No. 1 OU Opens WCWS Thursday

¹ Oklahoma

Women's College World Series

June 2-9/10 / Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Softball HOF Complex

WCWS BASICS

• The defending national champion and No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma (54-2) looks to defend its crown at the 2022 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City beginning Thursday, June 2.

• Oklahoma is vying for back-to-back national titles, a fourth in the last six seasons and the program's sixth crown all-time.

• The Sooners are making their sixth consecutive and 15th appearance all-time in the Women's College World Series, including 10th trip in the last 11 years. No other program in the country has made as many trips to the WCWS as OU since the 2011 season.

• Oklahoma opens WCWS play versus Northwestern on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPN with Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Holly Rowe on the call.

• 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 and alum DJ Sanchez on the call.

• After 56 games played, the Sooners are batting .369 as a team with a nation-leading 138 home runs, 515 runs scored on 508 hits and 486 RBIs. They are outscoring opponents 515-48 with only 37 runs given up being earned. The team is slugging .731, holds a .476 on-base clip and has swiped 59 bases on 76 attempts.

• The pitching staff holds a nation-best 0.80 ERA and has 435 strikeouts, allowing opponents to bat just .139 on the year. The staff has also thrown a program-record eight no-hitters and 32 shutouts on the year.

• The Sooners have won by run-rule in a program-record 38 of their 56 games (68% of games).

BACK TO OKC

• Oklahoma is making its 15th overall appearance at the WCWS, the third-most showings all-time. The Sooners trail only UCLA (31 appearances) and Arizona (25).

• Overall, this season marks Oklahoma's 28th consecutive appearance in the NCAA postseason, including every year under head coach Patty Gasso. Only Arizona holds a longer active streak (35 straight), while the Sooners are tied with Washington for second-longest run.

• With five national titles (2000, '13, '16, '17, '21) Oklahoma trails only UCLA (12) and Arizona (8) for most in NCAA history, and no other team has more than two.

• In 2021, OU capped a record-breaking 56-4 campaign by claiming the program's fifth national title. Super senior Giselle Juarez claimed Most Outstanding Player of the WCWS while Jocelyn Alo launched four homers throughout the tourney. OU broke records for runs scored (49) and home runs (15). Alo's four home runs tied for the most all-time at the WCWS.

Lead_Green vs UCF

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 seven games at HOF Stadium this season, going 6-1 in March at the Hall of Fame Classic and at the Big 12 Tournament in May.

• All-time, the program is 125-49 under head coach Patty Gasso in Oklahoma City, including regular season and postseason games.

OU VS. THE FIELD

• Northwestern: The Sooners are 20-2 all-time versus Northwestern. In 2019, the teams met in the NCAA Norman Super Regional, with the Sooners sweeping the Wildcats by scores of 3-0 and 8-0. The teams met in the abbreviated 2020 season in Norman, with OU taking two games by scores of 8-3 and 5-1.

• UCLA: The two historic programs met early this season in Irvine at the inaugural Mark Campbell Invitational with the No. 1 Sooners beating the No. 3 Bruins 4-1. The teams met in the 2021 WCWS with the Sooners besting the Bruins 10-3 to eliminate UCLA from the World Series. All-time, UCLA holds a 12-6 advantage.

• Texas: OU took the series from its Red River rival in Austin in April, winning two of three. Texas ended OU's 40-game win streak and 38-0 start to the season. OU leads the series 50-25 and the teams have met in the World Series once in 2013, a 10-2 OU run-rule win in five innings.

• Oklahoma State: OU is 3-1 over their Bedlam rivals in 2022 and 100-72 all-time against the Cowgirls. The programs met in the 2019 WCWS with OU cruising to a 6-1 win.

• Arizona: OU run-ruled then-No. 8 Arizona, 10-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic earlier this season. All-time, OU is 22-29 versus the 'Cats. The teams last met in the World Series in 2001, a 5-4 Arizona win in eight innings.

• Florida: OU is 7-1 all-time versus the Gators, including a 3-0 mark at the WCWS, highlighted by a two-game sweep of UF in the 2017 Championship Series. Most recently, the Sooners beat the Gators at the 2018 WCWS, 2-0.

• Oregon State: OU leads the series over the Beavers, 16-3. The teams last met in 2019 in Norman, a 3-0 OU victory.

LAST TIME OUT

• The top-seeded Sooners breezed through the Norman Super Regional, beating UCF in two games to advance to OKC, outscoring the Knights 15-1.

• Redshirt senior Hope Trautwein led OU to a 8-0 run-rule win in five innings in game one, throwing her second individual no-hitter of the season and fourth of her career.

• Oklahoma's offense was firing on all cylinders in game two of the Supers, blasting four home runs, highlighted by a two-homer game from shortstop Grace Lyons. Chipping in homers of their own was Jocelyn Alo and Jana Johns. In storybook fashion, Alo homered in her last official at-bat at Marita Hynes Field.

HOMER HAPPY

• In 2022, the Sooners pace the NCAA with 138 home runs and a 2.5 HR/game average.

• Three Sooners occupy the top-11 in the country in home runs: Alo is second in the NCAA with 29 blasts while Jennings (24) ranks fourth and Lyons (21) sits at 11th.

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

• 19 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 and Grace Lyons have done so three times, while Lynnsie Elam has twice and Jana Johns once. Alo, Elam and Lyons each have one game of three homers a piece.

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

• As a team, Oklahoma has hit homers in 50 of its 56 contests, including hitting two or more in 35 games, three-plus in 26 games, four-plus in 17 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 24 times, three in one inning four times and four in one inning once.

• The Sooners have homered in 23 consecutive games dating back to April 6 vs. Tulsa.

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 0.80 ERA, allowing just 37 earned runs (48 R) in OU's 56 games. Additionally, the staff holds a nation-best 32 shutouts on the season, good for a school record.

• OU has three pitchers in the top-five nationally in ERA: Trautwein ranks first in the country with her 0.40 while Bahl (0.95) holds fourth and May (0.99) sits at fifth.

• The staff have a combined 435 strikeouts in 323.0 innings pitched, a product of OU's 38 run-rules.

• Freshman Jordy Bahl leads the group with 199 strikeouts in 132.1 IP, while Trautwein (104.1 IP) and May (85.0 IP) have 141 and 93 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 four double-digit K games while May has two.

• The staff has thrown two perfect games and six 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. Most recently, May and Trautwein combined on a no-hit performance in OU's regional opener vs. Prairie View A&M, allowing just one walk. Trautwein tossed her second no-no of the season vs. UCF in game one of Super Regionals.

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

ALO GOES BACK-TO-BACK

• Redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo was crowned the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, winning the award in back-to-back seasons.

• Alo becomes the fifth player to win the national player of the year award in consecutive seasons and the second Sooner to accomplish the feat, joining Keilani Ricketts (2012-13).

• The newly-crowned POTY, 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 117 career home runs and 29 on the season to go with 72 RBIs and 11 doubles. She ranks second in the country with her .497 batting average, first in the NCAA with a 1.163 slugging percentage and .634 on-base clip, drawing 49 walks on the year. Alo has five multi-homer games on the year including one game with three blasts.

• In NCAA postseason play, Alo is batting .643 with four home runs and 10 RBIs, slugging 1.500 with a .750 on-base percentage. She has not struck out in five postseason games and drawn five walks and one HBP. Alo has homered in four of OU's five postseason games and six of OU's last eight games.

• Recently collecting her second straight Big 12 Player of the Year honor, Alo also claimed All-Big 12 First Team accolades for the fourth time of her career and NFCA All-Region accolades for a fourth season.

BAHL NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

• Freshman Jordy Bahl was named the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, the NFCA announced Tuesday.

• Oklahoma swept both national softball awards as Alo was crowned the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and freshman Bahl took home Freshman of the Year.

• Bahl makes it consecutive seasons and three of the last four that OU has had a frosh claim NFCA Freshman of the Year. Additionally, a Sooner has won the award four times in its eight-year history (Paige Parker, 2015; Jocelyn Alo, 2018; Tiare Jennings, 2021; Bahl, 2022).

• Oklahoma has swept the two major awards in consecutive seasons, becoming the first program to do so. In 2021, OU was the first school to claim both in one season.

• The freshman phenom has taken college softball by storm in her first-year campaign with the Sooners. In 132.1 innings pitched, Bahl holds a 0.95 ERA with 199 strikeouts to 29 walks. Her earned run average ranks fifth in the country. 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.

• In conference play, Bahl held a 1.30 ERA in 53.2 IP to go with 71 strikeouts to 13 walks. She surrendered nine extra-base hits in Big 12 play, and no homers for a .157 opponent BA.

• The Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Co-Pitcher of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team selection 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, a First Team All-Region honoree, 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).

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

• Oklahoma has won 110 of its last 116 games dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 116 games, 73 have been run-rule victories (63%).

• 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 11 top-25 wins on the season and rank first in the NCAA DI RPI.

• Of their six top-10 wins, two have been by run-rule. Four of their 11 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 84-22 in OU's favor in their 11 top-25 victories.

• The OU offense has 138 home runs on the year to 140 strikeouts. 10 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 47 of 56 games.

• The pitching staff has sacrificed just 48 runs (37 ER) on the season to opponents. Individually, four Sooners have 48 or more runs scored.

• OU has 215 extra-base hits on the season to opponents' 40. Jocelyn Alo has 40 extra-base hits on the season by herself.

• Oklahoma has outhit its opponents in 51 of 56 games, and is undefeated when outhitting the opponent, and in the five games they have not registered more hits, the Sooners are 3-2.

• OU is outscoring opponents 105-2 in the first inning and has not given up a first-inning run since March 25 vs. Baylor.

• In her career, Jana Johns has been hit by pitch 95 times, good for second all-time in NCAA DI history (No. 1 - 111—Becky Mantel, Radford, 2013-16).

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 65 weeks, or 456 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 28 straight polls.

• OU has been the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in 2022 and has spent a school-record 14 straight weeks at No. 1 in the 2022 season, recently breaking the tie with the 2021 team's run of 13 weeks.

• 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 14 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.

Lead, team boomer

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 - 723 (Passed UCLA's Stacy Nuveman (1997-2002) total of 653)

• SLG %: 1st - .969 (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: 4th - 306 (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.

WCWS BASICS

BACK TO OKC

SECOND HOME

OU VS. THE FIELD

LAST TIME OUT

HOMER HAPPY

PITCHING PACING THE NATION

ALO GOES BACK-TO-BACK

BAHL NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

SOONERS DOMINATE BIG 12 AWARDS

HOME RUN QUEEN

NO. 1

ALO WRECKING THE NCAA RECORD BOOK

THE TROPHY CLUB

#LAUNCHPAD

Players Mentioned

Jocelyn Alo

Jordy Bahl

Alyssa Brito

Jayda Coleman

Lynnsie Elam

Tiare Jennings

Jana Johns

Giselle Juarez

Grace Lyons

Nicole May

Macy McAdoo

Hope Trautwein

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics