Softball Opens Big 12 Championship Thursday

NORMAN – The Oklahoma softball team opens its appearance at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship on Thursday, May 9 at 1:30 p.m. CT in the tournament quarterfinal at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

OU earned the No. 2 seed at the tournament, claiming a first-round bye before meeting the winner of seventh-seeded Kansas and No. 10-seed Houston on Thursday. The Sooners are the defending conference tournament champions and have won four of the last five tournaments since 2017, winning eight postseason titles under head coach Patty Gasso.

Every game of the Big 12 Championship will be aired on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with the title game broadcast on ESPN2. Each of the Sooners' contests can be heard on 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 and 107.7 FM The Franchise.

SCOUTING THE FIELD

The Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship begins Wednesday evening at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park as No. 7-seed Kansas faces 10th-seeded Houston and eighth-seeded Texas Tech squares off with No. 9-seed Iowa State in the first round.

Thursday's quarterfinals pair (3) Oklahoma State and sixth-seeded BYU, No. 4 Baylor and No. 5 UCF, top-seeded Texas and the winner of Texas Tech/Iowa State while OU will meet the winner of Kansas and Houston.

The semifinals are set for Friday evening at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with Saturday's championship game scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.

LAST TIME OUT

A brilliant start from graduate right-hander Karlie Keeney and a six-run sixth inning powered then-No. 2-ranked Oklahoma to an 8-2 win over No. 4/4 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon at Love's Field, closing the final Big 12 Bedlam Presented by Phillips 66 series.

The Sooners punctuated senior day by out-hitting Oklahoma State 13-7 on the day. OU now owns a 103-74 advantage in Bedlam including a 45-23 mark in Norman.

Keeney provided Oklahoma with a gem in her final regular-season start, tossing 6.2 shutout innings while scattering four hits and striking out three. The right-hander improved to 5-1 on the season and needed just 81 pitches to record 20 outs.

Senior left fielder Rylie Boone recorded a 3-for-3 day at the plate to join Ella Parker as Sooners with three-hit games.

BIG 12 AWARDS

A league-leading nine Oklahoma Softball players have been named All-Big 12 while graduate catcher Kinzie Hansen earned defensive player-of-the-year honors, the league announced Wednesday.

Hansen and senior outfielder Jayda Coleman were unanimous selections to the All-Big 12 First Team, joined by graduate left-handed pitcher Kelly Maxwell and senior infielders Tiare Jennings and Alyssa Brito to provide OU with five first-team honorees, sharing the conference lead with Texas. Senior outfielder Rylie Boone, sophomore left-handed pitcher Kierston Deal, freshman utility Ella Parker and senior infielder Alynah Torres added second-team recognition while Parker and outfielder Kasidi Pickering were named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.

Oklahoma's nine All-Big 12 members stand as the program's highest mark since 10 Sooners earned all-league honors in 1996. Hansen becomes OU's sixth-straight and ninth overall defensive player-of-the year and is the third Sooner catcher to be crowned the league's top defender, following Heather Scaglione (2004-05) and Lindsey Vandever (2010).

Under head coach Patty Gasso, 250 Sooners have earned All-Big 12 honors, 19 have added all-freshman team accolades and 11 have been named defensive player-of-the-year.

TIARE'S LEGACY CONTINUES

Senior shortstop Tiare Jennings' legacy continues to grow in her final collegiate season. The Sooner captain added two major milestones to her resume last weekend at UCF, recording her 300th RBI and 90th home run. She enters the Big 12 tournament tied for fourth across the NCAA record books with 92 career homers and is sixth in RBIs with 301.

Jenny Dalton is the NCAA's all-time leader in RBIs with 328, putting Jennings 27 RBIs away from tying the national career record.

Jennings is Oklahoma's career leader in doubles, ranks second in RBIs and extra-base hits while standing third in batting average, hits and home runs.

OU AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

The Sooners have won eight Big 12 postseason titles under Patty Gasso and own a 52-19 record at the conference tournament. OU earned the tournament crown in 1996, '01, '07, '10, '17, '18, '21 and most recently in '23. Since the conference's first championship in 1996, 94 Sooners have earned all-tournament honors and eight have claimed most-outstanding-player laurels.

CAPTAIN KINZIE

Newly-crowned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Kinzie Hansen has provided Oklahoma with stellar defense behind the dish in her final collegiate campaign. Hansen owns just three errors over 214.0 innings at catcher while throwing out five runners at a 35.7% caught-stealing rate. The graduate student has allowed only 14 wild pitches this season and did not commit an error in conference play.

KEENEY'S CRUISING

Graduate right-hander Karlie Keeney starred in the circle for Oklahoma in Bedlam, tossing 10.0 shutout innings including 6.2 scoreless frames on Sunday to secure a win. The veteran limited opponents to bat .121 with just four hits, striking out five and walking four.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Oklahoma's dangerous lineup has taken its collective approach to another level in 2024, posting some of its best walk and strikeout marks in program history.

The Sooners are walking in 16.7% of their plate appearances, up from 12.6% in 2023, which would also stand as the program's second-highest clip all-time. OU's walk rate is the highest since it drew walks at a program-record 17.5% rate in 2013.

As a lineup, Oklahoma strikes out in just 8.1% of its trips, currently standing as an all-time best mark in program history. The OU K rate is down from 8.7% in 2023 as the Sooners hold a 135:279 K:BB ratio at the plate.

SHE'S DEALING

Sophomore left-hander Kierston Deal has enjoyed a phenomenal stretch over her last 12 starts, continuing her rise as one of the Big 12's top young talents in the circle. Deal has won 11 of her last 12 starts, going 11-0 with a miniscule 0.37 ERA across 57.0 innings in that span. She has struck out 57 while walking just 11, holding opponents to a .109 average and a meager four extra-base hits.

LEADERBOARDS

The Sooners enter the week ranked highly across the national leaderboards in multiple statistical categories. OU leads the nation in on-base percentage (.473), is top-three in batting average (2nd, .364), slugging percentage (2nd, .656), shutouts (2nd, 21), OPS (2nd, 1.130), runs per game (2nd, 8.12) and home runs (3rd, 98) while ranking fourth in fielding percentage (.981) and 10th in ERA (1.85).

LET'S GO POLLING

The Sooners slid back two spots to No. 4 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll this week, marking the first time since week 2 of the 2021 season that OU has not been ranked as one of the top-two teams in the country.

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