OU Welcomes Three to Norman for Tournament

OU Tournament
March 11-13 | Norman, Okla. | OU Softball Complex

Weekend Schedule
Day	Home Team	Visiting Team	Time (CT)
Friday	Maryland	Saint Louis	11 a.m.
	Maryland	BYU	1:15 p.m.
	Oklahoma	Saint Louis	3:30 p.m.
	Oklahoma	BYU	5:45 p.m.
Saturday	BYU	Saint Louis	11 a.m.
	Saint Louis	Maryland	1:15 p.m.
	Oklahoma	BYU	3:30 p.m.
	Oklahoma	Maryland	5:45 p.m.
Sunday	Oklahoma	Maryland	12 p.m.

On the Air
TV*	Friday vs. SLU \| FSSW/FCSC Saturday vs. UMD \| FSOK+/FCSC *other OU games will be streamed on SoonerSports.TV ($)
Radio	1560 AM \| Chris Plank

On the Air

TV*

Friday vs. SLU | FSSW/FCSC
Saturday vs. UMD | FSOK+/FCSC

*other OU games will be streamed on SoonerSports.TV ($)

Radio

1560 AM | Chris Plank

NORMAN - After having a midweek game at Tulsa postponed due to rain, No. 13/14 Oklahoma stays home for the OU Tournament this weekend as Saint Louis, BYU and Maryland visit Norman.

Friday's game vs. Saint Louis can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest and Fox College Sports Central, while Saturday's game with Maryland will be on Fox Sports Oklahoma Plus and FCSC. The other three games this weekend will be streamed on SoonerSports.tv, though a paid subscription is needed.

Fans can also listen to the game on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via link on SoonerSports.com.

The first 500 fans to Saturday's games will receive a team autograph book. Sunday is Paris Townsend Day. The first 250 fans receive a Townsend poster, while the first 500 fans will get a stadium seat cushion.

Facing the Field

OU and Saint Louis have met just three times entering the weekend, the last of which came in 2009. Prior to that, they met in 1995 and 1983. All-time, OU has outscored SLU 31-4. Saint Louis head coach Christy Connoyer was the head coach at Tulsa in 2005 and beat the Sooners in both meetings that year.

Oklahoma faces a BYU team that is receiving one vote in the latest NFCA poll. All four previous meetings between the schools came at a neutral site. The teams have three common opponents this year as both beat Creighton, while OU defeated New Mexico State (twice) and UCLA, but BYU lost to both.

The Sooners meet Maryland for the first time ever with games on Saturday and Sunday. Oklahoma is 110-78-2 all-time against teams from the Big Ten. In fact, two of Oklahoma's four losses this year have been to Big Ten schools as Minnesota (1-0, 2/12) and Michigan (16-9, 2/26) have each bested OU.

Maryland assistant coach Lisa Carey was a three-time All-American at Oklahoma and helped the team win the 2000 national title. She was also a volunteer coach on the staff in 2012 . In addition, Terrapins junior Madison Martin is an Edmond, Okla., native and attended Edmond Sante Fe HS.

OU Continues Remarkable Run in National Polls

After going 2-0 last weekend, OU moved up one spot in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll from No. 14 to No. 13. In the USA ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25, Oklahoma fell one spot from 13th to 14th.

Oklahoma is the only program to be ranked every week of the NFCA poll, 310 straight polls.

Quick Hits

Sophomores Lea Wodach (9) and Kelsey Arnold (8) are enjoying the longest hitting streaks of their careers ... since starting her career 1-12 (.083) at the plate, freshman Sydney Romero is 19-40 (.475) ... sophomore Nicole Pendley is 12-24 (.500) over the last nine games ... freshman Fale Aviu has hit safely in eight games this year, and in six of those contests she had two hits ... freshman pitcher Jayden Chestnut has dropped her ERA 5.30 points over her last three appearances from 9.55 to 4.25 (after giving up 10 ER in her first 7.1 IP, she's given up 6 ER in her last 19.0 IP) ... OU's No. 9 hitters have the highest batting average on the team (.525), followed by the No. 7 spot (.489) and No. 2 (.418) ... the second inning has seen the Sooners' best batting average (.424) and ERA (0.44)

Tough Schedule for Sooners in 2016

Fifteen opponents that reached the 2015 NCAA Softball Tournament, including half of the field from the Women's College World Series, highlight Oklahoma's 2016 schedule.

Eleven of OU's opponents are ranked in at least one of the two latest polls and four more are receiving votes. Oklahoma has faced seven of those 15 opponents so far, going 4-3.

In fact, so far this season Oklahoma has played the fifth-toughest schedule in the country based on the opponents' cumulative winning percentage (.676).

Looking ahead to the remainder of OU's schedule, Sooner opponents have a .603 cumulative winning percentage, which ranks 38th in the country. Combining OU's past opponents with its future foes, OU's opponents have a .627 win percentage, which ranks 16th in the country.

Teams Don't Run on Oklahoma

After leading the country in stolen bases allowed, stolen bases attempted against and caught stealing rate last year, Sooners catchers are at it again in 2016. Teams have yet to attempt a steal against Whitney Montgomery and they're 1-2 against Lea Wodach. Only Florida (0) has allowed fewer stolen bases than OU, according to the most recently available data from the NCAA.

The two stolen bases attempted against Oklahoma are tied for the second the fewest in the country behind Florida (1). In addition, the Sooners are one of 14 teams that have thrown runners out at least 50 percent of the time.

To put Oklahoma's numbers in context, the average team this season has allowed 12.7 stolen bases, faced 15.6 attempts and thrown out 18.7 percent of attempts.

Freshmen Contributing Right Away

With the graduation of one of the best senior classes in school history, OU needed one of its largest freshman classes ever to make up that production. So far, they're doing just that.

Sydney Romero (3B) has started all 16 games, while Shay Knighten and Caleigh Clifton have shared duties at second base and Fale Aviu (RF) has started 13 games. In addition, pitchers Jayden Chestnut and Brittany Finney have each made starts and contributed in the circle, while outfielders Kylie Lundberg and Raegan Rogers have seen playing time already in their debut seasons.

Romero is tied for the team lead with 14 runs scored and seven walks and leads OU with seven doubles, while Knighten leads the Sooners in slugging (.837) and RBI (17) and is tied for the team lead in home runs (3).

Finney has made two starts and has one win this year, posting a 2.52 ERA in 8.1 innings with six strikeouts. Chestnut has made seven relief appearances and one start with a perfect 3-0 record.

Featuring eight freshman, the 2016 class is the largest ever under Patty Gasso and the largest for the program since nine were on the 1988 squad. For reference, the oldest member of this year's freshmen was born in 1996.