Sooners Set to Face Jayhawks in Lawrence

April 13-15 | Lawrence, Kan. | Arrocha Ballpark

Kansas

^10/8 Oklahoma

FSN (Sat.)

NORMAN - Winners of 12 straight overall, 18 in a row on the road and 21 consecutive in Big 12 play, No. 10/8 Oklahoma (35-7, 6-0 Big 12) continues its seven-game road trip this weekend with a visit to Kansas (21-19, 3-6 Big 12).

First pitch is set for 5 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday, while Saturday is scheduled to start at noon.

Saturday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Network with Dave Barnett and Tracy Warren on the call. All three games can also be heard on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via the link above.

Facing Kansas

Oklahoma has a 60-44 (.577) all-time advantage over Kansas, including a 17-12 (.586) mark in Lawrence. Since OU head coach Patty Gasso arrived in 1995 the Sooners own a 49-13 (.790) edge in the series.

The Sooners have won four of the past five in the series, seven of the last nine and 15 of the past 18 contests. Kansas, however, is the only program in the country that has beaten OU in each of the last two seasons (not including 2017).

OU is undefeated in its past 11 regular season series with the Jayhawks, going 7-0-4. KU has not won a series from Oklahoma since a two-game sweep in Lawrence in 2005.

The Sooners' 60 wins over the Jayhawks are their third-highest total against any other program.

Opponent	Wins	Losses	Win Pct.
Oklahoma State	83	70	.542
Iowa State	77	28	.733
Kansas	60	44	.577
Baylor	53	12	.815
Missouri	51	41	.554

OU has faced Kansas 104 times in its history. The only teams the Sooners have faced more are Oklahoma State (151) and Iowa State (105).

Oklahoma and Kansas have three common opponents this year: Tulsa, Omaha and Wichita State. OU went 4-0 against those teams, beating Omaha twice. Kansas has gone 1-3 with a pair of losses to Tulsa and one to Wichita State.

Kansas has four Oklahomans on its roster: seniors Taylor Dodson (Grove) and Taylor McElhaney (Talala; Oologah-Talala HS), junior Harli Ridling from Sentinel and sophomore Jennifer Marwitz from Oklahoma City (Mount Saint Mary HS).

OU junior Nicole Pendley and Kansas junior Jessie Roane were teammates at Rio Rancho H.S. in Rio Rancho N.M.

Last Time They Met

Last season, OU took two of three from Kansas in Norman.

Oklahoma trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh until Caleigh Clifton's walk-off grand slam gave OU a 5-2 win. Kelsey Arnold started the inning by scoring on an infield single and three-base error. Paige Parker struck out nine, walked two and allowed just three hits, one of which was a two-run homer by Taylor Dodson in the fifth.

OU's 24-game win streak in Norman over Kansas came to an end in a 5-2 loss in game two. The Sooners stranded at least one runner in every inning, including two runners in five separate innings and 12 total. Shannon McGinley had a pair of two-run doubles for the Jayhawks.

The Sooners won the series with a 4-0 win in game three, highlighted by a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts from Parker, who retired 17 straight at one point. Then-seniors Erin Miller and Tori Nirschl each had an RBI, as did Sydney Romero and Macey Hatfield.

The last series in Lawrence came in 2015 when the Sooners lost the opener in extras but won the next two games by a combined score of 20-4.

Sooners Look to Continue Road Winning Streak

Dating back to April 8 of 2016, OU has won 18 straight road games, including all eight road contests this year. The 18 straight wins are the most in program history, bettering the old mark of 16.

Wins	Start Date	End Date
18	April 8, 2016	N/A
16	March 18, 2002	March 20, 2003

During the streak, Oklahoma has four top-25 wins, six shutouts and one run-rule win. Ten victories have been against Big 12 teams, while eight have been non-conference matchups.

Big 12 Win Streak at 21 Games

Since April 3 of 2016, OU has won 21 straight Big 12 games, including all six this year. The 21 straight wins are tied for the longest Big 12 win streak in program history.

Wins	Start Date	End Date
21	April 1, 2001	April 10, 2002
21	April 3, 2016	N/A

During the streak, Oklahoma has three top-25 wins, seven shutouts and five run-rule wins. Eleven victories have been at home and 10 have come on the road.

The Sooners are undefeated in their past 39 regular season Big 12 series, going 35-0-4. 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 6-0-0.

Since the Big 12 began in 1996, OU has the best all-time win percentage in conference play at .779 (296-84), while Texas is a distant second at .635 (226-130). Among the other teams currently in the league, Baylor is third at .513 (184-175-1), followed by Oklahoma State at .449 (170-209), Kansas at .388 (151-238), Texas Tech at .318 (121-260) and Iowa State at .208 (79-301).

Pitching Staff Nearing 2013 Levels

The Oklahoma pitching staff is having its best season statistically since the 2013 national championship team that was led by Keilani Ricketts and Michelle Gascoigne. The team's ERA (1.62), strikeout rate (7.6 per 7 IP) and opponent average (.170) are all at their best levels since 2013, while the walk rate of 1.5 walks per 7 innings pitched is actually better than 2013 (1.6).

The 2017 staff has been anchored by two-time All-American Paige Parker, but junior transfer Paige Lowary and freshman Mariah Lopez have emerged to form a powerful trio. Each pitcher has thrown at least 70.2 innings this year, while Parker has seen her inning total drop from 143.0 to 113.1 at this same point a year ago.

OU and LSU are the only teams in the country to have three pitchers with at least 70.0 IP and ERAs of 1.71 or better.

Lowary's numbers have improved significantly in Norman compared to her first two seasons at Missouri. Her ERA has improved from 3.32 to 1.71 while her strikeout rate has climbed from 6.11 per 7 IP to 6.55 and her walk rate has dropped from 3.51 per 7 IP to 2.24.

Lopez has a team-best 1.58 ERA with 71 strikeouts to just 12 walks in 70.2 IP. Her 4.06 hits/7 IP ranks second in the country among freshmen, her ERA is third-best and her strikeout rate of 7.0 is eighth (min. 70 IP).

Mendes on a Tear Since Becoming a Starter

Freshman Nicole Mendes entered the starting lineup for the Sooners on March 10 in the second game of a doubleheader vs. Omaha and hasn't left since. Over the last 21 games, in which she has started in RF (14), DP (7), LF (1) and P (1), she leads the team in hits (32), triples (3), total bases (49) and stolen bases (11) and is second in average (.432) and slugging (.662).

Mendes has hit safely in 18 of the 21 games, including four games with three hits and a four-hit game at Loyola Marymount where she had two doubles and a triple.

OU Stealing at Highest Rate in Last 12 Years

Through 42 games, Oklahoma is 73-89 on stolen base attempts. With 1.74 steals per game entering the week, OU ranked 37th in the country, but by their own standards, the Sooners are stealing at their highest rate in the past 12 years.

The 73 steals and 89 steal attempts are the most for OU at this point in the season since at least 2006.

SB	Year	SBA	Year
73	2017	89	2017
64	2007	85	2007
57	2016	70	2016
54	2010	65	2011
52	2011	64	2010

After stealing 14 bases all of last year, Caleigh Clifton already has 14 this year to lead the team with Sydney Romero, who had six a year ago. Nicole Mendes has 11 to rank third on the team. Eleven different players have at least one stolen base this year.

As a team, OU has 13 games this year with at least three stolen bases and eight games with at least four, including a season-high five against Iowa State (3/31). The 73 steals are tied for 10th most in OU history.

Quick Hits

Through 4/11, Paige Parker is 9th among active pitchers in career shutouts (25), 10th in wins (79) and ERA (1.65), 16th in total strikeouts (635), 17th in complete games (65) and strikeouts/7 IP (7.63), 29th in innings (582.7), 37th in starts (82) and 39th in appearances (114) ... Paige Lowary is 15th among active pitchers in saves (10), 31st in wins (51) and 32nd in strikeouts/7IP (6.19).

Lowary has yet to allow an earned run in 12.2 innings of Big 12 play and OU as a staff has only given up 3 in 39.0 innings (0.54 ERA) ... Mariah Lopez has given up one earned run in 16.2 innings on the road this year (0.42 ERA) ... she has also given up just one earned run in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd innings combined this year for a 0.18 ERA (39.0 IP total; 44 K's, 4 BB) ... Shay Knighten leads OU with a .625 average in conference games and a .458 mark in road games ... Knighten has driven in a run in 11 straight games

Every pitcher on the OU staff has an ERA of 1.62 or better ... as a team, OU is 84-153 (.549) with a runner on third and less than 2 out ... after hitting 15 home runs in their first 32 games (0.47/game), the Sooners have hit 12 in their last 10 contests (1.20/game) ... conversely, OU pitchers have not given up a home run in the last eight games after after giving up 25 in the first 34 games (0.74/game)