Oklahoma Westward-Bound for Easton Tournament

NORMAN - After an eight-game homestand in which it went 7-1, No. 13/14 Oklahoma hits the road this weekend for the Easton Tournament hosted by Cal State Ful

Mar 18, 2016 by Sarah Hoffman

Oklahoma Westward-Bound for Easton Tournament

NORMAN - After an eight-game homestand in which it went 7-1, No. 13/14 Oklahoma hits the road this weekend for the Easton Tournament hosted by Cal State Fullerton.
All games can be heard on KEBC 1560 in Norman or online via the link above. In addition, all games will be streamed via webcast on FloSoftball.com, though a paid subscription is needed to watch.

Notes Against the Field

Oklahoma meets DePaul for the second straight season. Last year, the teams met twice in the season opening Paradise Classic in Hawaii. A five-run fifth inning helped OU to a 9-2 win in the season opener, while seven different Sooners drove in a run and three pitchers combined for the win in an 11-3, six-inning victory two days later. OU head coach Patty Gasso and DePaul head coach Eugene Lenti both rank in the top 10 among active DI coaches for career wins.

OU takes on Cal State Fullerton for the third time in the last four years. The Sooners defeated the Titans, 9-0, in five innings during the 2013 season, but CSF returned the favor the following year with a 3-1 win. OU trails 10-5 all-time in the series, leads 5-4 under head coach Patty Gasso. Fullerton head coach Kelly Ford played at Oklahoma from 1990-92.

Oklahoma and Alabama have meet in three of the last four seasons, all of which have either been in the WCWS or Super Regionals. In fact, the teams have not met in the regular season since the 2009 season.

In 2012, the Crimson Tide beat OU, 2-1, in a best-of-three series to win the national championship. Two years later, the teams met in the opening game of the WCWS where Alabama won, 6-2. Last season, OU won the first game of the Super Regionals in Tuscaloosa, but Alabama came back to win the next two games and end OU’s season. Amazingly, OU’s two-game losing streak to Alabama is tied for their longest active losing streak against abother school (LSU, Minnesota, San Jose State).

OU and Nebraska will meet for the sixth time since the Cornhuskers left the Big 12 for the Big Ten after the 2011 season. All-time, the Huskers have a 44-41 lead in the series, but OU is up 28-22 since Patty Gasso became head coach in 1994. Oklahoma won two of three meetings during the 2013 season, while the teams split a pair of games in Norman during 2014.
Oklahoma freshman Shay Knighten is the younger sister of Nebraska junior MJ Knighten, a two-time All-Big Ten selection and 2015 All-Region honoree.

Wodach on 15-Game Hitting Streak

Following a career best 4-5 performance at the plate Wednesday night, sophomore Lea Wodach is on a 15-game hitting streak since Feb. 20.

That’s the longest hitting streak by a Sooner since Lauren Chamberlain hit safely in the final 16 games of the 2013 season and the first game in the 2014 campaign for a 17-game streak.

During her streak, Wodach has posted a slash line (AVG/OBP/SLG) of .556/.636/1.089. She’s 25-45 at the plate with six doubles and six home runs. She’s scored 18 runs with 16 RBI.

She’s had six multi-hit games during the streak, including two three-hit outings and a career-high four hits Wednesday.

OU Continues Remarkable Run in National Polls

After going 5-0 last weekend, OU stayed at No. 14 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll and No. 13. In the USA ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.

Oklahoma is the only program to be ranked every week of the NFCA poll, 311 straight polls.

Tough Schedule for Sooners in 2016

Fifteen opponents that reached the 2015 NCAA Softball Tournament, including half of the field from the Women’s College World Series, highlight Oklahoma’s 2016 schedule.

Ten of OU’s opponents are ranked in at least one of the two latest polls and three more are receiving votes. Oklahoma has faced seven of those 13 opponents so far, going 3-5 (played Minnesota twice). Oklahoma’s five losses this season have come to teams that are a combined 77-17-1 (.816).

In fact, so far this season Oklahoma has played the eighth-toughest schedule in the country based on the opponents’ cumulative winning percentage (games through 3/13). Looking ahead to the remainder of OU’s schedule, Sooner opponents have a .616 cumulative winning percentage, which ranks 32nd in the country. Combining OU’s past opponents with its future foes, OU’s opponents have a .629 cumulative win percentage, which ranks 13th in the country.

Quick Hits

Oklahoma’s nine-game winning streak was its longest since winning nine in a row from April 25 to May 22 last season ... the Sooners are 2-4 against ranked teams this year ... OU’s No. 9 hitters have a team-high .474 batting average ... the team’s top 3 innings by batting average are the 6th (.459), 2nd (.393) and 3rd (.382) ... OU’s best innings by ERA are the 2nd (1.27), and 1st (2.23) and 3rd (2.86) ... when putting the first pitch of an at-bat in play this season the Sooners are 39-78 (.500)

Sophomore Paige Parker’s streak of 21.0 straight scoreless innings ended Wednesday night against No. 22/22 Minnesota ... sophomore Kelsey Arnold’s batting average has been at .412 or higher since Feb. 20 ... freshman Fale Aviu went 0-11 in Palm Springs due to a sepearted shoulder but is 10-25 (.400) since ... senior Kady Self has recorded at least two hits in six of her last 11 games, raising her average 105 points from .250 to .355 in that span ... freshman Sydney Romero has struck out once in 83 plate appearances this year