Softball

Another competitive year in-state, it looks like...

The seven-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma softball team enters the 2019 season ranked fourth in the USA Today/NFCA preseason coaches poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason top 25, both of which were released Tuesday.

Oklahoma State opens up with a top-25 ranking for the second consecutive seasons, coming in at No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 21 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

Tulsa, which won its third straight American Athletic Conference title last season, received votes in both polls.
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The latest from Eric Bailey...

2018 record: 57-5

Looking ahead: Oklahoma begins the 2019 campaign with five games at the Grand Canyon University Kickoff Tournament in Phoenix. The first game is 3:30 p.m. Friday against Syracuse.

Players to watch: UTIL Jocelyn Alo (.420 BA, .977 slugging, 30 HR, 72 RBIs), IF Sydney Romero (.395 BA, 25 extra-base hits, 12 HR), LHP Giselle Juarez (22-6, 1.22 ERA, 305 Ks at Arizona State in 2018).

Notable: Oklahoma is No. 4 in the two major preseason polls. … The Juarez transfer to the pitching staff is huge. She was a first-team All-American at Arizona State in 2018. … Alo maintains power in the lineup after leading the nation with 30 home runs last season.
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Patty on the 2018 & 2019 teams .


“Finishing fourth in the country is not so bad,” 25th-year Sooners head coach Patty Gasso explained. “But for a class that doesn’t even know what that feels like (to not win the national title) until they were juniors, that’s a pretty big deal. It stung them.”

Gasso’s quick overview of this year’s team: “Offense is strong. Upperclassmen (are) great leaders. Defense is going to be strong. We’re faster than we’ve ever been, so I’m really excited. I think this is going to be a team that makes some noise throughout the season.”
 
Isn't it refreshing to hear this forecast from Patty after suffering through this women's basketball season.
 
OU beats Charlotte 13-0. Rogers 2/3, HR and 4 rbi's. Knighten 2/2, HR and 3 rbi's and Green 3/3, HR and 2 ribi's. Lopez throws 1 hitter with 10 K's.
 
(2/9/2019) Sooners win 2 today and are now 4-0.

Schedule / Results
http://www.soonersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=31000&SPID=127251&SPSID=750355

Run-Rule Wins Highlight Day Two in Phoenix
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=211789977

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On the second day of the GCU Kickoff Tournament, the No. 4/4 Oklahoma softball team earned a pair of five-inning, run-rule victories. The Sooners defeated Charlotte 13-0 Saturday morning before taking down Syracuse 9-1 in the afternoon.

Both games included a seven-run inning, marking OU's most runs in one frame since scoring eight in the fourth against Boston University at the NCAA Norman Regional on May 18, 2018.

“They strung some things together, and it became contagious,” OU head coach Patty Gasso said. “This is what we’re capable of: scoring fast… We’re starting to feel a little bit better. Today was a much better offensive day for us.”
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Swept five games, allowing a total of two runs, both by Juarez, the new pitcher from Arizona State. Lopez pitched two shutout complete games, striking out nearly everyone. Saile is also a K artist who allowed only about four singles in two relief appearances and one complete game. Won the last three by run rule.


It's on to Florida next week.
 
sybarite said:
Swept five games, allowing a total of two runs, both by Juarez, the new pitcher from Arizona State. Lopez pitched two shutout complete games, striking out nearly everyone. Saile is also a K artist who allowed only about four singles in two relief appearances and one complete game. Won the last three by run rule.


It's on to Florida next week.
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Great start to the season but not much competition. Next week should give Patti and staff things to work on during the season. We need to be playing our best in April, May and June rather than February.
 
tycat947 said:
Great start to the season but not much competition. Next week should give Patti and staff things to work on during the season. We need to be playing our best in April, May and June rather than February.
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We need to be playing very well in February too in addition to peaking April-June. Think back to 2016-2017 when OU was preseason ranked number 1 after winning the 2016 natty. We had loses to Auburn, Washington, Tennessee and Notre Dame in February and fell into the teens in the rankings and it took all season to get back in the top 8.

This February we have #1 FSU, #2 UCLA, #7 Arizona, Kentucky and Notre Dame, Cal State, Fullerton and Oregon State (3-1-19). Should we do poorly in 2-3 of those games we will again be fighting the rankings all season playing in the not so strong Big 12.
 
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SoonerSpock said:
We need to be playing very well in February too in addition to peaking April-June. Think back to 2016-2017 when OU was preseason ranked number 1 after winning the 2016 natty. We had loses to Auburn, Washington, Tennessee and Notre Dame in February and fell into the teens in the rankings and it took all season to get back in the top 8.

This February we have #1 FSU, #2 UCLA, #7 Arizona, Kentucky and Notre Dame, Cal State, Fullerton and Oregon State (3-1-19). Should we do poorly in those games we will again be fighting the rankings all season playing in the not so strong Big 12.
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We aren't exactly a struggling team trying to stabilize a pitching staff and search for an extra outfielder from somewhere on the bench. In each of these games, I will be more than a little if we lose one, much less two.
 
Patty typically does a lot of shifting things around early in the season so I would not be suprised to see more than one or two losses going into Big 12 play.

The pitching seems to be very strong so far but we have yet to face a strong team.
 
Patty typically does a lot of shifting things around early in the season so I would not be suprised to see more than one or two losses going into Big 12 play.

The pitching seems to be very strong so far but we have yet to face a strong team.

And clearly, losing the early games caused us to be seeded so low one year we had to play a very top seeded team in the super regionals. I think it was against Alabama and we lost.
 
Oklahoma Softball (5-0) ... Next 10 games

St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational
Thur, 2/14 .. Kentucky (3PM / ESPNU)
Thur, 2/14 .. Notre Dame (6PM / ESPN3)
Fri, 2/15 ... Florida Atlantic (9AM)
Fri, 2/15 ... Florida State (Noon / ESPNU)
Sat, 2/16 ... Hofstra (9AM / ESPN3)

Mary Nutter Classic / Palm Springs, California
Fri, 2/22 .. BYU (5:30 PM)
Fri, 2/22 .. UCLA (8PM)
Sat, 2/23 .. Arizona (Noon)
Sun, 2/24 .. Cal State Fullerton (11AM)
Sun, 2/24 .. UC Santa Barbara (1:30 PM)

.. All Times are Central Time (CT)
 
At first glance, this weekend's schedule looked daunting. The RPIs were #13, #38, #81, #1, and #18. But, Kentucky lost to Houston, Illinois, and Oklahoma State, and Notre Dame lost to Duke and North Carolina. Florida Atlantic lost to Indiana and Georgia, and Florida State won five weak games. Hofstra hasn't yet played. A field that looked like it would be about 18--2 is only 13-7. Kentucky was a huge disappointment.
 
I saw the Kentucky-OSU box score. OSU hit a pair of 2-run homers in the bottom of the seventh to come from behind and win 8-7. OSU's pitching appears to be soft again this year despite a couple of transfers but they should put up some runs.
 
Just an interesting side note regarding ticket cost for softball. OU charges $250 for reserved season ticket and $10 per game for general admission seats. Our attendance averages about 1,800+. Georgia who is a top 10 program does not charge for attending their regular season home games. They average 1,500+. Florida charges appoximately the same as OU for their softball tickets and their attendance averages about 2,000.

The Georgia softball fans are getting a deal.


http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&&DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=208802870

http://www.soonersports.com/pdf9/5473873.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=31000

https://georgiadogs.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball

https://floridagators.com/documents/2018/4/29//_4_29_18_LSU.pdf
 
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From Eric Bailey...

Oklahoma
Record: 5-0

Looking ahead: Oklahoma will play five games at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. The highlight will be the Friday afternoon game against defending national champion Florida State. OU also will face Kentucky, Notre Dame, Florida Atlantic and Hofstra.

Looking back: The Sooners were perfect at the Grand Canyon University Kickoff Tournament, outscoring five opponents by a combined 44-2. Three of the victories were called after five innings because of run rule.

Notable: OU moved up one spot to No. 3 in the major softball weekly polls. … Junior Mariah Lopez was named the Big 12 pitcher of the week. She was 2-0 last weekend with two one-hit shutouts and double-digit strikeouts in both wins. … Jocelyn Alo (8-for-14) and Shay Knighten (4-for-7) had team-high .571 batting averages. .. Caleigh Clifton and Raegan Rogers had two home runs each.
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Today:

3:00 Kentucky (2-3) ESPNU, KEBC

-----Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=okla


6:00 Notre Dame ESPN3, KEBC, Live stats at same site as for Kentucky

Kentucky lost to Illinois, Houston, and Oklahoma State in Houston. They beat Houston and Sam Houston State. Rocky start.

Notre Dame lost to Duke and South Carolina. But, they beat Washington and Liberty, Washington being about #3 at the time. In Puerto Vallarta.
 
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