Postseason Begins with Big 12 Championship in OKC

¹ Oklahoma

Big 12 Championship

May 11-13 / Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Softball HOF Complex

ESPNU/ESPN2 / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes / Tickets

WEEKEND BASICS

• The top-ranked Sooners open postseason play with the Big 12 Softball Championship, May 11-13, in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma earned the No. 1 seed after winning the conference regular season title.

• OU meets five-seed Iowa State in Friday's semifinals, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The championship game is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday and can be seen on ESPN2. Calling the action this weekend will be Eric Frede and Madison Shipman.

• All games can be heard via 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity Network app with Chris Plank on the call.

• Tickets are available via Big12Sports.com.

• OU is on a nation-best 41-game win streak dating back to the Sooners only loss of the season, Feb. 19 at Baylor in a non-conference matchup in Waco. The streak currently ranks as tied for first in program history and tied for second in NCAA history.

• Oklahoma won its 11^th consecutive and 15^th overall Big 12 regular season title in 2023. The program holds a conference record of 179-15 the past 10 seasons and has not lost a Big 12 series since 2011, winning 54 consecutive conference series.

LAST TIME OUT

• Oklahoma swept in-state foe No. 6/7 Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series in Stillwater. The Sooners won by scores of 8-3, 4-2 and 5-1, highlighted by a seventh-inning comeback in Saturday's game two.

• OU got contributions throughout the lineup, paced by sophomore Cydney Sanders' 4-for-10, two double, one home run, four RBI weekend. Tiare Jennings starred in Game 2 with a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh.

• In the circle, OU's pitching staff of Jordy Bahl, Nicole May, Alex Storako and Kierston Deal were exceptional, holding OSU's offense to just six runs on the weekend go go with 18 strikeouts.

• The Bedlam sweep capped a perfect 18-0 run through Big 12 play for the Sooners, the third time in the last five years OU has accomplished the feat (2018, '19).

• The Sooners have won 32 of their last 34 vs. OSU.

SEASON STORYLINES

• The Sooners are 20-0 in ranked matchups on the season, highlighted by wins over then-No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 FSU, sweep of No. 9/8 Texas and No. 6/7 OSU and a 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 408-43 on the season, surrendering an average of 0.86 runs/game. The pitching staff has been exceptional, tossing shutouts in 29 of OU's 50 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 0.55 ERA, while all four pitchers hold ERAs under 1.20, including three in May, Storako (0.77) and Deal (0.95) with earned run averages under 1.00 (Bahl [1.19])

• As a team, OU is batting a nation-best .368 with 91 home runs. Five Sooners have double-digit homers and eight have hit six or more home runs, paced by Alyssa Brito and Jayda Coleman's 13. Jennings leads the team with 52 RBIs while six other Sooners have 30-plus runs batted in.

Lead, SB Bedlam G3

BIG 12 TOURNEY HISTORY

• The Sooners have claimed four of the last five Big 12 Championship titles and seven of the 19 in league history.

• OU is 50-19 all-time at the Big 12 Softball Championship and have lost just once dating back to 2009 (4-3[8 inn.], OSU, 2022).

• Oklahoma won its fourth consecutive Big 12 Championship crown in OKC in 2021, run-ruling Oklahoma State by a final of 10-2 in six innings. The Pokes won their first conference title a season ago in the championship game vs. OU, winning 4-3 in eight innings.

SECOND HOME

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

• OU is 136-50 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex under head coach Patty Gasso, including a 57-10 mark since 2016 to go with four national titles and 30-4 mark since 2021.

• OU has already played six games at HOF Complex in 2023, sweeping five games at the third annual Omni Hall of Fame Classic on March 17-19. OU has gone undefeated in the Classic since its inaugural edition in 2021, compiling a 14-0 record in the span.

• OU's sixth game of the season in OKC came March 31, an 8-1 win over Texas in front of an NCAA regular season single-game record crowd of 8,930.

THREE NAMED TOP 10 FINALISTS FOR USA SOFTBALL POTY

• Three Oklahoma softball student-athletes were named top 10 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the organization announced the list Wednesday.

• Juniors Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings and sophomore Jordy Bahl combined for the most representatives from one school. Oklahoma leads the way with three of the 10 finalists while UCLA and Tennessee are second with two athletes represented.

• OU's three finalists ties a program high for the USA Softball Top 10 list, while the Sooners have had at least two top-10 finalists for five straight seasons, including three each of the past two seasons.

• It marks Bahl and Jennings second time being top 10 finalists and first for Coleman.

• 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 3 Finalists will be revealed on Wednesday, May 17, followed by the announcement of the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year prior to the NCAA Women's College World Series slated for June 1-9 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.

SOONERS PACE CONFERENCE IN YEARLY AWARDS

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

• Junior Jayda Coleman was named Big 12 Player of the Year, while sophomore Jordy Bahl was named Pitcher of the Year and super senior shortstop Grace Lyons earned her third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award. OU head coach Patty Gasso was named Co-Coach of the Year, sharing the honor with Baylor head coach Glenn Moore. It marks Gasso's 11th straight Big 12 Coach of the Year honor.

• Coleman collects OU's 16th Big 12 Player of the Year award, including fourth consecutive and seventh in the last eight seasons.

• The highlight reel centerfielder has started every game for No. 1 OU and led the team throughout the season in batting, on-base and slugging percentages, as well as hits and home runs. She has consistently ranked in the top 10 in the country in batting, on-base and slugging percentages. The speedster has stolen a team-high 14 bases on 14 attempts and been exceptional again in center field for OU with a 1.000 FLD%. Coleman led the conference in on-base and slugging percentages, runs per game and total bases.

• Bahl earned her second straight Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honor, winning the award outright in 2023 after sharing the accolade a season ago. The honor is OU's ninth in school annals.

• Bahl has followed an All-America and National Freshman of the Year season with an equally as dominant sophomore campaign, holding a 1.19 ERA that ranks in the top 10 in the country with six individual shutouts, one perfect game and two combined no-hitters. The Papillion, Neb., product is 15-1 in the circle and has allowed just 10 extra-base hits in 2023. Bahl has 138 strikeouts to just 32 walks and 18 earned runs, while opponents are batting just .159 against the sophomore. In conference play, Bahl led the league in wins (7-0) while holding a 0.70 ERA and allowing just four runs. She joins the elite company of Texas' Cat Osterman and OU alum Paige Parker in winning Pitcher of the Year accolades in their freshman and sophomore seasons.

• OU's defensive anchor, Lyons, wins her third consecutive Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award and OU's fifth in the last six years. Lyons becomes the first player in conference history to win three DPOY honors.

• The Peoria, Ariz., product and two-time All-American has yet again been exceptional in the field for the nation's best defense with 42 putouts and 59 assists to just three errors for a .983 fielding percentage. The middle infielder has helped turn nine double plays. At the plate, Lyons is batting .351 with six home runs, six doubles, a triple with 26 RBIs.

• The NFCA Hall of Fame head coach, Gasso, wins an unprecedented 11th consecutive Big 12 Coach of the Year award and 15th overall in her 29 seasons at the helm in Norman.

• Gasso has guided the top-ranked Sooners to a program-best 49-1 regular season record in 2022 and 11th consecutive Big 12 regular season title. The Sooners are on a program record-tying 41 game win streak, good for second all-time in NCAA history, while the team has outscored opponents 408-43 on the year and 124-17 in conference play.

• Of the 12 student-athletes that made up the All-Big 12 First Team, seven of the selections are Sooners. The seven choices are the most by a team under the Big 12's 12-member format that started in 2013.

• OU's league-best seven selections are a program best and outpaces the next-highest school by five. Claiming First Team honors was Coleman, Bahl, Lyons, redshirt senior Haley Lee, senior Kinzie Hansen and juniors Tiare Jennings and Nicole May. Bahl, Coleman and Jennings were unanimous choices.

• Redshirt senior Alex Storako brought OU's All-Big 12 total to eight with a selection to the All-Big 12 Second Team.

• Coleman, Jennings and Lyons all earn their third First Team nod while Bahl collects her second in as many years. Hansen, May, Lee and Storako all garnered their first All-Big 12 honors of their respective careers.

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, 172 straight, and batted leadoff in 91 of those 172, including 55 straight contests and 66 of OU's last 67 games. In those 91 games when Coleman has started in the leadoff position, OU is 89-2.

• The triple threat has shown her power in 2023 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles and a triple, her home run and hit (61) counts are tied for 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 (.439), home runs (T1, 13), hits (T1, 61), SLG% (.820), OB% (.566) and stolen bases (14-14). She ranks in the top-15 nationally in on-base (7^th), batting (15^th) and slugging (15^th).

FIRE BAHL

• Oklahoma sophomore right-handed pitcher Jordy Bahl has followed up a First Team All-American and National Freshman of the Year season with arguably just as good of a sophomore campaign.

• The Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and Top-10 Finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Bahl has paced OU's nation-leading pitching staff with 138 strikeouts and a 1.19 ERA, allowing opponents to bat just .159. Bahl has a team-best six individual shutouts in 2023 and has combined on nine. The Papillion, Neb., product has also thrown one perfect game on the year and combined on two no-hitters.

• After an arm injury limited Bahl's 2022 postseason, Bahl has regained confidence after an uncharacteristic start to 2023. In her first five appearances of this season: 2.58 ERA with 8 earned runs allowed on 15 hits with 28 strikeouts and 11 walks. In her 23 appearances since: 0.83 ERA with only 10 ER allowed on 42 hits with 110 strikeouts and 21 walks. Coincidentally, those 23 appearances have all come since Oklahoma's sole loss of the season on Feb. 19 at Baylor where Bahl gave up four runs and took the loss.

• Furthermore, in Bahl's last 11 appearances (6-0, 39.2 IP), she's allowed three runs, 19 hits with 58 K's to 8 BB.

• The statistical leader of OU's dominant staff, Bahl already holds second in program history for career opponent batting average (.151) and third in K/7 IP (9.72) and ERA (1.13).

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 91, good for second in the country (one off the lead) and first in HR/game (1.82).

• In 2023, the Sooners have homered in 43 of 50 games, including 19 of their last 21 and 23 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 23 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 nine with five or more, paced by Brito and 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.

• 182 of OU's 408 runs on the season have come via home run (44.6%)

Lead, SB All-Big 12

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 91 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 – .368

• 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:

• 8.16 runs/game

• 1.82 home runs/game

• .368 batting average

• .664 slugging percentage

• .462 on-base percentage

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 29 in OU's 50 games.

• The Sooner arms led the country in ERA a season ago with an exceptional 1.05 mark and are on a dominant pace in 2023, ranking first with a 0.87 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 1.20, led by May's second-nationally 0.55 average, Storako's fourth-place 0.77 and Bahl's 10-spot 1.19.

• The quartet has fanned a combined 380 batters in 2023 to go with 80 walks. Bahl leads the group with 138 K's to May's 115 and Storako's 101. The four have allowed opponents to bat just .159 against them and surrendered 38 earned runs (43 R), an average of 0.86/game. In OU's 21 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 41 games.

• OU's 40+ 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 – 41 and counting. The NCAA all-time record is 47 (Arizona, 1995-96). The Sooners hold the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots in the NCAA record books for longest winning streak, with this season's streak ranking T2nd.

• Oklahoma has won 164 of its last 172 games (.953 win %) dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 172 games, 99 have been run-rule victories (58%).

• Of OU's 20 games against top-25 competition, five have been run-rule wins. Furthermore, in those 20 ranked victories, the Sooners have outscored opponents 141-24.

• OU's defense ranks first in the country with an exceptional .988 fielding percentage, committing just 14 errors on the season. The defense has turned 19 double plays in 2023.

• Oklahoma has outhit its opponent in 45 of 50 games on the season, and in the three 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 three games the hits were tied with OU winning 2-1 over Northwestern, 3-0 over Texas Tech and 4-2 over OSU.

• The Sooners have been dominant across all innings in 2023, but specifically the second inning, outscoring teams 105-3 in the second.

• OU has been an exceptional two-out hitting team in 2023 with 166 of 408 (40.6%) runs coming with a pair of outs. The team is batting .365 with two outs, led by Jocelyn Erickson's .483 average with two away and Jayda Coleman's 21 RBIs with two outs.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

• After an undefeated 18-0 run in regular season Big 12 play, the Sooners clinched their 11^th straight conference regular season crown in 2023 and the No. 1 seed in this weekend's Big 12 Championship in OKC.

• OU outscored conference foes 124-17 while hitting 34 home runs and surrendering just six. The pitching staff holds a 0.72 ERA in conference play and tossed shutouts in nine of OU's 18 league games.

• The Sooners have won 94 of their last 96 Big 12 regular season games and are currently on a 27-game win streak in Big 12 play dating back to April 19, 2022.

• OU has won 54 consecutive conference series (46 sweeps in that span), is unbeaten in their last 72 (68-0-4 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 179-15. 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.

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.