National Title Defense Begins in Mexico

Puerto Vallarta College Challenge
Feb. 9-11 | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | Nancy Almaraz Stadium

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KEBC 1560

ESPNU (vs. Auburn)

Notes

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Weekend Schedule
Day	Opponent	Time (CT)
Thursday	#2/2 Auburn	1 p.m.
Thursday	RV/NR BYU	4 p.m.
Friday	RV/RV Nebraska	11 a.m.
Saturday	#13/13 Washington	3:30 p.m.

On the Air
Radio	1560 AM \| Chris Plank

NORMAN - Beginning its 46th season and ranked 1st unanimously in both the NFCA and USA Softball preseason polls, reigning national champion and five-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma opens the 2017 season this weekend at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge hosted by Triple Crown Sports at Nancy Almaraz Stadium. Oklahoma is 32-13 all-time in season openers and has won five of its past seven openers.

The Sooners will play four games this weekend beginning with a matchup against No. 2/2 Auburn Thursday on ESPNU. This marks the fifth straight season OU has opened against a top-25 team, going 2-2 previously. The Sooners also play BYU Thursday before taking on Nebraska Friday and No. 13/13 Washington Saturday to close out the tournament.

Thursday's game with Auburn marks the first ever No. 1 vs. No. 2 (NFCA) matchup in OU program history. The Sooners are 35-3 all-time as the No. 1 team in the country.

This the first time in program history that the Sooners are playing outside of the United States.

In addition to Thursday's game against Auburn being on ESPNU, all games can be heard on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via link on SoonerSports.com.

OU Opens 2017 as Unanimous No. 1

Oklahoma is the unanimous No. 1 in both the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. It's the first time in program history the Sooners enter the season as the top-ranked team in the country in either poll.

Previously, OU's best preseason ranking was No. 2, which occurred in 2014 and 2013 for both polls and 2002 for the NFCA. This is just the fourth time in the NFCA poll's history, which dates back to 1995, that there has been a unanimous No. 1 in the preseason poll. Oklahoma received all 32 first-place votes to join Arizona State in 2012, Washington in 2010 and Arizona in 1998 as the only teams to do it.

Oklahoma is one of four teams along with Michigan, UCLA and Washington to be ranked in every single NFCA Preseason Poll; the Sooners' average preseason rank is 8.0. OU also kept up its run of being ranked every week in the 23-year existence of the NFCA's poll, 322 weeks in all.

Overall, the Sooners rank third in NFCA history with 17 top-10 appearances in the preseason poll and are tied for third with nine top-five appearances. Only two schools have more appearances in the NFCA Preseason Top 10 than Oklahoma.

This is the seventh straight season that the Sooners have started ranked in the NFCA's Top 10, which is the second longest active streak in the country behind Alabama (12). In fact, OU has been ranked in the top five in five of the past six years, which is tied with Alabama and Florida for the most over that stretch.

WCWS Championship Series Rematch

Oklahoma opens the season against Auburn in a rematch of the 2016 Women's College World Series Championship Series. The Sooners won game one, 3-2, before the Tigers secured an 11-7 victory in eight innings in game two to force a game three. In the final game, Paige Parker's complete game was aided by a two-run first inning in a 2-1 victory for Oklahoma, giving the Sooners their third national championship, a feat only accomplished by UCLA (11) and Arizona (8).

This is the first time since the WCWS began in 1982 that teams playing for the national title opened the following season against one another. It will be the 23rd time that the teams face each other at some point the following year, including each of the last four years. Teams that won the WCWS are 49-24 when teams meet again the next season, though the average final score in those games is relatively close, 3.5-2.0.

For Oklahoma, this will be its second WCWS rematch. OU swept Tennessee in two games in the 2013 WCWS to win its second national title, then took down the Lady Vols in the 2014 Super Regionals, 2-1, in a best-of-three series.

The Sooners are 4-1 all-time against the Tigers, including a 3-1 advantage at neutral sites. In addition to the 2016 WCWS, OU also posted wins in 2002 (6-2) and 2011 (6-0).

Facing BYU

Oklahoma is 5-1 all-time against BYU, including a 3-1 mark at neutral sites. The two teams met a year ago in Norman with OU winning 8-0 in five innings and 3-0.

In the first meeting last year, Paige Parker threw the fifth no-hitter of career as she struck out 11, allowed just one walk in the first inning and retired the final 13 batters she faced. Offensively, Sydney Romero came a home run short of becoming the first player in school history to hit for the cycle. She led off the game with a triple, added an RBI double in the fourth and had a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Parker came back the next day and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before settling for a two-hit outing. Tied 0-0 in the bottom of the sixth, OU's offense broke through as then-senior Kady Self had an RBI single and then-freshman Caleigh Clifton added a two-run double.

Facing Nebraska

Oklahoma and Nebraska will meet for the seventh time since the Cornhuskers left the Big 12 for the Big Ten after the 2011 season, with OU going 4-2 in those previous matchups. All-time, the Huskers have a 44-42 lead in the series, but OU is up 29-22 since Patty Gasso became head coach in 1995.

The teams met last season in Fullerton, Calif., as OU posted a 4-2 win. Nicole Pendley drove in three of the four runs for Oklahoma, while Paige Parker threw 7.0 shutout innings in relief to earn the victory.

Oklahoma sophomore Shay Knighten, the 2016 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-American, is the younger sister of Nebraska senior MJ Knighten, a 2016 first-team All-American and three-time All-Big Ten selection. Here's a look at how each performed during their freshman seasons.

Player	G	AB	R	H	RBI	XBH	HR	BB	K	AVG/OBP/SLG
Shay	60	179	48	71	62	23	13	17	23	.397/.449/.670
MJ	62	180	32	56	38	16	6	21	23	.311/.395/.478

OU sophomore Sydney Romero went to high school with Nebraska freshman Tristen Edwards at Vista Murrieta HS in Murrieta, Calif. The Cornhuskers also have one Oklahoman on their roster: freshman Alexis Perry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City HS).

Facing Washington

The all-time series is tied 11-11 between Oklahoma and Washington, including a 9-8 mark for UW at neutral sites. OU has won four of the last six meetings, though the Huskies have taken two of the last three, including a 10-3 victory last year. This marks the fifth straight season the teams have met.