Sooners Take On Huskies to Open WCWS

Women's College World Series
May 31 | 1:30 P.M. | Oklahoma City | USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Back-to-back defending national champion Oklahoma softball (55-3) will look to claim its third consecutive NCAA title and fourth in six years this week at the Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

The No. 4-seeded Sooners open the WCWS against No. 5 Washington Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT. In its second game of the double-elimination tournament, Oklahoma will face either No. 1 Oregon (52-8) or No. 8 Arizona State (48-11). A win over Washington would have OU play on Friday at 6 p.m. CT, while a loss would see Oklahoma play its second game Saturday at 11 a.m.

Oklahoma's first two games will be broadcast on ESPN and can be heard via KEBC 1560 AM in Norman or online through the Franchise 2.

With four national titles Oklahoma trails only UCLA (11) and Arizona (8) for most in NCAA history. No other program has more than two. The Sooners are in the hunt for a three-peat and would join UCLA (1988-90) as the only programs to claim three straight NCAA Softball crowns.

Postseason Prowess

This 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 the second-longest run.

Oklahoma is making its 12th overall appearance at the Women's College World Series and its seventh trip in the last eight years. No other program in the country has made as many trips to the WCWS as Oklahoma since the 2011 season.

All time, Oklahoma is tied for fourth-most WCWS appearances. The Sooners trail UCLA (28 appearances), Arizona (22) and Washington (13), and are tied with Arizona State, California, Fresno State and Michigan.

The Sooners are 100-41 all-time under Gasso in OKC, including regular season and postseason games. OU is already 3-0 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium this year and has won 20 of its last 21 games there.

Gasso Reaches 1,200 Wins

Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso earned her 1,200th win last Friday, a 7-2 victory over Arkansas, becoming 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	1,327
5.	Diane Ninemire, Cal	1,316
6.	Donna Papa, North Carolina	1,256
7.	Margo Jonker, Central Michigan	1,248
8.	Patty Gasso, Oklahoma	1,201

Gasso ranks 11th all-time in Division I wins. She ranks No. 4 among active Division I coaches in winning percentage (.787) and No. 8 all-time.

Alo Named Freshman of the Year

Utility player Jocelyn Alo has been named the NFCA Freshman of the Year, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced Tuesday night at the NCAA Championship Banquet.

Alo has been outstanding at the plate in her first collegiate season. She leads the nation in home runs with 28, just two blasts away from matching the Oklahoma single-season record. Alo also ranks first nationally in home runs per game (0.48), second in total bases (159), third in slugging percentage (0.970), fourth in RBIs (70) and RBIs per game (1.21), seventh in runs scored per game (1.07), 13th in on-base percentage (0.545), 15th in walks per game (0.79) and 30th in batting average (.415).

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).

The Hauula, Hawaii, product 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. Alo finished the series 4-for-5 (.800) with all four of her hits going out of the park. She garnered 16 total bases for a slugging percentage of 3.200 while drawing five walks for an on-base percentage of .900.

Alo is the second Sooner in four years to be named NFCA Freshman of the Year, joining pitcher Paige Parker in 2015. This is the fifth season overall that the NFCA has presented the award.

Class Act

The 2018 softball seniors of Kelsey Arnold, Paige Lowary, Paige Parker, Nicole Pendley, Hannah Sparks and Lea Wodach are leaving a lasting legacy on the OU softball program. Over the past four years, the OU seniors have totaled a record of 222-29 (.884). No other group of graduating seniors in the country has a better win percentage than OU's seniors and only Florida, which has played 11 more games, has more wins (229).

Saturday's win over Arkansas was the 100th home win for the 2018 senior class. Overall, the seniors were 100-5 at Marita Hynes Field, good for a .952 winning percentage. Their exceptional performance in Norman was capped by a perfect 30-0 home record in 2018. .

The seniors have earned six total Big 12 titles – four regular-season crowns and two postseason tournament championships. No other Big 12 team won a conference title over the last four years.

Facing Washington

The all-time series between Oklahoma and Washington is tied at 12-12, with the Huskies holding a 10-9 advantage at neutral sites. This will be the 10th postseason meeting between the two programs, with OU leading 6-3, and fifth at the WCWS, with OU leading 3-1.

The Sooners and Huskies last met at the 2017 WCWS, with the Sooners clinching a 3-1 victory. Paige Parker allowed one run on three hits over 6.1 innings, and Paige Lowary earned the save after securing the final two outs. Fale Aviu scored on a squeeze bunt to put OU on the board in the second, and she drove in Kelsey Arnold with a double in the fifth. Sydney Romero hit a solo homer in the sixth, and the Huskies hit a home run of their own in the bottom of the frame.

Last Time Out

The Sooners clinched their 12th Women's College World Series berth in program history with a two-game sweep of No. 15 Arkansas at the NCAA Norman Super Regional May 25-26.

Oklahoma opened Supers with a 7-2 victory. The Sooners took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second before Jocelyn Alo and Shay Knighten led off the third with back-to-back home runs. Nicole Mendes, who finished the day 3-for-3 with three runs scored, hit her team-high fifth triple of the season in the third and reached home on a Falepolima Aviu single. After the Razorbacks scored in the top of the fifth, the Sooners added a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Arkansas added one run in the seventh to set the final margin.

Paige Parker tossed her sixth shutout of the season and struck out nine to lead the Sooners to a 9-0 victory over the Razorbacks in game two. Offensively, Oklahoma was led by Aviu, who went 2-for-4 with one run and four RBIs; Alo, who was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs; and Mendes, who finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Alo and Aviu both homered in the contest.