April 25, 2000
Oklahoma City at Oklahoma
Tuesday, April 25 at 6 p.m. (doubleheader)
Kansas at Oklahoma
Saturday, April 29 at 2 p.m.
Sunday, April 30 at 1 p.m. (FOX Sports Net)
Sooner Update
Winners of six straight games and 17 of their last 18, the sixth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners begin a four-game homestand Tuesday when Oklahoma City comes to town for a doubleheader. OU will host Kansas on Saturday and Sunday, with the latter contest being televised by FOX Sports Net. Oklahoma boasts a 51-6 overall record and a 15-1 league mark, good for a two-and-a-half game lead over second-place Nebraska. The Sooners own the conference's best batting (.337 average) and pitching marks (1.50 ERA). Seven of the top 16 hitters in the league are Sooners while pitchers Jennifer Stewart (1.24) and Lana Moran (1.45) own the best and third-best ERAs, respectively.
About Oklahoma City
On Tuesday, the Sooners will take on NAIA powerhouse Oklahoma City in Norman. The Stars enter the contest with a 47-9 record and a No. 2 ranking in the NAIA national poll. OCU is coming off three straight losses for the first time in the 2000 season.
About Kansas
The Jayhawks currently own a 28-27 overall record and are 5-9 in the Big 12 Conference (through April 25). Kansas is led offensively by Shelly Muser, who is hitting .309, and Christy McPhail, who is batting .252 with 19 RBIs. The top KU hurler is senior Sarah Clopton (Workman). The right-hander is 15-11 with a 2.62 ERA. Kansas owns the all-time edge over OU, 25-23. The Sooners have won seven of the last eight contests, however, dating back to the 1997 season.
In The First Meeting Against Kansas
The Sooners and the Jayhawks played earlier this season on Feb. 26 in the OU adidas Classic. OU won, 3-0, in a game that saw little offensive production from either team. Senior pitcher Lana Moran allowed the Jayhawks only one hit as she went all seven innings for the complete game shutout. Clopton (Workman) took the loss for Kansas. She gave up four Sooner hits, walked four and struck out four. OU freshman Kelli Braitsch was 2-for-2 at the plate.
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Sooners improved to 51-6 overall and 15-1 in the Big 12 Conference with a sweep of Baylor in Waco, Texas. OU blanked the Bears, 6-0, in Friday's game as sophomore pitcher Jennifer Stewart recorded her 11th shutout of the season, striking out five and walking none in seven innings. Stewart is now 25-5 on the season. Junior Lisa Carey highlighted the OU offense, going 2-for-4 at the plate and hitting her 10th home run of the season. In Saturday's contest, Oklahoma got the win by a score of 8-1. OU recorded 11 hits in the victory, including four home runs. The four long balls tied a single-game season high. Mandy Fulton and Kelli Braitsch registered back-to-back solo shots in the fourth inning. Carey hit her 11th of the year and Braitsch nailed her second of the game and seventh of the season in the seventh. Senior Lana Moran upped her season record to 20-1. The lefty struck out three and walked none.
Oklahoma Remains in First Place in Big 12 Race
Sixth-ranked Oklahoma, 51-6 overall, currently holds the lead in the Big 12 Conference race with a 15-1 record. Nebraska is in second place at 11-2. Oklahoma has two Big 12 games left, while the Huskers still have six games remaining. Nebraska hosts third-place Texas (11-3) this weekend. On May 5, NU takes on Kansas at home in a doubleheader and then travels to Iowa State for its final regular season game on May 7. If the Sooners can win both games against Kansas this weekend, they will clinch the Big 12 title outright, with only a single loss in conference play.
Offensive Statistical Comparison
Below is a an offensive comparison between
OU and its opponents this year:
Category OU Opponent
Batting Avg. .337 .211
At Bats 1542 1378
Runs 375 93
Hits 519 291
Doubles 91 25
Triples 15 4
Home Runs 64 22
RBI 351 80
Total Bases 832 390
Slugging Pct. .540 .283
Base on Balls 194 78
Strikeouts 257 246
On-Base Pct. .416 .264
Stolen Bases 100-123 15-31
2000 Sooners Shatter Season Home Run Record
On April 2, with a shot over the right field fence, junior Andrea Davis recorded OU's 44th home run of the season, breaking the old team season record of 43 set by the 1997 squad. Currently, the Sooners have hit 64 long balls in 57 games. The team has four regular season games and the postseason left to build on the record.
Barrett Breaks Home Run Record
Junior Ashli Barrett broke the OU career home run record on March 17 against UNLV in the Kia Klassic tournament in Fullerton, Calif. The long ball was her 13th of the season and the 28th of her career. Barrett is more than three-fourths of the way to the single-season home run record of 20, which was set last year by first-team All-American Lynette Velazquez. The Sooners' catcher, who currently leads the Big 12 in home runs with 16, has more than a season left to extend the OU career mark.
Attendance Record
On April 19, 1,320 fans jammed the OU Softball Complex to watch the Sooners finish a regular season sweep of Oklahoma State, 10-5. The crowd set an OU home attendance record. The old mark of 1,173 was set last season when OSU came to town.
Rounding the Bases
Five of the top six run scorers in the Big 12 Conference, including the top four, are Oklahoma Sooners. Here's a look at the numbers (as of April 25):
G R R/G
1) Christy Ring (OU) 57 55 .96
2) Lisa Carey (OU) 57 50 .88
3) Kelli Braitsch (OU) 57 42 .74
4) Ashli Barrett (OU) 55 35 .64
5) Kim Ogee (NU) 54 35 .65
6) LaKisha Washington (OU) 57 34 .60
Mercy Me!
Fifteen of OU's 51 wins this season have been shortened to less than seven innings due to the mercy rule (an eight-run lead after five innings). Three of those run-rule victories have come over teams in the top 25 at the time. On Feb. 13 in the Texas-Arlington Invitational, OU beat No. 5 Southern Mississippi, 10-1. The Sooners rolled over ninth-ranked Stanford, 9-0, on March 4 in the NFCA Lead Off Classic and trounced No. 12 Oregon State, 9-0, on March 16 at the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif.
Gasso the Great
In OU's opening game of the season, a 5-0 defeat of Kentucky, Head Coach Patty Gasso landed her 400th win in 10 seasons as a head coach. In her five-plus seasons at OU, she owns a 288-99 (.744) record. Gasso is listed at No. 9 on the active Division I coaches list for highest winning percentage. Coming into the season, she had amassed a 399-152 career record for a .719 percentage.
Making the Switch
Junior Lisa Carey earned third-team All-America honors last season from her shortstop position. Carey underwent shoulder surgery in October and is not throwing quite at 100 percent. For the first half of the season she was in the offensive starting line-up as OU's designated player. Now Carey has made the switch to first base for the Sooners. The Topeka, Kan., native, saw her first action at shortstop this season versus Texas Tech on April 16. Carey has continued to play a few innings at shortstop when the Sooners have the game well in hand.
Preseason Picks
The Sooners were the Big 12 coaches' pick to win the league after receiving every possible first-place vote in the preseason conference poll. OU also appeared at No. 8 in the Preseason NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Tournament Champions
Oklahoma has won two tournament championships this season. The Sooners opened the year by seizing the Texas-Arlington Isuzu Motors Invitational on Feb. 13. The team posted a 7-0 record. On Feb. 27, OU won its own adidas Classic by winning six straight games at the OU Softball Complex.
Fabulous Freshmen
The freshman portion of the Sooners' 1999 recruiting class has wasted no time making its mark this season. Kelli Braitsch is starting at shortstop and hitting .329 with seven home runs on the year. Leah Gulla began the year starting at shortstop, but has recently made the move to third base. Gulla has hit 10 doubles and three homers this season. Jennifer Stump has started 16 games at first base and is hitting .286 on the season with three homers.
The Need for Speed
The Sooners have proven to be exceptionally fast in 2000 in with several legitimate threats on the base paths. Leftfielder Christy Ring leads the conference with 28 stolen bases in 34 attempts. Centerfielder Erin Evans is second on the team with 23, while second baseman LaKisha Washington has 17. Freshman shortstop Kelli Braistch has swiped 10 bases. All but four of the 16 players on OU's roster have at least two stolen bases on the season.
2000 Season Big 12 Conference Honors
A Sooner player was recognized as pitcher or player of the week in the each of the first three weeks of the season. In week one, sophomore Jennifer Stewart was named pitcher of the week for her 6-0 performance at the Texas-Arlington Invitational. Junior third baseman Mandy Fulton garnered the player-of-the-week award in the second week. Fulton hit three homers, knocked in 12 runs and notched a stellar .571 batting average in the Wildcat Softball Classic in Tucson, Ariz. In week number three, junior catcher Ashli Barrett was named the Big 12 Player of the Week. Barrett hit a home run and four doubles on her way to a .444 batting average in seven games for the Sooners. On April 4, Stewart earned her second pitcher-of-the-week honor from the league. She added two shutout wins to her record while holding opponents to a .095 batting average. On April 12, centerfielder Erin Evans became the third Sooner to be honored as Big 12 Player of the Week. The redshirt freshman was 7-for-9 at the plate for a .778 batting average and scored three runs for the Sooners in three games.
Moran Off To A Great Start
Senior pitcher Lana Moran owns the highest winning percentage of any pitcher in the Big 12 Conference at .952 (20-1). After earning All-America honors as a sophomore, Moran suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament the following summer. She posted a 10-8 record last season during her recovery, but is off to an amazing start in 2000. Moran excels on the field as well as in the classroom. The sociology major recently received the Athletic Council Achievement Award, which is given to an oustanding senior who has overcome difficult circumstances to achieve success in athletics at the University of Oklahoma.
Young Guns
Pitcher Lana Moran is the only senior on Oklahoma's roster this season. In a typical game, OU starts three freshmen, one sophomore and five juniors (excluding the pitcher).
Strength in the Circle
Although OU has been carried by its offense at times this season, the team is getting plenty of help from its pitching staff. Left-handers Jennifer Stewart (25-5) and Lana Moran (20-1) are the top two pitchers in the Big 12 in terms of wins. Stewart boasts the best ERA in the conference (1.24) and Moran is third (1.45). Moran is holding opponents to just a .194 batting average.
Sooner Scribbles
* Five of Oklahoma's six losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top 25. Three of the six were to teams ranked in the top 10 at the time.
* Currently, the Sooners' team fielding percentage rests at .974. OU led the nation during the 1999 season with a .979 percentage.
* Sooner opponents are only hitting .211 against OU's pitching staff.
* The Sooner pitching staff boasts a combined 1.50 ERA. OU opponents, meanwhile, are allowing 6.49 earned runs per game against the Sooners.
* The 2000 squad has easily surpassed last season's total number of runs batted in. In 1999, OU hitters knocked in 228 runs. Through 57 games this year, that number stands at a whopping 351.
* Oklahoma is the only school in the Big 12 with a team batting average over .300 (hitting .337).
* OU has outscored its Big 12 opponents 101-25.
* Oklahoma's 64 home runs are the seventh most by an NCAA Division I team in a season.
* The Sooners (51-6) need just seven more wins to tie the school record for victories in a season. The 1994 squad went 58-15 under one-year coach Jim Beitia.
