Sooners Return to Big 12 Play in Ames

April 29-30 | Ames, Iowa | Cyclone Sports Complex

Iowa State

^9/8 Oklahoma

Cyclones.com ($)

NORMAN - Winners of 13 straight and 20 of its past 21, No. 9/8 Oklahoma continues its eight-game trip away from Norman by traveling to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State in Big 12 action.

The series was originally scheduled to take place over three days, but rain in the forecast prompted a change to play a doubleheader on Friday and single game Saturday.

Video is available for the weekend on Cyclones.com via the link above, though a paid subscription is needed. Fans can listen to the games on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via the link above.

Facing Iowa State

Oklahoma and Iowa St. have met 99 times entering this weekend, with the Sooners owning a 71-28 advantage in the series, including an 31-8 mark in Ames. The 71 wins are the second most for OU against another school in program history.

OU has won the last 24 meetings in the series and 25 of the last 26. OU has won seven of the past nine meetings via run-rule and has not given up more than two runs in any of the last 18 games to the Cyclones.

The 24-game win streak is Oklahoma's third-longest active streak against a D-I opponent behind Wichita State (32 straight wins) and North Texas (28).

Oklahoma has not lost in Ames since April 22, 2006, a span off 11 games. That's also the last time OU lost in the series. The Sooners have never dropped a Big 12 series to Iowa State, going 17-0-3 all-time.

The Sooners and Cyclones have played six common opponents so far in UCLA, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Creighton, Oklahoma State and Baylor. The Sooners went 7-1 against those teams with a loss to Fullerton, while Iowa State has gone 0-10 against those same opponents.

Last Time They Met

OU's 4-2 win in the opener was the closest game in the series since Oklahoma won 3-2 on April 3, 2010, a span of 12 games. Kady Self drove in two and scored a run, while Nicole Pendley and Erin Miller each had an RBI.

The Sooners scored four runs in the third and four more in the fifth en route to an 8-2 win in game two. Self scored twice and drove in a run, while Pendley also scored and had an RBI.

A 10-run fourth inning highlighted OU's 16-1, five-inning victory in the finale. Miller drove in four, while Lea Wodach and Paige Parker each had two RBI. Tori Nirschl scored three times.

Sooners Riding 13-Game Win Streak

Oklahoma has not lost a game since a 5-2 setback to Kansas on April 2, a streak of 13 games. It's the longest for OU since winning 14 in a row from Feb. 21 to March 17 last season. During the streak, which has seen four top-25 wins and six shutouts, OU has dominated the competition.

The 13-game win streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in the country with Florida Atlantic and Cal State Fullerton. Only Fresno State (16) is on a longer winning streak.

Miller, Clifton Enjoying Streaks of Their Own

Erin Miller has a hit in each game of the Sooners' win streak for a career-best 13 game hit streak. She's posted impressive numbers along the way with a .452/.540/.786 slash line along with 14 runs, 19 hits, eight doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI, eight walks, one strikeout and one stolen base.

It's the second longest hitting streak by a Sooner this year as Lea Wodach had a 15-game streak from Feb. 20 to March 16.

In addition, Caleigh Clifton has a streak of reaching base in 19 straight games, the longest by an OU player this season. During her run, Clifton has a hit in 13 of those contests and a walk in nine of them.

Four times during the streak she's failed to get a hit or walk, but was hit by a pitch to keep the streak alive. She's posted a slash line of .439/.641/.634 during those 19 games.

Quick Hits

Every one of Oklahoma's main offensive starters has a batting average of at least .325 ... the team's current three-game shutout streak is its longest of the year and it's gone four straight games without allowing an earned run ... OU is outscoring teams 96-15 over the first two innings this year ... Sooner pitchers have given up just five home runs in the last 23 games ... every spot in the lineup is hitting .307 or better, led by the No. 9 hitters at .424 ... OU is hitting .330 or better as a team in every inning this year except for the fourth (.304)

Kelsey Arnold's batting average has been above .333 all season and above .400 since Feb. 20 ... Shay Knighten leads the team with a .433 average in Big 12 games ... Fale Aviu leads the team with a .480 average in road games ... in 23.0 innings this year, Paige Parker has not given up a first inning run and has a 1.14 ERA in road games ... Erin Miller leads the team in multi-hit games (20) and multi-RBI games (13)

Through 4/24, among all active pitchers with at least 200 career IP Paige Parker is seventh in career ERA (1.66) and is also 16th in shutouts (18) and 43rd in wins (50) ... Erin Miller is 22nd among active NCAA players with 11 career triples ... Kelsey Stevens is 10th among active pitchers in career victories (70), 11th in games started (107), 13th in shutouts (19), 15th in K/7 (7.68; min. 400 IP), 17th in appearances (137), 20th in strikeouts (604) and 43rd in innings pitched (550.7) ... among all active players with at least 100 at-bats, Shay Knighten is 48th in slugging (.683)

Four-Time Defending Champs Looking for Five

Oklahoma claimed the Big 12 Championship for an unprecedented fourth year in a row in 2015. In fact, in 2014, OU became the first team to win three straight Big 12 titles.

Oklahoma has won eight Big 12 regular season titles and four conference tournament championships. The 12 combined championships are the most in league history.

With four straight league crowns, the Sooners are tied for the second-longest active regular season conference-title streak in the nation with Lehigh (Patriot) and North Dakota State (Summit). Only Michigan's run of eight straight Big Ten titles is longer.

Since the Big 12 began in 1996, Oklahoma has the best all-time winning percentage in conference play at .770 (282-84). Among teams currently in the league, Texas is a distant second at .642 (221-123), followed by Baylor at .499 (173-174-1), Oklahoma State at .439 (162-207), Kansas at .387 (144-228), Texas Tech at .320 (117-249) and Iowa State at .218 (79-283).

In the 20 seasons of Big 12 softball, Oklahoma has had a winning record in league play 19 times and finished first or second in the standings 16 times.

The Sooners are undefeated in their past 34 regular season Big 12 series, going 30-0-4 in that span. The last series loss for OU came to Missouri on April 16-17, 2011. The next longest Big 12 series unbeaten streak belongs to Baylor at 2-0-0.

OU Continues Remarkable Run in National Polls

After going 4-0 last week, OU remained at No. 9 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll and moved up one spot to No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.

Oklahoma is the only program to be ranked every week of the NFCA poll, 317 straight polls.

OU was No. 3 in the RPI poll for the second straight week. It's the team's highest RPI ranking since being No. 1 in all eight polls during the 2013 season.

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.

Nine of OU's opponents are ranked in the latest polls and four more are receiving votes. Oklahoma is 12-6 vs. those teams.

Oklahoma's seven losses this year have come to teams that are a combined 190-68-1 (.736). In fact, OU has played the fourth toughest schedule in the country so far based on opponents' cumulative win percentage (games as of 4/24).

Looking ahead to OU's final nine games, Sooner opponents have a .506 cumulative winning percentage, which ranks 138th in the country. Combining OU's past opponents with its future foes, OU's opponents have a .622 cumulative win percentage, which ranks eighth in the country.