OU Closes Non-Conference Play with Tulsa Midweek

¹ Oklahoma

Tulsa

May 2 / Tulsa, Okla. / Collins Family Softball Complex

MIDWEEK BASICS

• The top-ranked Sooners conclude their non-conference slate with a midweek matchup at Tulsa Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. CT at Collins Family Softball Complex.

• The game can be seen via ESPN+ with Bruce Howard, Eric Bailey and Michelle Montaine on the call and can be heard via 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity Network app with Chris Plank calling the action.

• OU is on a nation-best 37-game win streak dating back to the Sooners only loss of the season, Feb. 19 at Baylor in a non-conference matchup in Waco.

• Oklahoma clinched its 11^th consecutive Big 12 regular season title last weekend. The program holds a conference record of 176-15 the past 10 seasons and has not lost a Big 12 series since 2011, winning 53 consecutive conference series.

LAST TIME OUT

• OU swept Kansas to clinch the 2023 Big 12 regular season title outright, their 11^th straight title and 15^th overall.

• Sunday's win on OU's home turf of Marita Hynes Field was the 60th consecutive home victory and secured OU's third straight undefeated home regular season and sixth overall in program history.

• OU junior Jayda Coleman had an exceptional weekend, going 6-for-9 (.667 BA) with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs. In the circle, OU's trio of Jordy Bahl, Nicole May and Alex Storako combined to strikeout 20 KU batters and allow just two runs and nine hits with zero walks. May and Bahl combined on OU's fourth no-hitter of the season in Saturday's game two.

• On super senior weekend, all four seniors (Grace Green, Haley Lee, Grace Lyons and Storako) made starts with Green and Lyons each going yard once on the weekend.

SEASON STORYLINES

• The Sooners are 17-0 in ranked matchups on the season, highlighted by wins over then-No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 FSU, a three-game sweep of No. 9/8 Texas and midweek win over No.13/12 LSU in Baton Rouge. The Sooners are currently first in the NCAA RPI.

• OU is outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 385-37 on the season, surrendering an average of 0.80 runs/game. The pitching staff has been exceptional, tossing shutouts in 28 of OU's 46 games to lead the country.

• The pitching staff has thrown four no-hitters on the season: 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. Bahl completed a perfect game March 10 vs. SELA and most recently, May and Bahl combined to no-hit Kansas on April 29. The staff has thrown four games where an opponent had just one hit.

• May leads the pitching staff with a 0.43 ERA, while all four pitchers hold ERAs under 1.10, including two in May and Storako (0.77) with earned run averages under 1.00 (Deal [1.03] and Bahl [1.10])

• As a team, OU is batting a nation-best .377 with 88 home runs. Five Sooners have double-digit homers and eight have hit six or more home runs, paced by Jayda Coleman's 13. Jennings leads the team with 49 RBIs while six other Sooners have 30-plus runs batted in.

Lead, SB Big 12 champs 2023

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT

• Tulsa: OU is 46-10 all-time vs. Tulsa, including a 14-6 mark in Tulsa. The teams last met a season ago in Norman, a 9-0 OU win in five innings. Tuesday's matchup marks the first meeting in Tulsa since 2018, a 1-0 OU win on April 17.

FIVE NAMED TOP 25 FINALISTS FOR USA SOFTBALL POTY

• Five Oklahoma softball student-athletes were named top 25 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the organization announced the list last Wednesday.

• Redshirt senior Alex Storako, juniors Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings and Nicole May and sophomore Jordy Bahl combined for the most representatives from one school. Oklahoma leads the way with five finalists while five schools are second with two athletes each.

• OU's five finalists rank as a program high for the USA Softball Top 25 list, while the Sooners have had at least two representatives on the list for six straight seasons.

• It marks Bahl, Coleman, Jennings and Storako's second time being a Top 25 finalist and first for May.

• A Sooner has won the award four times in the last 10 seasons, including the past two seasons with Jocelyn Alo going back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. Keilani Ricketts claimed OU's other two, also winning in consecutive seasons in 2012 and 2013.

• The Top 25 Finalists will be narrowed down to 10 athletes on May 3, followed by the Top 3 Finalists set to be released on May 17. The 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed prior to the Women's College World Series, which is scheduled to take place June 1-9 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.

COLE WORLD

• Oklahoma centerfielder Jayda Coleman has showcased her versatility for the Sooners since she stepped on campus as a freshman in 2021 and her productivity from the leadoff spot for OU has been pivotal to the Sooners success.

• Coleman has started every game for the Sooners since 2021, 168 straight, and batted leadoff in 87 of those 168, including 51 straight contests and 62 of OU's last 63 games. In those 87 games when Coleman has started in the leadoff position, OU is 85-2.

• The triple threat has shown her power in 2023 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles and a triple, her home run and hit (59) counts are first on the team, among other team-best categories. For comparison, Coleman hit nine homers as a freshman in 2021 and eight total last season.

• Of Coleman's 30 career home runs, eight of those have been leadoff blasts. Additionally, four have been in the first OU at-bat of the game.

• The two-time NFCA First Team All-American paces OU in batting average (.465), home runs (13), hits (59), SLG% (.882), OB% (.582) and stolen bases (13-13). She ranks in the top-10 nationally in on-base (5^th), batting (7^th) and slugging (9^th).

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 88, good for second in the country (two off the lead) and first in HR/game (1.91).

• In 2023, the Sooners have homered in 41 of 46 games, including 22 games with multiple home runs. OU hit single-season high six blasts vs. No. 1/1 UCLA (Feb. 26), No. 17/16 Kentucky (March 3) and at Iowa State (March 25). The Sooners have hit two-plus in 22 games, three-plus in 12 games, four-plus in 6 contests and six three times 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, 12 have multiple homers, including nine with three-plus and eight with five or more, paced by Coleman's 13. Five Sooners have double-digit long balls on the year.

• Brito, Coleman, Hansen and Lee all have multi-homer games on the season (Hansen twice).

• 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 four, and two-plus in eight.

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

• 174 of OU's 385 runs on the season have come via home run (45.2%)

Lead, Jennings NPOTW

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 two with 88 in the 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 – .377

• 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:

• 8.37 runs/game

• 1.91 home runs/game

• .377 batting average

• .689 slugging percentage

• .467 on-base percentage

• 1.91 doubles per game

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 first in 2023 with 28 in OU's 46 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 first with a 0.80 earned run average.

• The staff has four no-hitters 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. Bahl completed a perfect contest March 10 vs. SELA and most recently May and Bahl combined to no-hit Kansas (4/29). These come a year after the staff had six no-hitters and two perfect games.

• All four of OU's pitchers hold ERA's less than 1.10, led by May's second-nationally 0.43 average, Storako's third-place 0.77 and Bahl's seven-spot 1.10.

• The quartet has fanned a combined 353 batters in 2023 to go with 73 walks. Bahl leads the group with 127 K's to May's 109 and Storako's 93. The four have allowed opponents to bat just .152 against them and surrendered 32 earned runs (37 R), an average of 0.8/game. In OU's 18 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).

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

• OU currently holds the nation's longest active win streak at 37 games.

• OU's 30+ game win streak marks the fourth consecutive season that's been completed where the Sooners have had a 30+ game win streak: 2019 – 41; 2021 – 33; 2022 – 38; 2023 – 37 and counting.

• Oklahoma has won 160 of its last 168 games (.952 win %) dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 168 games, 99 have been run-rule victories (59%).

• Of OU's 17 games against top-25 competition, five have been run-rule wins. Furthermore, in those 17 ranked victories, the Sooners have outscored opponents 124-18.

• OU's defense ranks first in the country with an exceptional .988 fielding percentage, committing just 13 errors on the season. The defense has turned 18 double plays already in 2023.

• Oklahoma has outhit its opponent in 42 of 46 games on the season, and in the two games they didn't outhit the opposition (at LSU, 4/12; vs. Texas A&M, 2/24), the Sooners won 3-0 and 8-0 in run-rule fashion, respectively. The other two games the hits were tied with OU winning 2-1 over Northwestern and 3-0 over Texas Tech.

• The Sooners have been dominant across all innings in 2023, but specifically the second inning, outscoring teams 102-2 in the second.

• OU has been an exceptional two-out hitting team in 2023 with 152 of 385 (39.4%) runs coming with a pair of outs.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• Sitting at an undefeated 15-0 in Big 12 play, the Sooners already clinched their 11^th straight conference regular season crown in 2023.

• OU is outscoring conference foes 107-11 while hitting 32 home runs and surrendering just five homers. The pitching staff holds a 0.44 ERA in conference play and has given up just two runs in the last nine games to Big 12 opponents. The staff has thrown shutouts in nine of OU's 15 league games.

• The Sooners have won 91 of their last 93 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 currently on a 24-game win streak in Big 12 play dating back to April 19, 2022.

• OU has won 53 consecutive conference series (45 sweeps in that span), is unbeaten in their last 71 (67-0-4 in that span) and have not lost a conference series since 2011.

• OU has finished first in the Big 12 over the past 11 seasons with a combined record of 176-15. Prior to OU's current run of 11 straight regular season titles, no team had ever won more than two consecutive.

• Overall, the Sooners have 22 Big 12 titles with 15 regular season crowns and seven Big 12 tournament championships, all under head coach Patty Gasso.

STORAKO GOES NO. 1, THREE SOONERS TAKEN IN WPF DRAFT

• Oklahoma softball redshirt seniors Alex Storako, Haley Lee and Grace Lyons were selected in the 2023 Women's Professional Fastpitch Draft in Oklahoma City. The three from OU mark the most by one school in the draft.

• Storako was chosen No. 1 overall to the Oklahoma City Spark and Lee joined Storako in being drafted by the Spark with the first pick in the fourth round. Lyons was chosen by fellow first-year organization Texas Smoke with the second pick of the sixth round.

• Storako and Lee have the opportunity to join 2022 OU alumni Jocelyn Alo and Lynnsie Elam and 2013 alum Keilani Ricketts on the OKC squad in its initial season as an organization, set to begin play in June 2023. Lyons has the option to join the Smoke, also in its inaugural season.

• Storako becomes the fourth Sooner in program history to be selected as the No. 1 overall pick in a women's fastpitch league, joining Lauren Chamberlain (2015, USSSA Pride, National Pro Fastpitch), Paige Lowry (2018, Chicago Bandits, National Pro Fastpitch) and Jocelyn Alo (2022, Women's Professional Fastpitch & Athletes Unlimited).

• The three selections bring OU Softball's total number of pro draftees to 42 in program history.

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 543-62-1 (.896).

• 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, for a home winning streak of 60 straight. 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 110-2 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.

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.