Sooners Clash with Tigers for Trip to WCWS

NCAA Super Regional

May 25-28 | Auburn, Ala. | Jane B. Moore Field

⁷ Auburn

¹⁰ Oklahoma

Live Stats

KEBC 1560

ESPN2 (Fri.) | ESPN (Sat./Sun.)

Notes

Twitter

NORMAN - The defending national champion Oklahoma softball team has earned the No. 10 overall seed in the 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Championship. OU has earned a national seed each of the last 11 seasons and is hosting a Regional for the seventh straight year and 14th time overall.

Advancing out of the Norman Regional, OU visits No. 7 Auburn this weekend in the Super Regional. Game one is Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., while game two will be Saturday at noon. If needed, a third game will take place Sunday at noon.

Game one of the series will be on ESPN2, while games two and three will be on ESPN if necessary. Mark Neely will handle play-by-play duties with analyst Jenny Dalton-Hill.

Fans can listen to each of OU's games on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via the link above.

Against the NCAA Tournament field this year, the Sooners were an impressive 20-6 (.769) during the regular season. In fact, that's what OU's record was against the field entering last year's tournament, as well.

Super Regional Experience

Oklahoma is making its 11th overall appearance in the Super Regionals since the format was introduced in 2005. Only two schools have been to more Supers, while OU also ranks sixth in win percentage of teams that have been to at least five Super Regionals at .542 (13-11) and seventh in all-time Super Regional wins

The Sooners have made each of the last eight Super Regionals, tying for the second longest active streak in the NCAA.

Team	Streak
Alabama	13
Oklahoma	8
Oregon	8
Florida	5
Florida State	5

This will be the sixth time that OU as gone on the road in the Super Regionals, but just the second since 2012. On the road, Oklahoma is 5-8 all-time in Super Regional play.

Against the Super Regional Field

Each of the 16 Super Regional teams has played at least six games against the rest of the field. With wins over UCLA and Ole Miss and a pair of victories over Baylor and losses to Tennessee, Arizona, Washington, Auburn and Baylor, OU ranks 10th in win percentage among Super Regional teams at .444.

Auburn is sixth among the 16 teams with a 9-7 record (.563) vs. the field.

Facing Auburn

The Sooners are 4-2 all-time against the Tigers, but the teams have never met in Auburn.

Most notably, the teams met in 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).

OU and Auburn opened the 2017 season against one another, marking the first time since the WCWS began in 1982 that teams playing for the national title opened the following season against one another. It was also the 23rd time that the teams faced each other at some point the following year, including each of the last four years. Teams that won the WCWS are 49-25 when teams meet again the next season.

In the 2017 season opener, Oklahoma's rally fell just short in a 3-2 loss. Vanessa Taukeiaho hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to trim Auburn's lead to one, but OU would get no closer. In her OU debut, Paige Lowary struck out a career-high 11 batters but walked five in taking the loss.

Outside of their matchup against one another, Oklahoma and Auburn have played seven common opponents in 2017: BYU, Evansville, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Ole Miss and Washington. OU went 7-2 against those teams with losses to NDSU and UW, while Auburn was 9-2 with setbacks vs. Ole Miss and Washington.

Oklahoma associate head coach Melyssa Lombardi played under Auburn head coach Clint Myers while attending Central Arizona College from 1993-94. Lombardi then transferred to OU for the 1995 and 1996 seasons, which were Patty Gasso's first two seasons at the helm of the Sooners.

Oklahoma has one Alabaman on its roster in junior catcher Hannah Sparks. She hails from Thomasville, which is about three hours southwest of Auburn.

Gasso, Myers Among Top Coaches in the Sport

Oklahoma's Patty Gasso and Auburn's Clint Myers are two of the top coaches in college softball history. Gasso has won three national titles (2000, '13, '16) at OU, while Myers took home titles in 2008 and 2001 at Arizona State.

Among D-1 coaches with at least five years, Myers ranks second in winning percentage at .803, while Gasso (23rd year) ranks seventh at .776. All-time among coaches with at least 10 years, Myers is fifth and Gasso is eighth.

The pair has faced each other nine times at the Division I level since Myers arrived at Arizona State in 2006; Gasso leads the series 5-4. The pair also battled at the junior college level when Gasso was at Long Beach City College from 1991-94 and Myers was at Central Arizona.

Postseason History

Oklahoma is making its 24th postseason appearance which is tied for 11th most in NCAA history. In addition, OU's 103 wins are third most in postseason history and its .696 win percentage if fourth best all-time (min. 5 postseason appearances).

OU has reached the postseason in each of the past 24 seasons. Only Arizona is currently on a longer streak.

Team	Streak
Arizona	31
Oklahoma	24
Washington	24
Michigan	23
Alabama, Louisiana, Notre Dame, UCLA	19

Sooners on Record Road Winning Streak

Dating to April 8 of 2016, OU has won a school record 26 straight road games, including a school-record 16 road contests this year.

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

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

OU has the longest active road win streak in the country at 26 games, ahead of Saint Francis (PA) at 17 and Washington at 10. Oklahoma is the only team in the country to be undefeated in true road games this year.

Oklahoma has also won a program-record 20 straight road games within conference play, dating to April 25, 2015. That bests the old mark of 17 between April 2001 and March 2003.

Parker Sets Career Best Scoreless Streak

Paige Parker did not allow a run over a 38.1 IP stretch from April 15 to May 19. It was the longest streak of her career and her ninth that's covered at least 20.0 innings. Parker's streak was the best by an OU pitcher since Keilani Ricketts had a 46.0 IP stretch from Feb. 25 - March 16, 2011.

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 (1.55), strikeout rate (7.53 per 7 IP) and opponent average (.176) are all at their best levels since 2013 at this stage of the season, while the walk rate of 1.57 walks per 7 innings pitched is actually better than 2013 (1.69).

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. Entering the postseason, OU and Oregon were the only teams in the country to have three pitchers who have thrown at least 91.0 IP and also have ERAs of 1.78 or better.

Parker has seen her inning total drop from 202.1 to 177.2 at this same point a year ago. The decrease in workload appears to be doing wonders for her as her ERA (1.34), strikeout rate (9.02) and walk rate (1.46) are all better than any previous season in her career.

Lowary's numbers have improved significantly in Norman compared to her first two seasons at Missouri. Her ERA has improved from 3.32 to 1.67 while her walk rate has dropped from 3.51 per 7 IP to 1.78 and her opponent average has gone from .244 to .166.

Lowary has excelled in her role as a relief pitcher. In 51.1 innings in relief, she's allowed just 6 earned runs for a 0.82 ERA with a strikeout rate of 5.73/7 IP, a walk rate of 1.50/7 IP, an opponents' average of .106 and eight saves. Conversely, her ERA in 74.2 IP as a starter is 2.25 with a K rate of 6.00, walk rate of 1.97 and average against of .203. Remove a relief performance vs. Ole Miss on Feb. 17 where she gave up 3 runs in 2.1 IP, Lowary's ERA would be at 0.43 with 3 ER allowed in 49.0 IP.

Lopez has a 2.03 ERA with 104 strikeouts to 18 walks in 96.1 IP. As of 5/21, her 1.31 walks /7 IP was thid in the country among freshmen (min. 90.0 IP), while her 5.01 hits/7 IP ranked fifth and ERA and strikeout rate of 7.6/7 IP was 8th.

Healthy Knighten a Force at the Plate

Shay Knighten battled a knee injury throughout the fall and it impacted her as the season started. She was hitting just .232 with 1 home run through the first 20 games, but she's been on a tear since.

First 20 Games	Stat	Last 38 Games
.232/.358/.321	AVG/OBP/SLG	.408/.470/.677
2	2B	8
1	HR	9
16	RBI	45

Mendes on a Tear Since Becoming a Starter

Freshman Nicole Mendes entered the starting lineup on March 10 in the second game of a DH vs. Omaha and hasn't left. Over the last 42 games (where she has started in RF, DP, LF and P), she leads the team in average (.453), runs (47), hits (67), triples (3), total bases (95) and stolen bases (21), and is second in OBP (.491).

Mendes has hit safely in 38 of the 42 games, including eight games with three hits, highlighted by a four-hit effort at Loyola Marymount where she had two doubles and a triple.

Mendes is also currently riding a career-best 20-game hit streak and 34-game on-base streak, both of which are the longest such streaks by a Sooner this year. Below are some of her stats during both the hit streak and on-base streak.

Hit Streak	Stat	On-Base Streak
.486/.500/.639	AVG/OBP/SLG	.438/.473/.620
35/24	H/R	53/36
2/0/3	2B/3B/HR	5/1/5
6	RBI	15
2/0	BB/HBP	7/1

Mendes' 20-game hit streak is three off the school record of 23 set by Kristin Vesely from Feb. 18 to March 13, 2005. Her on-base streak is the longest since Lauren Chamberlain reached in the final 25 games of the 2014 season and the first 13 of 2015 for a 38-game streak.

OU Eclipses 100 Stolen Bases

Oklahoma is 104-127 on stolen base attempts entering the Super Regional. The steal total is third most in team history.

Eleven different players have at least one stolen base this year and eight have at least seven steals. Nicole Mendes leads the team with 21 this year, while Caleigh Clifton is second with 19 and Sydney Romero has 15 this year after having just 6 in 2016.

As a team, OU has 16 games this year with at least three stolen bases and 10 games with at least four, including a season-high six at Texas Tech (4/30).

Quick Hits

Through 5/21, Paige Parker is 9th among active pitchers in career ERA (1.56) and shutouts (28), 10th in wins (88), 13th in total strikeouts (722), 15th in strikeouts/7 IP (7.81), 19th in complete games (69), 29th in innings pitched (647.0), 38th in starts (93) and 45th in appearances (127) ... Paige Lowary is 5th among active pitchers in saves (14), 34th in wins (56) and 42nd in strikeouts/7IP (6.06)

Caleigh Clifton is 29th among active players with 39 career HBP ... Nicole Mendes is 5th among active players in career batting average at .442 (min. 100 AB)

Parker leads the team in ERA during road games (1.48) and non-conference games (1.52) ... Mendes leads the team in batting average in non-conference games (.441), while Shay Knighten has a team-high .453 average in road games

Every pitcher on the OU staff has an ERA of 2.03 or better, and the staff ERA was 1.56 on the road and 1.64 during non-conference games ... after hitting 15 home runs in their first 32 games (0.47/game), the Sooners have hit 38 in their last 28 contests (1.36/game) ... conversely, OU pitchers have given up five home runs in the last 26 games (0.19/game)after giving up 25 in the first 34 contests (0.74/game)