT STREAKS
A quick look at which Sooners have been enjoying recent success:

Player	G	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	HR	BB	K	SB	AVG/OBP/SLG
Casey	11	35	16	15	10	4	1	9	5	3	.429/.545/.629
Martinez	10	29	8	18	6	0	0	2	1	3	.621/.645/.621
Parsons	11	21	6	10	7	1	0	1	1	1	.476/.478/.524
Pendley	12	36	18	20	31	4	10	7	8	2	.556/.636/1.500
Ricketts	4	7	6	4	6	0	1	5	0	3	.571/.750/1.000
Turang	12	30	12	17	7	1	0	3	4	4	.567/.606/.600

WALKING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS
With six games left in the regular season, Oklahoma's 278 walks drawn have already shattered the Big 12 record of 247 set by Missouri in 2010.

In fact, OU already has the sixth-most walks in a season in NCAA history and, with an average of 6.0 walks per game, OU is on pace to finish the regular season with 314, which would easily surpass the NCAA's all-time mark.

Walks	Team	Year
301	California	2002
301	Arizona State	2008
290	Alabama	2012
288	Arizona State	2012
287	Arizona	2005
278	Oklahoma	2013

SOONERS SWEEP WEEKLY BIG 12 HONORS
The Oklahoma softball team has swept the weekly Big 12 conference honors for the fourth time this season and second week in a row, it was announced Tuesday.

It's the third time in Pendley's career that she has been named Player of the Week and the second time in the last three weeks. Ricketts, who has now been named the top pitcher in consecutive weeks, has been recognized five times this year and 16 times in her career.

Pendley hit .615 and led the Sooners with eight hits, two doubles, three home runs, 16 runs batted in and a 1.462 slugging percentage in four games. Ricketts was 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA and capped the week with her school record fifth career no-hitter against Iowa State.

With 16 weekly pitching honors in her career, Ricketts ranks second in Big 12 history behind Texas' Cat Osterman, who won 25 times.

RICKETTS' NO-HITTERS
With her no-hitter against Iowa State, Keilani Ricketts has thrown five in her career and four this year, both of which are school records.

Date	Opponent	Score	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
4/28/13	Iowa State	12-0	5.0	0	0	0	2	10
4/14/13	Texas Tech	9-0	6.0	0	0	0	4	8
2/9/13	Oregon	12-0	5.0	0	0	0	1	10
2/8/13	Stanford	6-0	7.0	0	0	0	3	14
3/30/12	Kansas	8-0	5.0	0	0	0	0	10

Ricketts broke a with Lauren Eckermann for the most no-hitters in school history and in one season. Eckermann also threw three in 2007.

LEADING THE NATION
Below is a list of all OU's top-10 rankings in the latest NCAA Statistics (Games through 4/28, complete rankings pages 33-34).

OU is one of five schools to lead in multiple individual categories and one of two to have two different players lead in seperate categories ... Chamberlain is one of only three players to have a slugging percentage above 1.000 ... Michelle Gascoigne is one of two players in the NCAA with an ERA of 1.00 or lower ... of the 11 team categories tracked by the NCAA, Oklahoma is the only school to lead in more than two categories ... OU ranks in the top 5 of five different categories, matching Arizona State for the most in the country ... the Sooners lead the country in ERA and scoring, no team has led both categories at the end of a season ... In addition to the stats kept by the NCAA, OU also leads the nation in walks (278) ... OU also leads the country in Strikeouts/7 IP at 10.56, while the next closest team is Eastern Illinois at 9.06

Stat	Team/Player	Total	Rank
Earned Run Average	Team	1.14	1
Runs/Game	Team	7.87	1
Winning Percentage	Team	.935	1
Slugging Percentage	Team	.592	3
Home Runs/Game	Team	1.63	5
Runs/Game	Chamberlain	1.37	1
Slugging Percentage	Chamberlain	1.040	2
Home Runs	Chamberlain	22	3
Home Runs/Game	Chamberlain	0.48	3
On-Base Percentage	Chamberlain	.590	4
Walks Drawn/Game	Chamberlain	1.00	5
RBI/Game	Chamberlain	1.22	9
Earned Run Average	Gascoigne	0.93	1
Strikeouts/7 Innings	Gascoigne	11.0	4
Hits Allowed/7 Innings	Gascoigne	3.99	10
RBI/Game	Pendley	1.33	2
Slugging Percentage	Pendley	.929	6
Home Runs	Pendley	18	10
Shutouts	Ricketts	14	2
Hits Allowed/7 Innings	Ricketts	3.63	5
Walks Drawn/Game	Ricketts	0.96	6
On-Base Percentage	Ricketts	.575	7
Strikeouts/7 Innings	Ricketts	10.5	7
Earned Run Average	Ricketts	1.15	7

TAKING ON THE TOP 25
Through May 1, the Sooners lead the nation in wins against top-25 teams (16) and winning percentage against top-25 teams (.842; min. 10 games), while they are tied for eighth in games played against ranked teams (19).

Team	Wins vs. Top 25
Oklahoma	16
Washington	15
Arizona State	14
Oregon	13
LSU	11

Team	Record vs. Top 25	Winning Pct. vs. Top 25 (Min. 10 games)
Oklahoma	16-3	.842
Arizona State	14-5	.737
Florida	10-4	.714
Texas	9-4	.692
Oregon	13-7	.650

The statistical breakdown between Oklahoma and its ranked opponents illustrates how dominant OU has been.

Stat	Oklahoma	Top-25 Teams
Wins	16	3
Batting Average	.296	.159
On-Base Percentage	.429	.242
Slugging Percentage	.500	.236
Runs	112	25
Hits	139	70
Doubles	21	7
Home Runs	25	7
RBI	105	21
Total Bases	235	104
Walks Drawn	102	31
Times Struck Out	95	171
Stolen Bases	16	3
Earned Run Average	1.23	5.56
Shutouts	9	1

OU won its first eight games of the year against top-25 teams, tying for the school's longest winning streak in such games. The record was initially set March 14-May 12, 2000.

DOMINANT DUO
Oklahoma's 1-2 punch of Keilani Ricketts and Michelle Gascoigne has been dominant in 2013. Ricketts is 24-1 and Gascoigne is 16-2, while each has an ERA under 1.15 and is holding an opponents' batting
average under .161. Ricketts has thrown 14 shutouts, Gascoigne has thrown eight and the pair combined on another.

Gascoigne is averaging 11.0 strikeouts per seven innings and has a 7.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while Ricketts' marks in those categories stand at 10.5 and 6.5, respectively.

Ricketts has tallied 11 10+ strikeout games this year and now has 74 for her career. Likewise, Gascoigne has 8 this season and 22 in her career.

THEN AND NOW
Comparing stats, through 46 games, between the 2013 team and the 2012 squad that reached the finals of the Women's College World Series:.

Stat	2013	2012
Record	46-3	39-7
Batting Average	.338	..318
Runs	362	281
Hits	395	375
Doubles	70	48
Triples	0	3
Home Runs	75	70
Slugging Percentage	.591	.542
On-Base Percentage	.471	.406
Walks Drawn	278	148
Times Struck Out	211	184
Earned Run Average	1.14	1.01
Complete Games	30	30
Shutouts	24	19
Innings Pitched	289.0	299.0
Hits Allowed	164	168
Runs Allowed	53	52
Earned Runs Allowed	47	43
Walks Issued	65	51
Strikeouts Recorded	436	442
Home Runs Allowed	15	13
Opponents' Batting Average	.161	.160

SUCCESS WITH 2 OUTS
OU has enjoyed tremendous success with 2 outs this season. Of the team's 362 runs, 165 have come with 2 outs (45.6 %). Oklahoma has had 16 games this year where it has scored 5+ runs with 2 outs and 10 games with 7+ runs coming with 2 out.