Top-10 Bedlam Showdown Begins Friday

Friday, May 7

Stillwater, Okla.

6 PM

University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

May 06, 2021 | Softball

Watch Game 1 Listen Live Stats Game Notes #LaunchPad

¹ Oklahoma

^7/9Oklahoma State

May 7-9 / 6 p.m./3 p.m./11 a.m. CT / Stillwater, Okla.

ESPN+/ESPN/ESPNU / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

WEEKEND STORYLINES

• No. 1 Oklahoma makes the short trip to Stillwater, Okla., this weekend for the Big 12 regular season finale at No. 7/9 Oklahoma State. The Bedlam Series presented by Phillips 66 will begin Friday at 6 p.m. CT, Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.

• Friday's game will be available to watch via Big 12 NOW on ESPN+ while Saturday and Sunday's games will be shown to a national audience on ESPN and ESPNU, respectively.

• 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.

• Winners of the last eight Big 12 regular season titles and 18 overall, the Sooners look to make it nine straight with at least two wins over their in-state foe.

• With a sweep of the Cowgirls, OU would make it three consecutive undefeated seasons in Big 12 play, also doing so in 2018 (18-0) and 2019 (18-0) (2020 conference play cancelled due to COVID-19).

LAST TIME OUT

• Oklahoma collected its 30th run-rule victory of the season Tuesday night in Wichita, Kan., beating No. 25/RV Wichita State 14-3 in five innings.

• Junior Grace Green blasted her second career grand slam while freshman Tiare Jennings batted in four runs and sophomore Mackenzie Donihoo brought in three.

• Entered as a pinch hitter, Green launched her second career grand slam and the Sooners' seventh of the season to finish the OU scoring in the fifth inning. The home run marked OU's 115th of the season, tying the program record for home runs in a season with the 2019 team, reaching the mark in 23 less games.

BEDLAM

• The Sooners lead the all-time series with the Cowgirls with a 94-65 record. OU holds the advantage in Norman (42-21) and Stillwater (34-33).

• The Sooners have more wins over the Cowgirls than any other team in program history and head coach Patty Gasso has more wins vs. OSU than any other team with 65.

• The Sooners have won 24 straight in the series and 27 of the past 28 matchups. The last loss for OU in the series came in Stillwater on April 27, 2011, meaning the Sooners have won 10 straight at Cowgirl Stadium. Oklahoma has won 23 straight at home vs. Oklahoma State, last losing on May 17, 1997.

• The Sooners have also won eight straight series vs. OSU. Since the Big 12's inception, OU has done no worse than a split against OSU in the regular season series and claimed in-state bragging rights in 21 of the 24 seasons.

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 Sooners look to make it nine straight regular season titles with at least two wins over the Cowgirls this weekend.

• 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 COWGIRLS

• The Cowgirls (37-6, 14-1 Big 12) are coached by Oklahoma graduate and former Sooner baseball player Kenny Gajewski. Gajewski has coached all six years of his head coaching tenure at Oklahoma State and owns a 173-95 record.

• Gajewski is 0-14 in his career against Oklahoma.

• Gajewski was part of Oklahoma Baseball's last national championship team in 1994

• OSU is led by Top-10 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, pitcher Carrie Eberle. Eberle has a 18-1 record in the circle in 2021 to go with an exceptional 0.93 ERA. She has 120 strikeouts to 48 walks on the season.

• Senior Hayley Busby leads the Cowgirls at the plate with 14 home runs to go with a .395 batting average. Fellow senior Alysen Febrey leads the team in runs batted in with 45 to Busby's 39.

• As a team, OSU is batting .324 at the plate while holding opponents to a .183 batting average. They are third in shutouts with 16 on the season and fifth in ERA with a 1.40.

ALL THE NUMBERS

• Oklahoma's offense leads the country in every major offensive category:
• Home runs: 115 (25 better than 2nd-place Wichita State's 90)

• Home runs per game: 2.80 avg.
• Batting average: .432
• On base percentage: .518
• Slugging percentage: .824
• Runs: 477 (11.63 per game avg.)

• OU is outscoring opponents 477-56 on the season, scoring an average of 11.63 runs per game to opponents 1.36 clip.

• Oklahoma has won by run rule in 30 of its 41 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:

• 3rd - Tiare Jennings - .500

• 4th - Jocelyn Alo - .492

• 5th - 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 38 of its 41 games this season and has hit at least two in 33 of the 41 contests.

• 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 11 errors on the season.
• OU's pitching staff leads the country with 21 shutouts. The staff ranks seventh with a 1.44 ERA.

RECORD BREAKERS

• The 2021 Oklahoma Softball team has set the program record for most run-rule victories in a season with 30, surpassing the 2019 and 2013 teams' 25.

• The Sooners 115 HR mark is tied with the 2019 team for the most in program history for a single season. The 2021 team hit the mark in 23 less games.

• The 2021 team currently holds the single-season program record for batting average (.432), on-base percentage (.518) and slugging (.824).

• The team is currently second in program history with 477 runs on the year to the 2015 team's 487.

• Senior Jocelyn Alo (79 career HRs) is 16 homers shy of the program and NCAA record 95 that 2015 OU grad Lauren Chamberlain hit throughout her career.

• Alo (25 HRs) and freshman Tiare Jennings (22) are quickly approaching the single-season program record for home runs (30) set in 2018 by Alo herself and 2012 and 2013 by Lauren Chamberlain.

• Freshman Tiare Jennings is eight home runs short of tying and nine away from breaking the NCAA freshman single-season home run record of 30, hit in 2012 by Chamberlain and 2018 by Alo.

• 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.

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

• 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.

ALO, JENNINGS TOP-10 FINALISTS FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Oklahoma senior utility player Jocelyn Alo and freshman infielder Tiare Jennings have been named two of the 10 finalists for the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, USA Softball announced Wednesday.

• No. 1 Oklahoma is one of three programs to have multiple top-10 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 .492/.580/1.175. Her 1.175 slugging clip leads the country and she second in runs batted in with 68 to fellow top-10 finalist and teammate Jennings' 70.

• The senior slugger has homered in 23 of OU's 41 games, including two grand slams and two multi-home run games. She has successfully reached base in 53 of OU's last 54 games, including going on a program record 40-game consecutive hit streak from Feb. 21, 2020 vs. Texas A&M to April 3, 2021 vs. Kansas.

• 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 79 career homers, just 16 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 two freshmen on the top-10 list.

• Jennings has hit 22 home runs and batted in a nation-best 70 runs on the season. She ranks third in the country in home runs. She holds a slash line of .500/.551/1.115 and her slugging clip is second in the nation. She's batting .550 in Big 12 play with seven HR, 23 RBI and 49 TB.

• Jennings has homered in 18 of OU's 41 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 .973 fielding percentage with 37 putouts and 34 assists to just two errors.

• The Top 10 will be narrowed down to three finalists (announced May 19) before the winner is announced June 1 prior to the start of the NCAA Women's College World Series.

• Oklahoma alumna Keilani Ricketts was a two-time recipient of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award in 2012 and 2013. Most recently, 2019 graduate Sydney Romero was a top-three finalist in 2019 and current redshirt senior Giselle Juarez was a top-10 finalist the same season.

AMAZING ALO

• Senior utility player Jocelyn Alo leads the country with 25 home runs in OU's 41 games. The Hawaii native has hit a homer in 23 of OU's 41 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 fourth in the country out of players with at least 100 AB with a .492 batting average.

• NCAA-leading 1.175 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.

• In conference play, Alo is batting .538 with six HRs, 19 RBIs and 43 total baes and 19 runs scored. She's slugging 1.103 in conference competition and has an on-base percentage of .654 with 13 walks drawn.

• 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, leads the country with 70 RBIs on the year and is second on the team and third in the country with 22 home runs. She's batting .550 in Big 12 play with seven HR, 23 RBI and 49 TB.

• 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 recently had her 19 game hit streak snapped.

• Coleman holds an on-base streak of 32 games as she leads the team with 26 walks drawn in 2021.

• Coleman also leads the team with 18 stolen bases on 20 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 17 walks. She holds a 1.75 ERA and opponents are batting just .197 against the Pleasanton, Calif., native.

IN THE LYONS DEN

• OU junior Grace Lyons has been known for her savviness in the field, starting all 128 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 13 errors in her OU career and just three 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 .464 on the year to go with 42 RBIs and 50 runs scored. The junior from Peoria, Ariz., has also hit 10 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 41 games and have tossed shutouts in four of OU's last six 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 95 strikeouts in 60.2 innings of work to go with 13 wins, two saves and no losses. Opponents are batting just .113 against the Land O'Lakes, Fla., native. In conference play, Saile has an exceptional 1.08 ERA with 47 strikeouts to 14 walks while opponents are batting .146 against her.

• 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. In conference play, Juarez is 7-0 with a 1.20 ERA to go with 40 strikeouts and just three walks. Opponents are batting just .172 against Juarez in conference.

• Freshman Nicole May has impressed in her first season of collegiate competition, striking out 63 in 48.0 innings pitched and collecting 11 wins to one loss. May holds a 1.75 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.