OU Wichita Bound for Non-Conference Finale

Tuesday, May 4

Wichita, Kan.

6 PM

University of Oklahoma

Wichita State

OU Wichita Bound for Non-Conference Finale

May 03, 2021 | Softball

Watch Listen Live Stats Game Notes

¹ Oklahoma

Wichita State

May 4 / 6 p.m. CT / Wichita, Kansas

ESPN+ / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

MIDWEEK STORYLINES

• No. 1 Oklahoma travels up I-35 for a midweek matchup at Wichita State, Tuesday May 4 at 6 p.m. CT.

• The game will be available to watch via ESPN+ on subscription basis with Jamie Hull and Nicole Entz commentating.

• The action can be heard on The Franchise 2 (103.3 FM, 1560 AM) in Oklahoma and nationwide on the TuneIn app with OU play-by-play announcer Chris Plank calling the action.

• The Sooners and Shockers are making up the single-game contest that was originally scheduled for April 7 but was postponed due to inclement weather in the Wichita area.

LAST TIME OUT

• OU is coming off a conference sweep of Baylor (7-1, 11-0 [6]) in Waco. The Sooners moved to 14-0 in Big 12 play and won their 59th consecutive Big 12 series dating back to 2011.

• The Sooners outscored Baylor 18-1 in the doubleheader and collected their NCAA-best 21st shutout and 29th run-rule of the season in the nightcap.

• Redshirt senior Nicole Mendes woke up the Oklahoma offense in the fourth inning of game one, launching her second career grand slam in go-ahead fashion to put the Sooners on top 4-1 before OU added three more runs via home runs from Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings.

• Redshirt senior Shannon Saile was exceptional in the second game of the doubleheader. Saile retired the first nine Baylor batters and recorded her 12th win of the year, allowing no runs to just two hits, one walk while striking out six in four innings of work.

LAST TIME THEY MET

• The Sooners hold a 50-7 win margin over the Shockers, including a 14-4 record in Wichita.

• The teams last met March 4, 2020 in Norman, a 8-5 victory in Oklahoma's favor. The Sooners hit three home runs in the game to complete the comeback win after going down four runs in the first inning.

• The last meeting at Wilkins Stadium came on April 24, 2019, an 8-0 run-rule shutout by the Sooners. The game marked consecutive win No. 32 for OU at the time, setting a program record for consecutive victories. The team pushed the win streak to 41 before dropping a game.

• The Sooner offense was propelled by three home runs in the 2019 midweek contest at WSU. Jocelyn Alo hit two and also doubled to finish 3-for-3 on the day with five RBIs and two runs. Senior Sydney Romero hit the third OU home run, her then-50th career blast.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• The top-ranked Sooners are 14-0 through five Big 12 conference series with Bedlam on deck this weekend. OU has swept Iowa State (March 26-28) in Ames while sweeping Kansas (April 1-3), No. 7/8 Texas (April 16-18) and Texas Tech (April 24-25) in Norman and most recently topping Baylor in two (April 27).

• Oklahoma has won 57 consecutive Big 12 regular season games, with its last loss coming against Baylor on April 23, 2017. The streak is the longest in program history.

• OU is undefeated in their last 59 conference series (55-0-4 in that span) and have not lost a conference series since 2011.

• Winner of the last eight regular season Big 12 championships, the Oklahoma softball team topped the 2021 Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll and looks to make it nine straight regular season titles in 2021.

• OU has finished first in the Big 12 over the past eight seasons with a combined record of 142-13. Prior to OU's current run of eight straight regular season titles, no team had ever won more than two consecutive.

• Overall, the Sooners have 18 Big 12 titles with 12 regular season crowns and six Big 12 tournament championships, all under head coach Patty Gasso. OU claimed the last completed tournament championship in 2018 for the second year in a row (tournament was not finished in 2019 due to inclement weather).

• In 2019, the last year Big 12 conference softball contests were played due to the cancellation of the 2020 season prior to conference play, the Sooners became the first program to finish Big 12 play undefeated in back-to-back seasons.

A LOOK AT THE SHOCKERS

• The Shockers are guided by Kristi Bredbenner in her 10th season at the helm of the WSU program. Bredbenner recently collected her 600th career victory April 13 vs. Kansas City.

• Wichita State possess power at the plate. The Shockers rank second in the country to the Sooners in home runs with 90 round-trippers, averaging 1.88 HRs per game.

• The duo of freshman Addison Barnard (20 HRs) and senior Madison Perrigan (17 HRs) lead the Shockers at the plate to go with respective batting averages of .315 and .289.

• Senior Bailey Lange paces WSU in the circle with a 19-5 record on the year and an ERA of 2.25. The lefty has 122 strikeouts on the season to 48 walks in 152.1 innings pitched.

• Oklahoma Connection: Seven Shockers are from the state of Oklahoma, including junior Erin McDonald out of Norman High School.

ALL THE NUMBERS

• Oklahoma's offense leads the country in every major offensive category:
    • Home runs: 114 (24 better than 2nd-place Wichita State's 90)
    • Home runs per game: 2.85 avg.
    • Batting average: .430
    • On base percentage: .516
    • Slugging percentage: .824
    • Runs: 463 (11.57 per game avg.)

• OU is outscoring opponents 463-53 on the season, scoring an average of 11.57 runs per game to opponents 1.33 clip.

• Oklahoma has won by run rule in 29 of its 40 games.

• OU has scored 10-plus runs in one inning six times in 2021.
• 13 Sooners have hit a home run this season, with 11 players blasting at least two.

• The Sooners hold three of the top four individual batting averages in the country out of players with at least 100 AB:
    • 2nd - Jocelyn Alo - .504
    • 3rd - Tiare Jennings - .492
    • 4th - Jayda Coleman - .491

• Two of the top three home run hitters in the country reside in Norman.
• 1st - Alo: 25
• 3rd - Jennings: 22

• As a team, OU has hit at least one home run in 37 of its 40 games this season and has hit at least two in 33 of the 40 contests.

• The Sooners 114 HR mark in 2021 is already good for second in program history for a single season and is just one shy of tying the program record 115 set in 2019.

• Oklahoma has hit two-plus home runs in one inning 26 times this season, including three or more seven times and four-plus in one inning four times.

• The Sooners have hit back-to-back home runs 12 times in 2021 and back-to-back-to-back blasts three times.

• The Oklahoma defense holds first in the country out of teams that have played at least five games with a .988 fielding percentage and has committed just 10 errors on the season.

• OU's pitching staff leads the country with 21 shutouts. The staff ranks seventh with a 1.45 ERA.

• Oklahoma holds the top two run single-game run totals of 2021 with 33 in its victory over New Mexico Feb. 27 and 29 in its season opener over UTEP.

• The fourth inning of OU's game three vs. Texas Tech (4/25) marked the most runs scored in an inning in program history and tied for the second most in NCAA history, second only to College of Charleston's 29 on Feb. 11, 2004 (2nd inn.) vs. Savannah State and sharing the mark with Canisius' 18 mark on May 1, 1985 (2nd inn.) vs. Roberts Wesleyan.

• Oklahoma set an NCAA single-game home run record with 13 in the season opener versus UTEP, a 29-0 (5 inn.) run-rule victory. The team tied the NCAA record for homers in an inning with five in the first and fifth innings of the game.

• Freshman Tiare Jennings and junior Grace Lyons tied the school record for home runs in a game with three a piece against the Miners in the season opener.

• Oklahoma registered a program-best 28 hits in its 33-4 victory over New Mexico on Feb. 27 in Phoenix.

ALO, JENNINGS TOP 25 FINALISTS FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Oklahoma senior utility player Jocelyn Alo and freshman infielder Tiare Jennings have been named two of the 25 finalists for the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, USA Softball announced April 23.

• No. 1 Oklahoma is one of just five programs in the country to have multiple finalists for the award, considered the most prestigious honor in NCAA Division I softball.

• Alo has paced the potent Oklahoma offense in 2021, holding the nation's lead with 25 home runs to go with an exceptional slash line of .504/.589/1.205. Her 1.205 slugging clip leads the country and she leads in runs batted in with at 68.

• The senior slugger has homered in 23 of OU's 40 games, including two grand slams and two multi-home run games. She has successfully reached base in 52 of OU's last 53 games, including going on a program record 40-game consecutive hit streak dating back to 2020.

• Additionally, Alo tied the NCAA record for consecutive games with a home run at seven from March 7 vs. Sam Houston through OU's first matchup with Iowa State March 26. The Hauula, Hawaii, native has 77 career homers, just 18 shy of the OU and NCAA career record for home runs, set by 2015 OU grad Lauren Chamberlain.

• Jennings has had one of the more impressive starts for a freshman in program and NCAA history in 2021. The San Pedro, Calif., native is one of just two freshmen on the top-25 list.

• Jennings has hit 22 home runs and batted in 66 runs on the season, second in the country to Alo in the RBI category and ranking third in home runs. She holds a slash line of .492/.546/1.119 and her slugging clip is second in the nation.

• Jennings has homered in 18 of OU's 40 games and hit multiple home runs in a game three times, beginning with the season opener at UTEP where she tied a single-game program record with three home runs in her first collegiate game. The frosh has also been exceptional in the field, starting every game of the season at second or third base and holding a .971 fielding percentage with 35 putouts and 32 assists to just two errors.

• The Top 25 will eventually be narrowed down to a Top 10 (announced May 5) and Top 3 (announced May 19) before the winner is announced prior to the start of the NCAA Women's College World Series.

AMAZING ALO

• Senior utility player Jocelyn Alo leads the country with 25 home runs in OU's 40 games. The Hawaii native has hit a homer in 23 of OU's 40 games, including two grand slams and two multi-HR games.

• Alo has moved up the OU record book for career home runs to second in program history with 79. The NCAA HR record holder Lauren Chamberlain ranks first in program and NCAA history with 95.

• The slugger tied the NCAA record for consecutive games with a home run at seven from March 7 vs. Sam Houston through OU's first matchup with Iowa State on March 26.

• Alo and Chamberlain share the OU single-season HR record at 30 home runs, Chamberlain doing so twice ('12, '13) and Alo hitting the 30 mark her freshman season in 2018.

• More of Alo's eye-popping numbers:
    • 1st in the country with 25 home runs.
    • Averaging 0.63 home runs per game and a home run ever 4.68 at-bats
    • Ranks second in the country out of players with at least 100 AB with a .504 batting average.
    • NCAA-leading 1.205 slugging percentage

• Program record 40-game hit streak dating back to Feb. 21, 2020 vs. Texas A&M came to a close April 3 vs. Kansas. The streak goes down as the third best consecutive game hitting streak in NCAA history, falling just three games shy of the record.

• Alo recently announced she will be returning for her extra year of eligibility in 2022 as a redshirt senior.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS

• Oklahoma's freshman trio of Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings and Nicole May have put together quite the first-year campaigns as Sooners.

• Jennings, the 2019-20 Gatorade California Softball Player of the Year, is second in the country with 66 RBIs on the year and is second on the team and third in the country with 22 home runs.

• Coleman, the 2019-20 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year out of The Colony, Texas, is third on the team with a .491 batting average and just had her 19 game hit streak snapped four games ago at Georgia (April 20).

• Coleman also leads the team with 16 stolen bases on 18 attempts in 2021. She's tied for third on the team in doubles with seven on the year and has hit five home runs.

• May, the 2018-19 Gatorade California Softball Player of the Year, is third among the OU pitching staff with 11 wins on the season and third in strikeouts behind veterans Giselle Juarez and Shannon Saile with 63 K's on the year to just 14 walks. She holds an exceptional 1.64 ERA and opponents are batting just .195 against the Pleasanton, Calif., native.

IN THE LYONS DEN

• OU junior Grace Lyons has been known for her savviness in the field, starting all 125 games of her career at short stop for the Sooners dating back to her freshman season in 2019.

• Lyons has a career fielding percentage of .964 and has committed just 12 errors in her OU career and only two in 2021 (.977 FLD%)

• Equally impressive at the plate, Lyons has blasted 12 home runs in 2021 for fourth on the team in a locker room full of big bats.

• Lyons is batting .450 on the year to go with 42 RBIs and 48 runs scored. The junior from Peoria, Ariz., has also hit nine doubles on the year, good for second on the team.

JUAREZ, SAILE LEAD SEVEN-DEEP CIRCLE

• The seven-deep Oklahoma pitching staff has put together a solid season, pitching shutouts in 21 of OU's 40 games and have tossed shutouts in four of OU's last five games.

• The staff has put together two combined perfect games this season plus a no-hitter. Redshirt senior Giselle Juarez, redshirt sophomore Brooke Vestal and freshman Nicole May pitched a perfect game vs. Portland State (2/28). Three OU pitchers, Vestal, freshman Alanna Thiede and sophomore Olivia Rains, combined for OU's second perfect game of the season vs. Sam Houston, March 7. Juarez, Rains and Shannon Saile combined to throw a no-hitter versus New Mexico Feb. 26, an 8-0 run-rule OU victory.

• Along with two perfect games and one no-hitter, the staff has allowed just one hit in nine games this season.

• The staff holds a 1.45 ERA and has allowed 53 runs in 40 games to go with 296 strikeouts and 120 hits allowed to 70 walks.

• Redshirt senior Shannon Saile boasts 94 strikeouts in 56.2 innings of work to go with 12 wins and two saves. Opponents are batting just .115 against the Land O'Lakes, Fla., native.

• Redshirt senior LHP Giselle Juarez paces OU with 101 strikeouts on the year in 82.0 IP to go with a team-best 15 wins.

• Freshman Nicole May has impressed in her first season of collegiate competition, striking out 63 in 47.0 innings pitched and collecting 11 wins to one loss. May holds a 1.64 ERA.

• Sophomores Olivia Rains (16.2), Macy McAdoo (7.2), Alanna Thiede (10.1) and Brooke Vestal (7.1) have all seen action for the Sooners.

#LAUNCHPAD

• The Sooner Club recently launched a fun, new and creative way to support OU student-athletes and the OU Softball and Baseball stadium projects by offering fans the opportunity to join the #LaunchPad. The #LaunchPad is all about #homers. Pledge to donate your own customized dollar amount for every #homer that OU Softball and/or OU Baseball hit in 2021!

• All donations are 100% tax deductible and will be directed to help fund the facility project of your choice - the new OU Softball Stadium Project and/or the OU Baseball Stadium Renovation Project.

• How It Works: Donate an amount to be charged per home run for softball and/or baseball for the 2021 season.

• Include if you'd like to make a gift for every home run hit in the 2021 season or start your pledge as of today.

• Watch the Sooners and cheer us on to victory while supporting future OU facility projects for baseball and softball.

• #Homers hit prior to your gift date will be included in your pledge. Monthly updates on the Pledge Per Home Run Campaign and other important Sooner Club information will be shared throughout the season.

• All donations from the Pledge Per Home Run Campaign will be treated as charitable donations supporting either the OU Softball Stadium Project or the OU Baseball Stadium Renovation Project and are tax-deductible.

• Payment Dates: Each month, we will charge your card on the first business day of the proceeding month for the amount you have elected to pledge per home run multiplied by the number of home runs in that month. (Monthly Payment Dates: Thursday, April 1, 2021; Monday, May 3, 2021; Tuesday, June 1, 2021; Thursday, July 1, 2021)

For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.