OU Begins Big 12 Championship Friday in OKC

Friday, May 13

Oklahoma City, Okla.

1 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

Iowa State

Tickets

OU Begins Big 12 Championship Friday in OKC

May 12, 2022 | Softball

Watch Listen Live Stats Tickets Game Notes Big 12 Championship Info #LaunchPad Trophy Club

¹ Oklahoma

Big 12 Softball Championship

May 13-14 / Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex

ESPNU/2 / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

WEEKEND BASICS

• No. 1 Oklahoma opens postseason this weekend at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship in Oklahoma City, May 12-14.

• The Sooners face off against four-seed Iowa State on Friday in the semifinals at 1 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPNU. The championship game is Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be available to watch on ESPN2. Courtney Lyle and Danielle Lawrie are on the call all weekend in OKC.

• All the games can be heard on 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity app with OU play-by-play announcer Chris Plank on the call.

• After 49 games played, the Sooners are batting .372 as a team with a nation-leading 123 home runs, 455 runs scored on 443 hits and 430 RBIs. They are outscoring opponents 455-41 with only 30 runs given up being earned. The team is slugging .742, holds a .482 on-base clip and has swiped 53 bases on 67 attempts.

• The pitching staff holds a nation-best 0.75 ERA and has 394 strikeouts, allowing opponents to bat just .141.

• The Sooners have won by run-rule in 35 of their 49 games (71% of games).

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 1 Oklahoma closed the regular season with a Bedlam sweep over No. 7 Oklahoma State, winning 7-1, 6-0 and 5-3.

• With the series victory, OU clinched its 10th straight Big 12 regular season title and 14th overall. The Sooners have won 21 Big 12 titles all-time (regular season and tournament combined).

• For her one home run, six RBI performance, Jocelyn Alo was named Big 12 Player of the Week. Alo hit the go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning of game three to propel the Sooners to the sweep. It was her second grand slam of the season and fifth of her career.

• The Sooners finished the regular season with a program-best mark of 48-1.

BIG 12 TOURNEY HISTORY

• Oklahoma won its fourth consecutive Big 12 Championship crown in OKC last season, run-ruling Oklahoma State by a final of 10-2 in six innings.

• The Sooners have claimed four straight Big 12 Tournament titles and seven of the 18 in league history.

• OU is 49-18 all-time at the Big 12 Softball Championship and have not lost since 2009 (0-5, Missouri).

• OU has gone undefeated and won the last four Big 12 Championships that have been competed since 2009. ('10, '17, '18, '21). The tournament was not played from 2011-16 and 2020, nor completed in 2019 (weather).

SECOND HOME

• The Sooners will make the familiar trip to USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex this weekend, traveling less than 30 miles from Marita Hynes Field to the historic stadium.

• Oklahoma has already played five games at HOF Stadium this season, going 5-0 in March at the Hall of Fame Classic, beating SHSU (10-1 [5]), Indiana (15-1 [5]), San Diego (11-0 [5]), Houston (8-0 [5]) and Iowa (20-0 [5]).

• All-time, the program is 124-48 under head coach Patty Gasso in Oklahoma City, including regular season and postseason games.

LOVING THE LONG BALL

• In 2022, the Sooners pace the NCAA with 123 home runs and a 2.5 HR/game average.

• Three Sooners occupy the top-15 in the country in home runs: Alo is second in the NCAA with 24 blasts while Jennings (22) ranks fifth and Lyons (18) sits at 13th.

• 13 Sooners have went yard already in 2022 with 11 hitting multiple blasts and eight hitting four-plus.

• As a team, Oklahoma has hit homers in 43 of its 49 contests, including hitting two or more in 32 games, three-plus in 23 games, four-plus in 15 games, five-plus five times, six or more in four games and seven once.

• The team has hit two-plus home runs in one inning 23 times, three in one inning three times and four in one inning once.

• They have hit back-to-back home runs nine times on the year.

• 18 times this season a Sooner has hit two or more homers in one game. Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings lead the way with five games of 2+ HRs, Alyssa Brito has done so three times, while Grace Lyons and Lynnsie Elam have done so twice and Jana Johns once. Alo, Elam and Lyons each have one game of three homers a piece.

PITCHING PACING THE NATION

• Oklahoma's pitching staff is not to be overlooked by the potent offense. The OU staff of Jordy Bahl, Nicole May, Hope Trautwein and Macy McAdoo leads the country with a 0.75 ERA, allowing just 30 earned runs (41 R) in OU's 49 games. Additionally, the staff holds a nation-best 28 shutouts on the season.

• OU is the only school with three pitchers in the top-ten nationally in ERA: Trautwein ranks first in the country with her 0.17, while Bahl (0.95) holds sixth and May (0.97) sits at seventh.

• The staff have a combined 394 strikeouts in 279.0 innings pitched, a product of OU's 35 run-rules.

• Freshman Jordy Bahl leads the group with 199 strikeouts in 132.1 IP, while Trautwein (81.0 IP) and May (65.0 IP) have 121 and 73 K's, respectively.

• Bahl has six games with double-digit strikeouts, including a 16-K performance vs. Tennessee and 15-K showing at Texas. Trautwein holds three double-digit K games while May has two.

• The staff has thrown two perfect games and four no-hitters. Bahl, May and Trautwein combined on a perfect game in the season opener, Trautwein threw a no-no vs. McNeese on Feb. 19 and Bahl tossed her first career perfect game Feb. 25 vs. CSU-Fullerton. May and Bahl combined on a no-hitter at Hawaii on March 12, Bahl threw a no-hitter in OU's 20-0 win over Iowa on March 20 and Bahl and May combined on a no-no at Texas Tech on April 10.

• The six no-hitters on the year is tied for the most in a single season in program history, matching 2013, 2015 and 2019's mark.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• OU finished the Big 12 regular season 17-1 en route to winning its 14th regular season crown and 10th consecutive.

• The Sooners have won 76 of their last 78 Big 12 regular season games. Their streak of 57 consecutive that ended in Stillwater with a narrow loss to the Cowgirls in 2021 was the longest in conference and program history.

• OU is unbeaten in their last 66 conference series (62-0-4 in that span) and have not lost a conference series since 2011.

• OU has finished first in the Big 12 over the past 10 seasons with a combined record of 161-15. Prior to OU's current run of 10 straight regular season titles, no team had ever won more than two consecutive.

• Overall, the Sooners have 21 Big 12 titles with 14 regular season crowns and seven Big 12 tournament championships, all under head coach Patty Gasso.

THREE NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOP 10 FINALISTS

• Oklahoma redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo, freshman Jordy Bahl and senior Grace Lyons were named 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalists, USA Softball announced the list on Wednesday.

• Oklahoma's three representatives are the most from one school with no other program having more than one finalist.

• The reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Jocelyn Alo, has had another season for the record books in 2022. Alo broke the NCAA career home run record in early March in her home state of Hawaii, hitting career No. 96 vs. Hawaii on March 12. The Hauula, Hawaii, product now has 112 career home runs and 24 on the season to go with 61 RBIs and 11 doubles. She ranks second in the country with her .476 batting average, first in the NCAA with a 1.135 slugging percentage and .624 on-base clip, drawing 44 walks on the year. Alo has five multi-homer games on the year including one game with three blasts.

• The freshman phenom, Bahl, has taken college softball by storm in her first-year campaign with the Sooners. In 132.0 innings pitched, Bahl holds a 0.95 ERA with 199 strikeouts to 29 walks. Her earned run average ranks sixth. She has allowed just 18 earned runs on the season (23 runs total) and is allowing opponents to bat just .137. Bahl has surrendered 16 extra-base hits, with only three being home runs. The Papillion, Neb., product has one individual perfect game and one solo no-hitter on the year, along with combining on one perfect game and two no-hitters. Additionally, Bahl has six double-digit strikeout performances, including a career-high 16 vs. Tennessee on Feb. 26 and a 15-K game at Texas (4/14).

• The defensive anchor for the Sooners, Lyons has had a career year at the plate. The shortstop has hit 18 home runs, good for 13th in the country and a single-season career high. The Peoria, Ariz., native has two multi-home run games including one game with three blasts. She's batted in 53 runs with a .437 batting average, .919 slugging percentage and .515 on-base clip. Lyons is second on the team with eight stolen bases on nine attempts and holds a .946 fielding percentage with 48 putouts and 57 assists. She has also assisted in turning 11 double plays.

• Alo won the award in 2021, joining Keilani Ricketts as the only Sooner to win the award, with Ricketts winning the prestigious trophy in consecutive seasons in 2012 and 2013.

• It marks Alo's third time being a Top-10 finalist of her career and first for Bahl and Lyons. Bahl is also a top-10 finalist for the NFCA/Schutt Sports National Freshman of the Year.

• The Top 10 Finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be narrowed to three finalists on May 18. The 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced prior to the NCAA Women's College World Series, slated for June 2-10 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City.

BAHL NAMED TOP 10 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR FINALIST

• Freshman Jordy Bahl has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award, the NFCA announced the 10 finalists Thursday.

• Bahl is the ninth Sooner to make the top 10 cut since the inaugural season of the award in 2014. Oklahoma has had at least one finalist represented every year since 2015, with a Sooner winning the award three times in its eight-year history: Paige Parker (2015), Jocelyn Alo (2018) and Tiare Jennings (2021). Last season OU had two of the final three finalists for the award in eventual-winner Tiare Jennings and classmate Jayda Coleman.

• Additionally, Oklahoma looks to become the first program to produce consecutive winners of the award.

• The list will be trimmed down three finalists will be released on May 26. The 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced on May 31. The list of 25 was selected by the NFCA. The top 10, top three and winner are voted on by the NFCA Division I All-America Committee.

TOP RANKS

• Oklahoma holds the No. 1 ranking in nine major national categories as a team:

• Batting Average: .372

• Earned Run Average: 0.75

• Home Runs: 123

• Home Runs per game: 2.5

• Slugging Percentage: .743

• Scoring: 9.29 runs/game

• On Base Percentage: .482

• W-L Percentage: .980

• Shutouts: 28

• Individual Ranks

• Batting Average:

• Jocelyn Alo - 2nd (.476)

• Grace Lyons - 13th (.437)

• Jayda Coleman - 18th (.433)

• ERA:

• Hope Trautwein - 1st (0.17)

• Jordy Bahl - 6th (0.95)

• Nicole May - 7th (0.97)

• Slugging Percentage:

• Jocelyn Alo - 1st - (1.135)

• Grace Lyons - 7th (.919)

• Tiare Jennings - 8th (.913)

• On Base Percentage:

• Jocelyn Alo - 1st (.624)

• Jayda Coleman - 2th (.603)

• Home Runs

• Jocelyn Alo - 2nd (24)

• Tiare Jennings - 4th (22)

• Grace Lyons - 13th (18)

• RBIs

• Tiare Jennings - 2nd (67)

• Jocelyn Alo - 9th (61)

• Grace Lyons - 19th (53)

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

• Oklahoma has won 104 of its last 109 games dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 109 games, 70 have been run-rule victories (64%).

• The Sooners have gone on consecutive run-rule stretches of nine games (Feb. 13-26) and 13 games (Feb. 27-March 26).

• The top-ranked Sooners have six top-10 and nine top-25 wins on the season and rank second in the NCAA DI RPI.

• Of their six top-10 wins, two have been by run-rule. Three of their nine top-25 W's have also been mercy-rule wins.

• In their six top-10 wins, the Sooners have outscored opponents 41-8. The margin is 69-21 in OU's favor in their nine top-25 victories.

• The OU offense has 123 home runs on the year to 125 strikeouts. Eight Sooners hold double-digit strikeouts this season, and none have struck out more than 16 times.

• The Sooners have held opponents to one run or fewer in 42 of 49 games.

• The pitching staff has sacrificed just 41 runs (30 ER) on the season to opponents. Individually, three Sooners have 41 or more runs scored.

• OU has 188 extra-base hits on the season to opponents' 37. Jocelyn Alo has 35 extra-base hits on the season by herself.

• OU's trio of Jocelyn Alo, Grace Lyons and Tiare Jennings have more combined home runs (64) than all but 24 NCAA DI teams.

SOONERS DOMINATE BIG 12 AWARDS

• Oklahoma softball collected or earned a share of all five end-of-the-year Big 12 awards and placed seven across the All-Big 12 First and Second Teams, including a league-best six on the first team. The conference announced the honors Wednesday.

• Redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo was named Big 12 Player of the Year for the second straight season in unanimous fashion, while senior Grace Lyons earned Defensive Player of the Year accolades for the second consecutive year. Garnering Freshman of the Year honors was pitcher Jordy Bahl. Bahl was also named the league's Co-Pitcher of the Year, sharing the honor with OSU's Kelly Maxwell. OU head coach Patty Gasso was the unanimous choice for Coach of the Year, her 10th straight Big 12 Coach of the Year honor.

• Alo collects OU's 15th Big 12 Player of the Year award and sixth in the last seven seasons. She was chosen unanimously as the conference player of the year and is the first repeat winner since OU alum Amber Flores (2009-10) went back-to-back. She joins Flores and Shelby Pendley (2013, '15) as the only Sooners to claim two Big 12 Player of the Year awards.

• OU's defensive anchor, Lyons, wins her second consecutive Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award and OU's fourth in the last five years. Lyons joins Heather Scaglione (2004-05) and Kelsey Arnold (2016, '18) as repeat winners in program history.

• The freshman phenom and finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year and USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Bahl, collects her first career conference awards in Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Her pitcher of the year honor is OU's eighth in school annals, while her unanimous freshman of the year accolade is OU's seventh consecutive.

• The NFCA Hall of Fame head coach, Gasso, wins an unprecedented 10th consecutive Big 12 Coach of the Year award and 14th overall in her 28 seasons at the helm in Norman.

• Of the 12 student-athletes that made up the All-Big 12 First Team, six of the selections are Sooners: Jocelyn Alo, Jordy Bahl, Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Grace Lyons and Hope Trautwein. OU's league-best six selections tie a program-best and outpaces the next-highest school by three.

• Alo collects her fourth career First Team honor, while Coleman, Jennings and Lyons all earn their second and Bahl and Trautwein were named First Team honorees for the first time of their Big 12 careers. Alo, Bahl, Jennings and Lyons were all unanimous choices. Bahl was also named to the All-Freshman Team.

• Sophomore Alyssa Brito brings OU's All-Big 12 Team total to seven Sooners as the outfielder was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, her first career Big 12 all-conference team accolade.

HOME RUN QUEEN

• Jocelyn Alo is the new home run queen of college softball. In front of the home crowd of friends of family in Honolulu on March 12, Alo hit career home run No. 96 to break the tie with OU alum Lauren Chamberlain to be the NCAA career home run leader.

• After an eight-game stretch that saw Alo walk a combined 16 times including three intentional walks, the Hauula, Hawaii, native left no doubt when she finally saw the pitch she wanted.

• The historic homer came in the top of the sixth inning versus Hawaii, a two-run blast to right center on a 2-1 count. Alo went 3-for-3 in the game with three RBIs.

• Alo hit the 96 mark in 224 games and 651 at-bats, she hit the record-tying No. 95 in 215 games, less games than Chamberlain (220) and anyone else in the all-time top 10. Chamberlain registered 607 at-bats in her career, hitting home run No. 95 in her last career at-bat.

NO. 1

• OU has been the top-ranked squad since March 2, 2021, or 62 weeks, or 436 days.

• The Sooners have held the top spot in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 for 27 straight polls.

• OU spent a school-record 13 straight weeks at No. 1 during the 2021 season and currently have tied that record with a 13-week streak in the 2022 season (every poll).

• Oklahoma was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 in both the NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25 and has held the top spot for all 13 weeks of the 2022 season.

• Oklahoma's No. 1 spot in the NFCA preseason poll marked the third time the Sooners enter a season in the top spot (2017, '18) and just the second time OU has been the unanimous choice in the coaches poll, joining the 2017 squad.

• Additionally, it's the 11th 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 nine of the past 10 years, the most over that stretch.

• Overall, the Sooners rank third with 22 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll, trailing only Arizona (24) and UCLA (23).

• 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 the only program ranked every week in the 28-year existence of the NFCA's poll (392 straight).

• It's the 15th straight season and 18th in the 20-year history of the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll that Oklahoma is ranked in the preseason top 10.

ALO WRECKING THE NCAA RECORD BOOK

• Along with her new title as the all-time NCAA Home Run Queen, Jocelyn Alo is in rare air with numerous other all-time softball records:

• Total Bases: 1st - 704 (Recently passed UCLA's Stacy Nuveman (1997-2002) total of 653)

• SLG %: 1st - .962 (Above Lauren Chamberlain's career .960)

• Consecutive Games with a HR: T1st - 7 games (3/7-26/21)

• Consecutive Game Hit Streak: 3rd - 40 games (2/21/20-4/3/21)

• RBIs: T5th - 299 (1st - Jenny Dalton [Arizona, 1993-96] 328)

THE TROPHY CLUB

• The Oklahoma softball program has announced the launch of its restructured booster club under a new name, The Trophy Club.

• The Trophy Club replaces the former Diamond Club as the program's premier booster initiative to continue to enhance the student-athlete experience at Oklahoma, both on and off the field.

• Softball fans can join now and take part in exclusive events, including the annual golf tournament, coaches luncheon and more.

For membership details and how donations will be utilized, visit The Trophy Club landing page on SoonerSports.com.

• Gifts to the Trophy Club and Oklahoma softball will be utilized for: resources for the development of our student-athletes, facility upgrades to enhance recruiting and student-athlete experiences and improved quality of travel to increase academic participation by our student-athletes.

#LAUNCHPAD

• The #LaunchPad is back in 2022! Cheer on your Sooners and support our student-athletes in a fun, new and creative way by joining the #LaunchPad. The #LaunchPad is all about #homers. Pledge to donate your own customized dollar amount for every #homer that OU Softball hits in 2022!

• All donations are 100% tax deductible and will be directed to help fund the facility project of your choice - the new Love's Field - 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 for the 2022 season.

• Include if you'd like to make a gift for every home run hit in the 2022 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. For example, if OU Softball hits 20 home runs in March after you pledged $10 per #Homer, on April 1 we will charge your card $200.

Monthly Payment Dates:

Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Friday, April 1, 2022
Monday, May 2, 2022
Wednesday, June 1, 2022

• Have fun along the way by interacting with @OU_Baseball & @OU_Softball on social media with your favorite term to use for #homers! Some of our favorites include #dingers #taters #bombs #ruthianblast #yack #fourbagger #jimmyjack

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