OU Set to Play in Norman, OKC This Weekend

College Preview Tournament
March 24, 26 | Norman | Marita Hynes Field
March 25 | Oklahoma City | ASA Hall of Fame Stadium

Fri/Sun | Sat.

Live Stats

Fri. | Sat. | Sun.

KEBC 1560

Notes

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NORMAN - After a seven-game trip away from home, No. 13/12 Oklahoma (24-7) returns to the Sooner State this weekend for the College Preview Tournament. OU will play Friday against Mississippi State in Norman before facing Louisiana Tech and UAB Saturday in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The weekend concludes Sunday with Oklahoma taking on UAB once again, this time in Norman.

Saturday's games will be the first time the Sooners are returning to ASA Hall of Fame Stadium since last June when the team won its third national championship.

All games can be heard on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via the link above. Friday's game with Mississippi State will be streamed on SoonerSports.tv and will air on tape delay at 11 p.m. that night on Fox Sports Oklahoma. Saturday's games will be streamed on USASoftball.com, while Sunday's game with UAB will air on Fox Sports Oklahoma.

Full Weekend Schedule
Day	Home Team	Visiting Team	City	Time (CT)
Friday	Miss. State	LA Tech	Norman	3:30 p.m.
Friday	Oklahoma	Miss. State	Norman	6 p.m.
Saturday	UAB	Miss. State	OKC	12 p.m.
Saturday	Oklahoma	LA Tech	OKC	2:30 p.m.
Saturday	Oklahoma	UAB	OKC	5 p.m.
Sunday	Oklahoma	UAB	Norman	11 a.m.

Promotions

Friday will be Flashback Friday, including a slinky giveaway for the first 300 fans.

The Sooners will be signing autographs after their second game in Oklahoma City Saturday.

Sunday there will be a pregame Sooner Junior Kids Club Tailgate and the first 250 kids get a locker room nameplate.

Facing Mississippi State

Oklahoma is 2-0 all-time against Mississippi State with both games coming at neutral sites. OU has outscored MSU 16-4 all-time, winning 4-0 in 1983 and 12-4 in 2000.

Former Sooner Samantha Ricketts ('06-09) is in her third season as an assistant coach at MSU. A two-time All-American, Ricketts still holds the school caeer record for intentional walks (21) and sac flies (13) and ranks in OU's top 10 for nearly every offensive category, including batting average, OBP, slugging, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, extra-base hits, total bases and walks drawn.

Oklahoma junior Paige Lowary is the only Sooner with experience against Mississippi State, facing them five times (including two starts) while at Missouri. In 21.0 innings, Lowary went 2-1 with a save and posted a 1.33 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 15 walks. She gave up 18 hits and eight runs, though only four were earned.

OU and MSU have two common opponents this year in Western Kentucky and Ole Miss. The Sooners beat WKU twice and Ole Miss once, while the Bulldogs lost to both.

Facing Louisiana Tech

Oklahoma is 7-4 all-time against Louisiana Tech, including a 3-1 mark in Norman. OU has won two straight and four of the last five meetings. The teams last met in 2014 in an 11-3, six-inning win for Oklahoma.

OU and Louisiana Tech have three common opponents this year in Incarnate Word, Ole Miss and Northwestern State. The Sooners went 3-0 against those teams, while LTU was 2-2 with losses to Ole Miss and a split with Northwestern State.

Facing UAB

Oklahoma is 6-1 all-time against UAB with a 4-1 advantage in Norman. OU has won five straight in the series, outscoring the Blazers 56-12 in the process. The teams last met in 2014 as the Sooners swept a three-game series in Norman by a combined score of 25-11.

Paige Lowary faced the Blazers last year while at Missouri. She got the win with three strikeouts and one run allowed on six hits and one walk in 5.1 innings.

Home Sweet Home

Since April 3 of last season, the Sooners have won 25 straight home games. That's tied for the third longest win streak in program history.

Wins	Start Date	End Date
45	April 14, 2000	March 29, 2002
30	March 13, 2004	April 6, 2005
25	April 19, 2006	March 31, 2007
25	April 3, 2016	N/A

Playing in Oklahoma City

After going 7-1 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium last year, including 5-1 in the WCWS to win the program's third national title, the Sooners are now 87-41 (.680) all-time under head coach Patty Gasso in Oklahoma City. OU has won eight straight regular season games at the venue.

OU Stealing at Highest Rate in Last 10 Years

Through 31 games, Oklahoma is 55-67 on stolen base attempts, which means the Sooners are stealing at a higher rate than any time over the last 10 years.

Below is a chart that shows the most steals and steal attempts at OU through the first 31 games since 2008.

SB	Year	SBA	Year
55	2017	67	2017
44	2010	53	2016
43	2016	50	2011
41	2011	50	2010
41	2009	50	2009

Sydney Romero leads OU with 12 steals in 13 attempts this year after going 6-8 all of last season. Caleigh Clifton (10) is already over halfway to her total of 14 from last year, while Alissa Dalton and Nicole Mendes have 6 to rank third on the team.

As a team, OU has had six games this year with four stolen bases and the Sooners have stolen at least three bases in six of the last nine games.

Quick Hits

Through 3/21, Paige Parker is 6th among active pitchers in career shutouts (25), 9th in ERA (1.67) and wins (74), 12th in complete games (64), 16th in total strikeouts (599), 17th in strikeouts/7 IP (7.54), 28th in innings (556.3) and 36th in starts (80) ... Paige Lowary is 29th among active pitchers in saves (7) and wins (49) and 30th in strikeouts/7IP (6.18)

Mariah Lopez has a 0.36 ERA in 19.2 innings at home this year ... Lopez has not yet given up a run in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd innings (27.0 IP total; 29 K's, 1 BB) ... opponents are 0-25 against Lopez in 0-2 counts ... Sydney Romero is hitting .478 (22-46) with runners in scoring position this year ... Parker sees a team-high 5.4 pitchers per plate appearances ... all seven of OU's losses this year have been at neutral sites

Tough Schedule Faces Sooners in 2017

Sixteen opponents that reached the 2016 NCAA Softball Tournament, including WCWS participants Auburn and UCLA, highlight Oklahoma's 2017 schedule.

Seven opponents are currently ranked in both polls, including three in the top 10: No. 4/6 (NFCA/USA) Auburn, No. 5/4 Arizona, No. 6/5 Washington, No. 14/14 Baylor, No. 15/16 UCLA, No. 20/19 Tennessee and No. 24/22 Arkansas. Ole Miss (23 - NFCA) and Cal Poly (25 - NFCA) are ranked in one, while BYU, Louisville, Mississippi State, Texas and Tulsa are receiving votes in both polls. Oklahoma State (USA) is receiving votes in one of the polls.

OU Continues Remarkable Run in National Polls

After going 4-3 last week, OU slipped from No. 9 to No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll and dropped from No. 10 to No. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 for the second week in a row.

Oklahoma is the only program to be ranked every week of the NFCA poll, 328 straight polls.