Sooners Open Conference Play in Ames

Friday, March 24

Ames, Iowa

4 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

Iowa State

March 23, 2023 | Softball

Game Notes Championship Mindset Series

¹ Oklahoma

Iowa State

March 24-25 / Ames, Iowa / Cyclone Sports Complex

ESPN+ / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

WEEKEND BASICS

• No. 1 Oklahoma opens Big 12 conference play in Ames, Iowa, this weekend with a three-game series at Iowa State, March 24-25. Due to anticipated inclement weather in Ames on Sunday, the series has shifted to one game Friday and a doubleheader Saturday.

• The Sooners and Cyclones meet at 4 p.m. CT Friday evening before a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday. Game three will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two.

• All three games can be seen on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+ and heard via 107.7 The Franchise (SAT), 1560 The Franchise 2 (FRI) or nationwide on The Varsity app.

• Oklahoma begins the chase towards an unprecedented 11^th consecutive Big 12 regular season title. The program holds a conference record of 161-15 the past 10 seasons and has not lost a Big 12 series since 2011.

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

LAST TIME OUT

• The Sooners had a busy 7-0 week, including four wins over ranked competition. Highlighting the week was a home win over No. 6 Florida State, 5-4, and an undefeated 5-0 weekend at the third annual Omni Hall of Fame Classic.

• On the weekend, Oklahoma outscored the opposition 48-3 and improved their season run differential to 252-24. With three ranked wins over the weekend, OU moved to 10-0 versus top-25 competition on the season and have outscored ranked foes 86-12 with four run-rule victories.

• OU completed the sweep of the HOF Classic for the third consecutive season dating back to the tournament's inaugural edition in 2021, compiling a 14-0 record in the span. OU improved to 135-50 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex under head coach Patty Gasso, including a 56-10 mark since 2016 to go with four national titles.

SEASON STORYLINES

• The Sooners have collected 10 ranked wins on the season, including a win over then-No. 1 UCLA at the Mary Nutter Classic and a home victory over No. 6 FSU last week. OU meets 11 teams ranked in the preseason coaches top 25, including three of the preseason top five in UCLA, Oklahoma State and Florida State.

• OU is outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 252-24 on the season, surrendering an average of under one run per game. The pitching staff has been exceptional, tossing shutouts in 17 of OU's 28 games. Junior Nicole May and sophomore Jordy Bahl combined on the staff's first no-hitter of the season on Feb. 18 vs. Army before Alex Storako threw an individual no-no vs. No. 17/16 Kentucky on March 3 and Bahl completed a perfect game last Friday vs. SELA.

• May leads the pitching staff with a 0.14 ERA and 78 strikeouts, while all four pitchers hold ERAs under 2.00.

• As a team, OU is batting a nation-best .399 with 49 home runs. Seven Sooners have hit five or more home runs, paced by Jayda Coleman and Alyssa Brito's seven. Brito leads the team with 28 RBIs while Tiare Jennings, Haley Lee and Kinzie Hansen are right behind with 27 each.

Syndication: The Oklahoman

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT

• Iowa State: The Sooners hold a 91-28 advantage all-time vs. the Cyclones, dating back to the first meeting of the programs in 1978 in Norman. In Ames, OU is 40-8 all-time, most recently sweeping ISU in 2021 by scores of 9-7, 10-2 (6) and 22-2 (5).

• The Sooners have won 44 straight over Iowa State with their last loss coming on April 22, 2006 (5-2, ISU in Ames)

• The teams met four times a season ago in 2022 with OU beating the Cyclones in all four contests, capped by a 5-0 Big 12 Tournament semifinal win in OKC.

• The Cyclones are 11-14 on the season, most recently dropping a 3-1 midweek contest Wednesday at Nebraska. Mikayla Ramos paces the team with a .316 batting average and 13 RBI. In the circle, Karle Charles holds the lowest ERA at 2.31, with Seya Swain paces the team with 46.0 IP and 63 K's.

COLEMAN NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Oklahoma junior Jayda Coleman was named Big 12 Player of the Week for her performance throughout OU's 7-0 week.

• Coleman powered No. 1 OU to a 5-0 weekend at the Omni Hall of Fame Classic and a pair of midweek wins over South Dakota State and No. 6 Florida State, batting .524 with two home runs, two doubles, one triple and nine RBIs. In OU's four ranked wins, the centerfielder went 9-of-15 with two homers, one double, one triple and five runs batted in. In Sunday's win over No. 19/22 Auburn, the junior leadoff hitter had a career-best four hits in a 4-for-4, one home run, two RBI, three runs scored effort.

• On the week, Coleman led the Big 12 in total hits (11) and ranked second in runs (8) and total bases (21).
• The All-American has showcased her versatility in 2023 with a team-best seven home runs and a .639 on-base

percentage and .958 slugging clip. She's also 9-for-9 on stolen bases and drawn 23 walks.

• This week's honor marks Coleman's second career Big 12 Player of the Week award and first since her freshman season in 2021 (5/11/21)

HOMER HAPPY

• As OU paced the country in home runs each of the past two seasons (NCAA-record 161 in 2021; 155 in 2022), the Sooners are off to another scorching pace in 2023, having blasted 49 so far in the early season, good for fourth in the country.

• In 2023, the Sooners have homered in 24 of 28 games, including 11 straight contests and 12 games with multiple home runs. OU hit single-season high six blasts vs. No. 1/1 UCLA (Feb. 26) and No. 17/16 Kentucky (March 3). The Sooners have hit two-plus in 12 games, three-plus in six games and six twice in a game this season.

• Individually, 13 Sooners have already hit a long ball in 2023 out of the 16 active non-pitchers on the roster. Of those 13, nine have multiple homers, including seven with three-plus and seven with four or more, paced by Jayda Coleman and Alyssa Brito's seven a piece.

• Brito, Coleman and Kinzie Hansen all have multi-homer games on the season (one a piece).

• Additionally, OU has hit five homers in one inning once this year (vs. Kentucky, 3/3), hit four in an inning twice, three-plus in three, and two-plus in five.

• The Sooners have hit back-to-back blasts four times this season and three consecutive once.

OUT OF THIS WORLD OFFENSE

• Since 2021, Oklahoma has paced the country offensively in several categories. OU led the nation in home runs in 2021 (161) and 2022 (155) and sit in the top five with 49 in the early 2023 season. Their 2021 mark broke an 11-year NCAA record for single-season home runs.

• In OU's recent span of offensive domination, the team has led the country in batting average for three straight seasons: 2021 – NCAA-record .405; 2022 – .371; 2023 – .399

• Additionally, the team has paced the country in runs, runs per game and slugging each of the past three seasons. The 2021 team's 638 runs, 10.63 runs/game and .778 SLG % all stand as NCAA records.

• In 2023, OU paces the country with an average of 9.0 runs/game, a .399 batting average and .720 slugging clip.

ELITE IN THE CIRCLE

• OU's pitching staff has been equally as dominant as the offense the past three seasons. The staff has led the country in shutouts the last two seasons (23 in 2021, school-record 33 in 2022) and are tied for first in shutouts already in 2023 with 17 in OU's 28 games.

• The Sooner arms led the country in ERA a season ago with an exceptional 1.05 mark and are off to a dominant start in 2023, ranking third with a 1.02 earned run average.

• The staff has three no-hitters under their belt already in 2023 and one perfect game. Nicole May and Jordy Bahl combined to no-hit Army on Feb. 18 before Alex Storako threw her second career individual no-no vs. Kentucky on March 3 and Bahl completed a perfect contest March 10 vs. SELA. These come a year after the staff had six no-hitters and two perfect games a season ago.

• All four of OU's pitchers hold ERA's less than 2.00, led by Nicole May's 0.14 average, giving up just one earned run in 50.0 IP. The others: Alex Storako – 0.94; Kierston Deal – 1.29; Jordy Bahl – 1.81.

• The quartet has fanned a combined 235 batters in 2023 to go with 47 walks. May leads the group with 78 K's to Bahl's 69 and Storako's 67. The four have allowed opponents to bat just .157 against them and surrendered 24 runs, an average of 0.8/game. In OU's 11 games that they've allowed a run across, the staff has limited the damage with no opponent scoring more than four runs in 2023 (done thrice).

Lead, May Northwestern

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

• Oklahoma has won 142 of its last 150 games (.946 win %) dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 150 games, 92 have been run-rule victories (61%).

• Of OU's 10 games against top-25 competition, four have been run-rule wins. Furthermore, in those 10 ranked victories, the Sooners have outscored opponents 86-12.

• OU's defense ranks first in the country with an exceptional .992 fielding percentage, committing just five errors on the season. The defense has turned 24 double plays already in 2023.

• Oklahoma has outhit its opponent in 26 of 28 games on the season, and in the one game they didn't outhit the opposition (vs. Texas A&M, 2/24), the Sooners won 8-0 in run-rule fashion in five innings (five hits to A&M's six). The other game the hits were tied with OU winning 2-1 over Northwestern.

• The Sooners have been dominant across all innings in 2023, but specifically the second inning, outscoring teams 72-0 in the second. The team has not surrendered runs in each the second, sixth or extra innings on the season.

BACK ON TOP

• The Sooners streak of being the top-ranked team for 31 consecutive coaches polls dating back to March 2, 2021 was snapped Feb. 21 after a narrow 4-3 loss at Baylor. Oklahoma quickly regained the top spot after a 14-0 thrashing of then-No. 1 UCLA. OU has been the No. 1 team in both major rankings for 35 of the last 36 polls dating back to March 2, 2021.

• Oklahoma was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 in both the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25.

• Oklahoma's No. 1 spot in the NFCA poll marks the fourth time the Sooners enter a season in the top spot (2017, '18, '22, '23) and the third time OU has been the unanimous choice in the coaches poll, joining the 2017 and 2022 squads.

• OU received 800 total points and all 32 first-place votes to lead No. 2 UCLA (747) and No. 3 Oklahoma State (723) in the preseason poll. Florida and Florida State rounded out the top five.

• Additionally, it's the 12th 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 10 of the past 11 years, the most over that stretch.

• Overall, the Sooners are tied with Arizona for second with 23 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll, trailing only UCLA's 24.

• Oklahoma, 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, 407 straight polls (start of 2023).

25TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARITA HYNES FIELD

• 2023 marks the 25^th anniversary of historic Marita Hynes Field in Norman. The iconic field that has housed the nation's premier program opened its gates in 1998 and the Sooners have since gone 535-62-1 (.893).

• The field, named for former softball coach and senior woman administrator Marita Hynes on April 24, 2004, has a current capacity of 1,378 with standing room for over 2,000. The largest crowd to ever watch an OU softball game at the venue was May 4, 2019, with 2,076 in attendance for Bedlam vs. Oklahoma State.

• Oklahoma has gone undefeated on its home field four seasons since 1998, including each of the past two years. The Sooners last home loss was Feb. 29, 2020, a narrow 4-3 decision to North Texas. Over the past five seasons, OU holds a 102-2 mark at MHF.

• 2023 is anticipated to be the final season played at Marita Hynes as OU looks to open the state-of-the-art Love's Field in 2024.

BIG 12 FAVORITES

• The ten-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma softball team has been voted by the league's head coaches as the 2023 preseason favorite.

• The Sooners received 36 points in this year's poll and were followed by Oklahoma State with 29 and Texas with 28. OU received six of the seven first-place votes with OSU garnering the other. This marks the 11th straight year and 14th in the last 15 seasons that OU has topped the conference's preseason poll.

• Baylor was selected fourth (20 points) and Iowa State fifth (16 points). Rounding out the poll was Texas Tech (12 points) and Kansas (6 points).

• The Sooners finished the Big 12 regular season 17-1 in 2022 en route to their tenth consecutive conference regular season crown.

• Oklahoma holds a combined Big 12 record of 161-15 the past 10 seasons and has not lost a conference series since 2011.

• Overall, the program has won 21 Big 12 titles (14 regular season titles and seven Big 12 tournament championships) all under head coach Patty Gasso.

STRIPEOUT OU-TEXAS FRIDAY NIGHT IN OKC

• The Oklahoma softball program and USA Softball will host the Friday night game of the Oklahoma vs. Texas series on March 31 at 6 p.m. CT. The game was moved from Marita Hynes Field in Norman to USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City. The second and third games of the series will still be played in Norman on Saturday (11 a.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.).

• Fans are encouraged to "Stripe the Stadium" at USA Softball HOF Complex with those in even sections tasked to wear crimson and fans in odd-numbered sections to wear white.

• OU, the designated home team, will assume hosting duties including ticket sales for the game in OKC, the first meeting of a rematch of the 2022 WCWS Championship Series. Current season ticket holders will receive complimentary tickets to the series in Oklahoma City, receiving the same number of tickets as they have season tickets at Marita Hynes Field. Those complimentary tickets can be accessed via the Oklahoma Sooners app and will be sent with your 2023 season tickets.

• All single-game tickets for the game are sold out with an expected attendance around 8,000 with both the lower and upper bowls open at HOF Stadium. There will be no outfield bleachers or seating.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• OU finished the Big 12 regular season 17-1 en route to winning its 14th regular season crown and 10th consecutive in 2022.

• 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.

HOME RUN U

• Oklahoma is officially Home Run University. With Jocelyn Alo's record-breaking career homer No. 96 (122 career total), two Sooners sit atop the NCAA record books for career home runs in Alo and 2015 alum Lauren Chamberlain.

• In addition to Alo and Chamberlain, 2015 alum Shelby Pendley sits at 10th all-time with 84 career blasts.

• More evidence of the Sooners staking claim to HRU is the past two seasons when OU has lit up the record books:

• 2021 saw the Sooners set NCAA records for home runs (161), runs scored (638), runs per game (10.63) and homers per game (2.68), among other records.

• Jocelyn Alo hit 34 blasts in 2021 and 2022 for second all-time in single-season NCAA history, just three shy of Laura Espinoza's (Arizona) 37 in 1995. Alo's 2018 along with Chamberlain's 2012 and '13 where each hit 30 homers a piece all rank in the all-time top-10.

• Current junior Tiare Jennings nearly matched Alo and Chamberlain's record (30) for freshman homers in 2021, hitting 27 to come within three of the NCAA frosh record. She followed suit in 2022 with 29 round-trippers.

• Jennings looks to continue the legacy at Oklahoma with two more seasons in the Crimson & Cream and already holding the No. 5 spot in the OU record book with 61 career homers. The two-time unanimous All-American is just four blasts shy of third place in program history.

• Senior captain Grace Lyons has come into her own offensively, hitting a career single-season best 23 blasts last year to bring her career total to 50, good for eighth in the OU record book.

CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET SERIES STREAMING NOW

• The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department and its multimedia rightsholder, LEARFIELD, launched in January "Championship Mindset" – a brand-new original content series exclusively featuring Oklahoma softball.

• As the 2023 OU softball team prepares its competitive journey to a third straight national championship, the five-part series delivers authentic, behind-the-scenes access for fans.

• "Championship Mindset" will feature never-before-seen interviews with the team's coaches and student-athletes, giving fans a special and unique look into the legacy that is Oklahoma softball.

• All five episodes can be viewed on ESPN+, YouTube and on a dedicated page within SoonerSports.com, including snippets on Oklahoma softball's official social platforms.

• Four episodes have been released, with at least one more episode to be released later this season.

• LEARFIELD's dedicated content team, LEARFIELD Studios, produced and directed the series in complete collaboration with Oklahoma's athletics administration.

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.

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