Sooner Alums Set for Athletes Unlimited Season

NORMAN – Three former Oklahoma softball players are set to compete in the second season of the Athletes Unlimited professional softball league. The league's season begins this Saturday, August 28, and run through September 27, with all games being played at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill.

Alumnae Caleigh Clifton (2019), Shelby Pendley (2015) and Sydney Romero (2019) will represent the Sooners in the league's second season. Clifton and Pendley return after playing in AU's inaugural season in 2020 while Romero makes her Athletes Unlimited debut fresh off representing Mexico in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Games will air on FS1, FS2, CBS Sports Network and YouTube throughout the season. The full schedule can be found via AU's website here. For fans in the area, tickets can be purchased via AU's website.

The point-based league held its Week One draft on Tuesday with the top four point scorers from 2020 serving as team captains: Cat Osterman, Jessie Warren, Victoria Hayward and Erika Piancastelli. Each captain drafted their own 15-player squads out of the 60-player pool for the first week of competition. The draft process repeats each week with the top four point scorers of the previous week being named captains.

The three Sooner alums will play on three separate teams in week one with Clifton being chosen by Piancastelli's purple team, Pendley selected by Osterman's gold squad and Romero drafted to Warren's orange team.

For fans tuning in to Athletes Unlimited for the first time, there is no postseason play or team champion as one individual champion is awarded at the end of the season to the athlete that accumulates the most points. Osterman was named the league's inaugural champion in 2020.

Players can earn points a variety of ways such as being named the MVP of a game, registering hits or stealing bases. They can also lose points by being thrown out trying to steal a base or giving up earned runs if you are a pitcher.

As a team, players earn points by outscoring their opponents in each inning and by winning games. The full scoring system can be found here.

Romero and Team Warren play the season's first game at 3 p.m. CT Saturday versus Team Hayward. The game can be seen via YouTube. Clifton and Pendley face off at 6 p.m. Saturday evening on FS1 with Team Piancastelli (purple) facing off against Team Osterman (gold). The full schedule can be found here.

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

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Alums Set for Athletes Unlimited Season

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