Softball: OU opens Big 12 play vs. Kansas
LEADING OFF
After playing 33 non-conference games this season, the No. 11 Oklahoma softball team (25-8) will open Big 12 play this weekend at the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners will host the Kansas Jayhawks (23-6) in their conference opener. The two-game series will open on Friday night at 7 p.m. and will conclude with a 1 p.m. meeting against Kansas on Saturday.
WEBCAST
A live web cast of both games will be available on Oklahoma All-Access.
LIVE STATS
Live stats are available for all games this season on SoonerSports.com.
PROMOTIONS
Friday night will feature $.50 hot dog and coke night and the first 250 fans will receive a free OU mini bat. On Saturday, the first 500 fans through the gate will receive a free OU team picture with an autograph session to follow the game. Saturday also marks First Responder Day as helicopters, fire trucks and police units will be on display for Sooner fans to enjoy.
TICKETS
Seats remain for this weekend’s games and gates will open 90 minutes prior to first pitch each day. Tickets are available at the gate, online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU. The office is open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and is located on the plaza level of the Asp Avenue parking garage.
SCOUTING KANSAS
The Jayhawks enter the weekend on fire as they own a five-game winning streak with this week’s National Player of the Week, Val Chapple, leading the way. Currently, KU has a 23-6 record with key wins over Illinois State, Central Florida, Oregon, BYU and Cal State Northridge. The three-member pitching staff is having a solid season as the squad owns a team ERA of 1.60 with ace Valerie George leading the way. The junior right-hander posts an 11-1 record and owns a 0.69 ERA while throwing four shutouts this season and holding opponents to a .165 ERA. Offensively, Chapple headlines the KU offense that owns a .270 batting average as she leads the team with six home runs and 21 RBI. The junior earned national weekly honors after hitting .875 last week with four home runs in three games last week. Chapple is also getting it done on the base paths as she is 4-of-5 in stolen bases.
OU/KU SERIES RECORDS
The series records between the two teams is tied at 40-40. The Sooners have won five of the last seven, but KU and OU split the series in Lawrence last season. The loss was costly for the Sooners as it took away their chances of winning the Big 12 regular season title.
LAST MEETING
In addition to splitting the regular season series last season in Lawrence, both teams met in OU’s first game of the Big 12 Championship on May 11. The Sooners shut out the Jayhawks, 5-0 , to advance to the Big 12 semifinals and eventually clinch the Big 12 Postseason Championship with a win over Texas Tech.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma will head to Oklahoma City next Tuesday (March 25) to play an exhibition game against the USA Olympic Team at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The game will be shown on tape delay by ESPN2 on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. The Sooners will follow that with a non-conference game against Central Arkansas on Wednesday (March 26) at 6 p.m. at the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners will step back into conference action next weekend as they travel to Nebraska for their first road series of the year. The Sooners and Huskers will square off at 2 p.m. on Saturday and conclude the series with a 12 p.m. contest on Sunday.
BIG 12 COACHES PICK OKLAHOMA SECOND
The University of Oklahoma softball team was picked to finish second by the Big 12 coaches in the annual preseason poll. The Sooners were one of three teams to receive a first-place vote and picked up 70 total votes while Texas A&M was tabbed the league favorite with 79 total points. Texas A&M received seven of the 10 first-place votes while Baylor, last year’s Big 12 regular season champion, is ranked third with 64 total points and two first-place votes. Missouri was ranked fourth followed by Texas, Nebraska and Texas Tech. Filling the remaining spots in the preseason poll were Oklahoma State, Kansas and Iowa State, respectively.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore Amber Flores has been OU’s top performer this season at the plate as she leads the team with a .402 batting average and owns 10 home runs and 29 RBI this season. Flores has been one of the top hitters in the Big 12 as she ranks in the top three in the conference in runs scored, home runs, RBI, total bases, walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The left fielder has also been clutch for the Sooners as she is hitting .415 with runners on base and .357 with runners in scoring position.
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