Romero, Juarez Sweep Big 12 Weekly Awards

NORMAN — Oklahoma senior infielder Sydney Romero and junior pitcher Giselle Juarez swept the Big 12 weekly awards, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Romero was tabbed Big 12 Player of the Week for the fifth time in her career and first time this season. Juarez earned her first career Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honor.

Overall, the Sooners have earned four of the league's six weekly honors so far this year after junior Mariah Lopez earned consecutive pitcher of the week honors to open the year.

Romero finished the week 8-for-15 at the plate, good for a league-best .533 batting average. She led the conference in hits (8), runs (8), hits per game (1.6) and runs per game (1.6) last weekend.

She set a career high with four runs against UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, becoming one of just three Big 12 athletes to score four runs in a single game this season. Additionally, she matched a career best with three hits against the Gauchos.

The senior hit two home runs at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, including a game-winning two-run blast against No. 14 Arizona. She ranked second in the Big 12 with 14 total bases and seventh with four RBIs during last weekend's games.

Additionally, Romero was No. 2 in the league in both slugging (.933) and on-base percentage (.563). She was the only player to finish within the top four in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

Juarez went 2-0 in three appearances (two starts) at last weekend's tournament. Overall, she led the conference with 29 strikeouts, finishing second with 14.16 strikeouts per seven innings pitched.

She struck out 14 batters over 6.0 shutout innings against BYU, good for the most strikeouts by a Big 12 pitcher this season and her first double-digit strikeout performance as a Sooner. Juarez followed that showing up with 11 strikeouts against No. 14 Arizona. In her third appearance, Juarez struck out all four batters she faced over 1.1 innings of work.

A native of Glendale, Ariz., Juarez allowed just one run all weekend, coming against the 14th-ranked Wildcats to finish with a 0.49 ERA. She scattered four hits over 14.1 innings to total a .087 opponent batting average that ranked third in the league and first among pitchers with multiple appearances.

Up next, the Sooners open their home slate March 1-3 as they host Oregon State and Louisiana in the Courtyard Marriott Tournament at Marita Hynes Field. Tickets for Saturday's game have sold out; tickets for Friday and Sunday can be purchased online or by phone at (800) 456-GoOU.