No. 2 Oklahoma Set to Face No. 15 Baylor

March 29-31 | Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium

^15/15Baylor

^2/3Oklahoma

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NORMAN — No. 2/3 Oklahoma (28-2, 3-0 Big 12) travels to Waco, Texas, this weekend to face No. 15/15 Baylor (20-10, 0-0 Big 12) in its first road conference series of the season.

Baylor will be OU's fourth ranked opponent of the season. The Sooners are 4-1 against ranked teams this season, defeating then-No. 17/15 Arizona State 7-2 (Feb. 22), No. 18/17 South Carolina 4-2 (March 10) and 5-1 (March 11) and No. 17/18 Ohio State 5-0 (Feb. 18) while dropping a 2-0 decision to No. 13/12 Arizona (Feb. 24). Arizona State is now ranked No. 8/7, South Carolina is No. 9/8, Arizona is No. 11/9 and Ohio State is now No. 24/24.

Thursday and Friday's games are both slated for 6:30 p.m. CT starts and are scheduled to be broadcast via Fox Sports Southwest Plus with with John Morris and Jordan Strickland on the call. Saturday's game will be OU's first nationally televised contest of the season, scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT airing on ESPN with Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Amanda Scarborough on the call.

All three games will be available on the air through KEBC 1560 AM in Norman or online via the Franchise 2.

Hot Start

With a 28-2 record this season, the Sooners are off to their best start through 30 games since 2007, when the Sooners opened the season 29-1. The 2007 squad went on to finish the year 55-8, ending its season with a pair of losses to DePaul in the NCAA Super Regionals.

Oklahoma has outscored its opponents 214-27 this season. The Sooners have blanked their opponents in 15 games, marking the fastest an OU team has reached 15 shutouts since the 2013 team did so in 23 games. In 2013, OU also opened the season 28-2 and eventually finished the year 57-4, claiming the program's second national championship.

Additionally, the Sooners have earned 12 run-rule wins in 2018, the fastest they have done so since the 2015 squad claimed 12 in 22 games. The 2015 Sooners went 49-9 on the season, ending their season at a Super Regional against Alabama.

Road Warriors

The Sooners have won 33 consecutive true road contests, including five this season. OU's last defeat on the road was over two years ago as it dropped a 7-5 decision to Cal State Fullerton on March 18, 2016.

So far this season, OU has outscored opponents 36-5 in road contests with two shutouts and one run-rule. The Sooners have slashed (AVG/OBP/SLG) .282/.410/.456 over five away games, recording 12 extra-base hits with five doubles and seven home runs.

The OU pitching staff has allowed just four earned runs in away games this season, combining for an ERA of 0.76 over 37.0 innings. It is currently holding opponents to a .167 batting average.

The Sooners' first road wins of 2018 came on Feb. 9-10 at the GCU Kickoff Tournament as OU downed Grand Canyon 8-1 and 10-0 (five innings). The Sooners then defeated New Mexico State 2-0 at the Troy Cox Classic on Feb. 17. In its most recent road trip, OU took down Cal State Fullerton 14-3 on March 18 before defeating CSUN 2-1 in 11 innings on March 19.

In 2017, OU won all 18 of its road contests, including 11 in Big 12 play. The Sooners outscored their opponents 117-33 on the road, including six shutouts and three run-rule wins.

The Sooners slashed .319/.388/.506 on the road in 2017. OU's pitchers combined for a 1.43 ERA over 122.0 innings.

Streaking

The Sooners have won 19 consecutive games with their last defeat coming on Feb. 24 at the hands of then-No. 13 Arizona as OU lost 2-0 in the final game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Sooners' current streak sits at sixth best in program history.

The win streak currently stands as the longest active streak in Division I softball.

With a sweep this weekend, the Sooners' 22-game winning streak would rank fourth all-time in school annals.

OU has not lost a true road game since a 7-5 setback at Cal State Fullerton on March 18, 2016, a streak of 33 consecutive road wins. The current streak is a program record with the second-best run lasting from March 18, 2002 to March 20, 2003, a total of 16 road games.

The Sooners are undefeated at home this year (10-0) and have won 17 consecutive home games, dating back to last season. The current run is sixth best in program history.

Freshman Jocelyn Alo has reached base in 20 consecutive games, which leads the team this season. Senior Lea Wodach has reached base in nine straight contests, while junior Shay Knighten is on an eight-game streak.

Alo is also currently on a seven-game hit streak. Knighten and Caleigh Clifton both hold four-game hit streaks.

Alo Named National Player of the Week

Freshman utility player Jocelyn Alo enters her first conference series with an impressive start under her belt due to her power at the plate. The Hauula, Hawaii, native leads the nation in home runs per game (0.53) and slugging percentage (1.134) while ranking second in home runs (16), fourth in total bases (93) and fifth in on-base percentage (0.598).

In the opening weekend of Big 12 play, Alo led the conference in home runs (4), runs scored (six), RBIs (10), total bases (16), on-base percentage (.900) and slugging percentage (3.200) while tying for first in walks (5) and batting average (.800).

In four games last week (March 19-25), Alo was 5-for-9 (.556). Each of her five hits went out of the park as she finished the week with a 2.222 slugging percentage.

With an exceptional week at the plate, Alo was named both the Big 12 Player of the Week (March 26) and the Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division I National Player of the Week (March 27). The conference honor was the third of the season for the Sooners and the first of Alo's career.

Alo is the first Sooner to earn weekly recognition from the NFCA since Paige Parker was named Pitcher of the Week in April 2015. Alo, Parker and former Sooner Keilani Ricketts are the only freshmen in program history to receive a national weekly nod as Parker was named NFCA Pitcher of the Week and USA Softball Player of the Week in 2015 and Ricketts was named USA Softball Player of the Week in 2010.

Last Time Out

The Sooners began the hunt for their unprecedented seventh consecutive regular season Big 12 title with a three-game sweep over Texas Tech on March 23-25. OU outscored TTU 35-1 on the weekend, run-ruling the Red Raiders in five innings in each game. It marked the first time the Sooners run-ruled an entire conference series since they did so against Iowa State in 2014.

The Sooners were led at the plate by freshman Jocelyn Alo, who was 4-for-5 (.800) in the series with all four of her hits going out of the park. She drove in 10 RBIs and totaled 16 bases for a slugging percentage of 3.200. Alo also drew walks in five of her 10 plate appearances and totaled a team-high .900 on-base percentage. She was named the NFCA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week for her performance.

OU's first win of the series was sparked by a four-homer first inning. Sydney Romero, Alo, Nicole Pendley and Caleigh Clifton all homered to give the Sooners a 6-0 lead. The Sooners secured an 8-0 run-rule win with a pair of runs in the third inning. Romero doubled to right center to drive in pinch runner Hannah Sparks from third, and Fale Aviu later singled to plate Romero.

Game two saw a similar result as the Sooners run-ruled the Red Raiders 8-0 in five innings again. Clifton, and Alo drove in two runs in the contest, while Romero, Pendley and Aviu all drove in one. The Sooners clinched the win in walk-off fashion as Romero doubled to right field to drive in pinch runner Sparks from second.

The Sooners secured the series sweep with a dominant showing in game three, matching the 10th-highest run total in program history as they won 19-1 in five innings. The Sooners jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the bottom of the first and added another run in the second, three in the third and seven in the fourth. Alo recorded her second career game with multiple home runs, driving in a single-game career-high six RBIs off two blasts. Clifton was 4-for-4 in the game, riving in five runs and scoring two as she also homered. Shay Knighten also had a multi-RBI game, driving in two runs on her second home run of the season.

The OU pitching staff remained dominant in the circle, allowing just one run on 12 hits over the weekend for a combined ERA of 0.47. The pitchers held their opponents to a .222 batting average and totaled 16 strikeouts, led by Paige Parker's seven over 5.1 innings.

Facing Baylor

In the all-time series, OU leads Baylor 56-13 with an 18-5 advantage in Waco. Although the Lady Bears handed the Sooners their only conference loss in 2017, OU claimed the conference series 2-1 before defeating BU in its first game of the Women's College World Series.

The Sooners outlasted the Lady Bears in extras in their first contest of 2017, as OU came from behind to win in walk-off fashion. The game was scoreless through the first eight innings, but Baylor got on the board in the top of the ninth. OU responded in the bottom of the frame as Nicole Mendes drove in Sydney Romero from second with a line drive to the center field. Baylor scored again in the top of the 10th to take the lead. However, with two outs and runners on first and second, Falepolima Aviu drilled a double to left that brought both runners home.

In game two, Baylor handed OU its first and only Big 12 loss as it narrowly claimed a 4-3 win. The Lady Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a pair of runs in both the first and third innings. In the fourth, Aviu doubled to bring Mendes home from second. OU added two more runs in the fifth as Caleigh Clifton homered to center, but the Sooners were unable to score go-ahead runs in the sixth or seventh frames.

OU claimed the series with a 6-0 victory in game two of a doubleheader. Nicole Pendley hit a first-inning grand slam to build a 4-0 lead. Kelsey Arnold drove in one run, and the other run was scored on an error on an Arnold grounder.

In their opening game of the WCWS, the Sooners took down the Lady Bears 6-3, sparked by a four-run first inning. Aviu drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly before Pendley drilled a three-run blast to left field. Although Baylor scored in the second inning, OU responded with runs in the third and fourth as Aviu drove in another run and Clifton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Baylor got two unearned runs in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to prevent OU from winning for the third time in four meetings in 2017 eighth time in the last nine meetings.

OU and Baylor last met in Waco on April 8-10, 2016, as the Sooners swept the three-game series. OU outscored Baylor 16-4 with wins of 5-0, 4-0 and 7-4.

Up Next

Oklahoma heads to Ames, Iowa, next weekend for a three-game series with Iowa State. The Sooners and the Cyclones are scheduled to face off on Friday at 4 p.m. CT and on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

In all-time meetings between the two schools, Oklahoma leads ISU 77-28, including an 34-8 mark in Ames.