Sooners to Clash with Razorbacks in Supers

NCAA Super Regional
May 25-27 | Norman | OU Softball Complex

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NORMAN — Back-to-back national champion and No. 4 national seed Oklahoma softball (53-3, 18-0 Big 12) looks to qualify for its 12th Women's College World Series this weekend as it hosts No. 13 seed Arkansas (42-15, 12-12 SEC) in an NCAA Super Regional at Marita Hynes Field.

The best-of-three series begins Friday at 4 p.m. CT. Saturday's contest is scheduled for a noon CT first pitch, and if necessary, Sunday's game will begin at noon CT.

Friday's game will air on ESPN2, and Saturday and Sunday's contests are scheduled to be on ESPN. Every game can be heard on the air via KEBC 1560 AM in Norman or online through the Franchise 2. Tickets for the Super Regional sold out in 20 minutes.

The Sooners are making their ninth straight appearance in an NCAA Super Regional and 12th overall, while the Razorbacks will play in their first ever Supers

Postseason Prowess

This season marks Oklahoma's 25th consecutive appearance in the NCAA postseason, including all 24 years under head coach Patty Gasso. Only Arizona is on a longer streak (32 straight), while the Sooners are tied with Washington for second-longest run.

Oklahoma is making its 12th overall appearance in the Super Regionals since the format was introduced in 2005. Only Alabama (14) and Arizona (13) been to more Supers, and Washington is also making its 12th showing.

The Sooners have made each of the last nine Super Regionals, tying with Oregon for the second-longest active streak and trailing Alabama's 14.

This will be the sixth time that OU hosts Supers. At home, Oklahoma is 8-3 in Super Regional play.

By winning the Super Regional, the Sooners will make their 12th appearance all-time in the Women's College World Series.

Gasso One Win Away from 1,200

Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso is currently 1,199-325-2 in her 24 years with the Sooners. With one win this weekend, Gasso would become the eighth active Division I coach to reach 1,200 DI wins.

Division I Active Coaches, By Wins
1.	Carol Hutchins, Michigan	1,571
2.	Mike Candrea, Arizona	1,563
3.	Ralph Weekly, Tennessee	1,350
4.	Eugene Lenti, DePaul	1,329
5.	Diane Ninemire, Cal	1,316
6.	Donna Papa, North Carolina	1,256
7.	Margo Jonker, Central Michigan	1,248
8.	Patty Gasso, Oklahoma	1,199

Gasso ranks 11th all-time in Division I wins. She ranks No. 4 among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and No. 8 all-time.

Parker One of Four Player of the Year Finalists

Oklahoma senior pitcher Paige Parker was named one of four finalists for the 2018 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, USA Softball announced Wednesday. She joins Florida's Kelly Barnhill and Amanda Lorenz and UCLA's Rachel Garcia as this year's finalists for the award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in NCAA Division I softball.

Parker has been one of the most dominant pitchers in college softball over the past four years, named an All-American three times and the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year four times. She has held opponents under .200 at the plate (.170 in 2015; .194 in 2016; .179 in 2017) while recording an ERA below 1.70 (1.65 in 2015; 1.64 in 2016; 1.43 in 2017) over the last three years. Parker is on pace for her best statistical season yet, currently holding a .154 opponent batting average and a 0.89 ERA.

Her 0.89 ERA this season ranks fourth nationally. Parker is 28-2 and holds 120 career wins, ranking second in program history, joining Kami Keiter (101 wins, 2002-05), Jennifer Stewart (115 wins, 1999-2002) and Keilani Ricketts (133 wins, 2010-13) as the only Sooners to reach 100 wins. She also leads leads all active Division I pitchers in wins. Texas State's Randi Rupp holds 109, Oklahoma State's Emmie Robertson has 92, Furman's Lindsey Bert owns 87 and Florida State's Kylee Hanson has 85.

The Independence, Mo., native has one no-hitter, five shutouts and seven complete games this season. She has totaled 179 strikeouts, averaging 8.02 strikeouts per seven innings pitched, to bring her career total to 934 Ks. Parker ranks second all-time in program history, trailing only Ricketts, who registered 1,605 strikeouts in her career. Parker is fourth among active pitchers behind Rupp (1,270 Ks), Alabama's Alexis Osorio (1,053), and North Dakota State's Jacquelyn Sertic (940).

Parker has garnered multiple national accolades this season, named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week on April 3 and the NFCA Pitcher of the Week on May 8. Additionally, she was tabbed Big 12 Pitcher of the Week three times this season (March 19, April 2, May 7) to bring her total career weekly awards to 19, second most in Big 12 history.

Ricketts was a two-time recipient of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award (2012 and 2013). The 2018 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 29.

Alo Among Top Three for Freshman of the Year

Utility player Jocelyn Alo is one of three finalists for the 2018 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced Wednesday. Joining Alo as finalists for the award are Michigan's Meghan Beaubien and Arkansas' Mary Haff.

Alo has wowed the nation with her power at the plate in her first collegiate season. The Hauula, Hawaii, native currently leads the nation in home runs (26) while ranking second in homers per game (0.46) and fourth in slugging percentage (.955). She is also ranked fifth nationally in RBIs (67), RBIs per game (1.20) and total bases (149), ninth in runs per game (1.05), 13th in on-base percentage (.544) and 14th in walks per game (0.80).

Alo was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year after finishing conference play ranked first in home runs (9), walks (17), runs scored (18), RBIs (25), total bases (46) and slugging percentage (.979) while finishing second in on-base percentage (.554).

She was named Big 12 Player of the Week and the Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division I National Player of the Week following her performance in the Texas Tech series on March 23-25.

This is the fifth season that the NFCA will name a Freshman of the Year. In 2015, Oklahoma's Paige Parker was named the winner. The 2018 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced on May 29.

Facing Arkansas

Meeting for the sixth straight season, Oklahoma holds a 23-2 all-time record over Arkansas, including a 13-1 edge in Norman. The Sooners have won nine straight against the Razorbacks, with their last loss coming in an 11-9 setback on April 8, 2009 in Norman.

The two teams met twice in 2017, once in the regular season and once in postseason. The Sooners claimed a 4-2 victory on April 5 and a 5-3 win on May 20 in the NCAA Norman Regional.

Third-year Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The Sooners were a combined 102-22 (.823) during that time and reached the Super Regionals both years.

Last Time Out

The Sooners cruised through the NCAA Norman Regional, going 3-0 to advance to Supers. OU dominated its opponents, earning two run-rules and outscoring foes by a combined score of 24-0. It marked the first time since 2010 OU did not allow a run in regional play.

OU opened the regional with a rematch against Boston University, one of three teams to defeat the Sooners during the regular season. After the first two innings were scoreless, Shay Knighten put the Sooners on the board with an RBI singled blooped to left, driving in Kelsey Arnold. The OU offense then exploded for eight runs in the fourth to clinch a 9-0 run-rule victory in five innings.

In game two, Paige Lowary tossed a one-hit shutout and three Sooners homered to lift OU to an 8-0 run-rule victory over Tulsa in six innings. Fale Aviu, Jocelyn Alo and Nicole Pendley all registered home runs, accounting for OU's first four runs. Pendley's blast jump started a five-run sixth inning that would move the Sooners in to run-rule territory.

The Sooners advanced to their ninth straight Super Regionals with a 7-0 victory over Missouri in the regional championship game. OU took advantage of Tiger errors in the first to take a two-run lead. Arnold hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth, followed by a two-RBI single from Knighten. Pendley extended the lead with a seventh-inning home run. As on Friday, Paige Parker and Lowary combined on the shutout, the Sooners' 27th of the year.

Up Next

The winner of the NCAA Norman Super Regional will head to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series, held May 31-June 6.