Sooners Tabbed Preseason No. 4

NORMAN — The seven-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma softball team enters the 2019 season ranked fourth in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25, both of which were released Tuesday.

Oklahoma's No. 4 spot in the NFCA Poll marks the ninth straight year the Sooners have started in the NFCA's top 10, good for the nation's longest active streak. OU has been ranked in the top five in six of the past seven years, which is tied with Florida for the most over that stretch.

Overall, the Sooners rank third with 19 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll, trailing only Arizona (21) and UCLA (20).

Oklahoma, Michigan, UCLA and Washington are the only programs to be ranked in every NFCA preseason poll, which dates back to 1995. OU also extended its streak of being ranked every week in the 25-year existence of the NFCA's poll, 354 weeks in all.

In the 2019 NFCA Preseason Poll, OU received 696 total points behind Florida State (780), UCLA (756) and Washington (742). Florida rounds out the top five with 664 points.

In the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, the Sooners received 435 points, including a pair of first-place votes. UCLA took first at 476, Washington was second at 472, Florida State was third at 459 and Florida was fifth at 428.

This marks the 12th straight season and 15th in the 17-year history of the ESPN.com/USA Today poll that Oklahoma is ranked in the preseason top 10. The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 11 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball regions and by media members who consistently cover Division I softball across the country.

Oklahoma is scheduled to face eight ranked teams over 15 games in 2019: No. 1/3 (NFCA/USA) Florida State, No. 2/1 UCLA, No. 7/6 Arizona, No. 13/15 Kentucky, No. 15/18 Louisiana, No. 16/16 Texas, No. 18/19 Baylor and No. 22/21 Oklahoma State.

Additionally, 2019 opponents Notre Dame, Hofstra, Cal State Fullerton, Oregon State, McNeese State, Northwestern, Drake, Wichita State and Tulsa were all receiving votes in the NFCA poll.

The Sooners made their 12th appearance at the Women's College World Series in 2018 after sweeping NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals. Oklahoma has won the past seven Big 12 regular season titles, finishing with a perfect 18-0 record in 2018, and was picked to finish No. 1 in the conference's 2019 preseason poll.

OU returns two first-team 2018 All-Americans in senior infielder Sydney Romero and sophomore utility player Jocelyn Alo. In addition to Romero and Alo, returning 2018 All-Region honorees include seniors Shay Knighten and Caleigh Clifton and junior Nicole Mendes.

The Sooners begin their 2019 campaign on Feb. 8 as they take on Syracuse at the GCU Kickoff Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.

Single-game tickets go on sale Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. CT. Tickets can be ordered online or by calling (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU.