Softball

Juarez pitched a perfect game, striking out 12 of 15 batters she faced, in a five-inning run-rule of Iowa State, 14-0. Four home runs for OU: Clifton, Aviu, LeValley, and Flores (I think).
 
(4/28/2019) Juarez Throws Perfect Game in Run-Rule Win
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=211801893

Box Score; OU 14 - ISU 0
http://www.soonersports.com/pdf9/5487432.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=31000

Juarez retired all 15 batters she faced to register her second perfect game of 2019 and the 14th in program history. She was also perfect against Loyola Marymount on March 14; Juarez joins Paige Parker as the only Sooners to record multiple perfect games in one season.

The Glendale, Ariz., native struck out 12 batters on Sunday. It marked her eighth game this season with double-digit strikeouts and her highest strikeout total against a Big 12 opponent this season. Juarez remained undefeated on the year, improving to 20-0.

"G was exceptional today," OU head coach Patty Gasso said. "I'm really, really pleased with her approach. The offense: off the bench, everybody contributed. It couldn't be any better than what we just saw."

The Oklahoma offense was powered by home runs from Falepolima Aviu, Caleigh Clifton, Raegan Rogers and Audrie LaValley. Overall, the Sooners scored 14 runs on 11 hits.
Click to expand...

:OU-logo:
 
(4/29/2019) Another great weekend for Oklahoma softball, as the Sooners (45-2; 15-0) sweep the Cyclones in Ames.

Oklahoma @ Iowa State (28-21; 4-11)
> Friday .... Win 8-3
> Friday .... Win 9-2
> Sunday .... Win 14-0

Games This Week vs Oklahoma State (37-11; 13-2)
Fri; May 3 (6:00 PM) .. Stillwater (TV: Fox Sports Plus)
Sat; May 4 (7:30 PM) .. Norman (TV: ESPN)
Sun; May 5 (3:00 PM) .. Stillwater (TV: FSN)

Bedlam is between the two top teams in the Big-12. It is the last series of the regular season, as post-season approaches. Oklahoma State (37-11; 31-2) swept all 3 games this past weekend at home against Texas Tech (35-12; 8-10).

In conference play, OSU's has only lost once to Texas and once to Baylor. Win or lose this weekend, OSU can finish no worse than 2nd place in the conference.

There is some pressure on the Sooners. Oklahoma must win at least one Bedlam game to win the Big-12 regular season championship.

:OU-logo:
 
2019 NCAA Softball Senior Class Award Update: Sooner fans are making their votes count! Sydney Romero is now in the lead by about 7%, as her vote total is back above 34%.

Senior Class Award / Vote at this Link
http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/softball_2019/

Senior Class Award Voting: 4/29/2019 Update
34.8 % ... Sydney Romero; Oklahoma
27.5 % ... Kelly Barnhill; Florida
+7.3 %

Keep voting when you can, as there are about 3 weeks to go in the voting.

:OU-logo:
 
The latest national statistical ranking out 4-28-19 have OU ranked nationally as:

Batting average .366 ranked-------------#1
ERA 1.21 ranked--------------------------#2
K to BB ratio 6.82 ranked----------------#1
Fielding% 0.987 ranked------------------#1
Home runs per game 1.96 (92) ranked-#1
Scoring 8.15 r/g ranked------------------#1
Slugging% 0.681 ranked-----------------#1
OB% 0.457 ranked-----------------------#1
Winning% 0.957 ranked-----------------#1

https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings?sport_code=WSB&division=1

On paper this team is the strongest team OU has ever had and should they win out through the WCWS they will break the Arizona win streak of 47 straight and be in contention along with the 2013 team as the best team of all time.
 
With 47 games in the books, the 2019 regular season is nearly complete. Here is a summary of key hitting stats for all OU players with at least ten (10) hits so far this season. The list is sorted by number of base hits for the season.

Hits -- (BA) -- RBI -- (HR) -- Player
> 68 .. (.430) .. 50 .. (16) .. Sydney Romero, 3B
> 52 .. (.416) .. 45 .. (13) .. Grace Green, 1B
> 51 .. (.405) .. 40 .. (13) .. Caleigh Clifton, 2B
> 51 .. (.402) .. 42 .. (12) .. Jocelyn Alo, RF
> 51 .. (.389) .. 31 ... (7) .. Fale Aviu, LF
> 38 .. (.355) .. 30 ... (8) .. Shay Knighten, DP
> 33 .. (.355) .. 31 ... (4) .. Nicole Mendes, CF
> 27 .. (.314) .. 23 ... (4) .. Lynnsie Elam, C
> 25 .. (.263) .. 24 ... (6) .. Grace Lyons, SS

> 18 .. (.327) .. 15 ... (5) .. Raegan Rogers, OF
> 12 .. (.245) ... 6 ... (-) .. Eliyah Flores, OF

Solid from top to bottom. There are no "automatic outs" and hitters -1- through -9- can hit with power and produce RBIs.

:OU-logo:
 
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Previewing Bedlam with Bill Haisten...

On the soonersports.com website, Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso’s bio amounts to 3,899 words.

The Lincoln Riley bio on the same site: 1,379 words.

Gasso’s body of work — 25 seasons at OU, 1,248 wins and national titles in 2000, 2013, 2016 and 2017 — merits a 3,899-word review.

Her Oklahoma State counterpart, Cowgirls coach Kenny Gajewski, is among the more quotable figures in college sports. In four seasons, he has elevated OSU to a position of prominence both within the Big 12 and nationally.

Gasso and Gajewski are at the center of an incredibly compelling Bedlam competition this weekend. Any Bedlam clash is interesting — even when one side has pronounced advantages — but this is high-stakes Bedlam at its best.

As an unintended tribute to former Cowboys football coach Les Miles, who never took a step back when discussing Bedlam challenges, Gajewski issued a bold statement: “These are big games, and this is Bedlam and OU is the No. 1 team in the country, but we’re pretty damn good.”
Click to expand...
 
OU’s Grace Lyons not playing like a freshman anymore

By Joe Buettner

Transcript Sports Writer


ESPN’s “SportsCenter” featured two plays from Grace Lyons on back-toback nights in April, which caught the attention of a San Diego Padres assistant coach.

Damion Easley’s time is limited at this point of the year with the daily grind of the Major League Baseball season. But the Padres’ assistant hitting coach couldn’t miss Lyons’ pair of ESPN Top-10 plays against Texas.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Easley said.

The lack of shock from Easley is a product of his days as a little league baseball coach with the Warrior Baseball Academy. Lyons was one of his players and the only girl on the travel

baseball team.

Lyons, now a freshman shortstop with Oklahoma softball, never lacked respect from her male counterparts. Easley, a former MLB All-Star with the Detroit Tigers, says she earned instant credibility with her play on the field.

“When she played for me, we played club ball,” Easley said. “It’s definitely a higher caliber of play and she was one of the better players on the field every single time we played.

“It was no question, no debate about it.”

Lyons credits her early success with the Sooners to her baseball past.

She says Easley, who also played the infield, helped her learn the shortstop position and the game of baseball helped prepare her for the speed of softball.

Lyons eventually had to transition from baseball to softball when she was 14 years old after spending three years as a member of Easley’s teams. And she admits she was a bit reluctant.

“It was tough,” Lyons said. “I’ve always been that.

Growing up, you’re the tomboy playing baseball with the boys, now you go play and you’ve got to put a bow in your hair.”

Lyons soon became a highly sought-after softball recruit at Sandra Day O’Connor High School in the Phoenix area and signed with OU.

Moving away from home wasn’t hard for Lyons, who has moved around her entire life. She was born in Bitburg, Germany, and traveled plenty as a child in a military family.

Adjusting to her role with one of college softball’s best programs, on the other hand, was a bit of a process.

OU coach Patty Gasso was impressed with Lyons’ courage to go after the incredible diving catch she made vs. Texas on April 18, which took the No. 1 spot on “SportsCenter’s” top-10 plays.

It’s required plenty of work from Lyons to get to that point, but Gasso is seeing more veteran-level play lately from her starting shortstop.

“She is so athletic, but what’s really great about the whole thing is seeing her get locked in,” Gasso said.

“She’s definitely let go of the freshman blues or whatever you would call it. She’s not playing

like a freshman like she was earlier in the season.”

The freshman figures to be an important piece to OU’s postseason run, though one regular-season series remains: The Sooners are at Oklahoma State Friday and Sunday with a home game against the Cowgirls on Saturday night. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 12 in the NFCA Top 25 coaches poll.

Lyons will gladly take a few games in Stillwater, Oklahoma, against a top-15 team, especially, if it lends to an environment similar to Austin, Texas, where her playmaking dazzled.

“The whole (Texas) series was just a postseason atmosphere,” Lyons said. “I know getting a hint of that before we get into it is awesome.”

Lyons might not be able to match her weekend at Texas, but the girl who was once sad to leave her baseball teammates is happier than ever to be a part of an OU group that celebrates each other’s accomplishments, no matter the player. “I think it’s just really special how our team,” Lyons said, “whenever anyone makes a good play, it’s just this feeling that everyone gets and everyone comes and wants to celebrate together.”
 
From Eric Bailey...

Two freshmen — one wearing crimson and cream, the other orange and black — are looking forward to their first Bedlam softball series this weekend.

Grace Green is a Californian and self-proclaimed country girl who loves playing first base for Oklahoma.

...

In Big 12 play, Green leads the Big 12 in home runs (8) and RBIs (24) and is batting .455 (third-best in league play).*

“Facing our pitchers (was tough),” Green said. “I remember the first week, they said we are going live. We were all like ‘No, this is crazy.’ Since our pitching staff is so good, it’s really easy to go out there and be confident. We know we have some of the best pitchers, so when we face other really good pitchers, we have that confidence because we work with some of the best.”
Click to expand...

Update: Tonight's game canceled due to weather.
 
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From OSU Site ...
https://okstate.com/news/2019/5/3/softball-bedlam-series-opener-canceled.aspx

STILLWATER – Friday's series opener of a high-stakes Bedlam series between the No. 12 Oklahoma State softball team and top-ranked Oklahoma has been canceled due to inclement weather in the Stillwater area. Saturday and Sunday's games will remain as scheduled, and the coaching staffs will continue to work to reschedule Friday's game.

This weekend's series marks the third-straight year that Bedlam will decide the winner of the Big 12's regular season title. OSU (37-11; 13-2 Big 12) needs to sweep the series - the same challenge they've faced the past two years - to win the program's first conference title since 1995.

Saturday's game is scheduled to be played in Norman, and it will mark the first top-15 Bedlam matchup since 2010, when OSU entered at No. 11 and the Sooners at No. 12. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Click to expand...

:OU-logo:
 
2019 NCAA Softball Senior Class Award Update: Sydney Romero is now in the lead by about 9%, as her vote total has risen above 36%.

Senior Class Award / Vote at this Link
http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/softball_2019/

Senior Class Award Voting: 5/04/2019 Update
36.7 % ... Sydney Romero; Oklahoma
27.3 % ... Kelly Barnhill; Florida
+9.4 %

:OU-logo:
 
Oklahoma Softball
@OU_Softball
·
29m
🚨 WEEKEND UPDATE 🚨

Friday’s rained out game will be made up on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in Stillwater with the series finale taking place at 3 p.m. CT.
 
Those strikeouts really add up.

Oklahoma Sooners
@OU_Athletics
·
4h
Throughout the season,
@LandersChevyOK
&
@LandersCDJROK
have been teaming up with
@OU_Baseball
&
@OU_Softball
to raise money for The Children's Hospital at
@OUMedicine
!

They're donating $20 for every strikeout and to date have raised over $16,000!
 
Man, Alo's homer was a blast. A mile high and a mile long.
 
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