NORMAN– No. 2/1 Oklahoma Softball returns home on Thursday to open a three-game Big 12 series against BYU at Love's Field.
The upcoming series begins a stretch in which the Sooners will play nine of its final 13 games at Love's Field to wrap up the regular season.
Thursday's opener is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT followed by a 6 p.m. Friday first pitch and a 1 p.m. Saturday finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 while both games two and three can also be heard on 107.7 FM The Franchise.
The series marks the first meeting between OU and BYU as conference opponents. Oklahoma holds a 9-1 edge in the all-time series and has won each of the past eight games, dropping a 1-0 neutral-site contest in Logan, Utah on April 24, 1986.
OU enters the set with a one-game lead in the Big 12 standings over second-place Oklahoma State. BYU stands eigth, a full nine games back of the Sooners.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
BYU enters the series at 21-17 with a 4-11 mark in Big 12 play, 9.0 games behind the Sooners in the conference standings. The Cougars are mired in a cold slump heading into the set, losers of four straight and five of their last seven. BYU was swept in Orlando by UCF last week and dropped its Tuesday midweek to Utah Valley 12-10.
The Cougars' lineup bats .331 and averages 6.90 runs per game entering the week, led by a fearsome top-of-the-order that sees five hitters post averages of .350 or better. Ailana Agbayani sets the table with a Big 12-leading 49 runs scored and a .425 average alongside eight stolen bases. Violet Zavodnik and Huntyr Ava have anchored the three-four spots in the order, batting .411 and .421 respectively. Zavodnik has blasted eight home runs and driven in 29 while Ava adds seven homers and 49 RBIs.
Right-hander Kate Dahle (5-5, 5.61 ERA) is joined by southpaws Chloe Temples (6-5, 4.49) and Gianna Mares (6-7, 5.69) as the primary options on the BYU staff. The trio has combined for 196.0 of the club's 237.0 innings (82.7%) and has received 34 of the 38 decisions (89.5%). Temples leads the staff in innings pitched (73.1), ERA (4.49) and strikeouts (79) while Mares owns the lowest opponent average (.289) among the team's qualifiers.
LAST TIME OUT
Sophom*ore left-hander Kierston Deal struck out nine over 5.1 innings of one-hit ball as No. 2/1 Oklahoma shut out Wichita State 7-0 on Tuesday evening, snapping its two-game losing skid.
The Sooners plated all seven runs over the game's first two innings, drawing five walks off the WSU starting pitcher. OU received multi-hit efforts from Kinzie Hansen, Alyssa Brito and Avery Hodge and stole a season-high five bases on the night.
Deal spun a gem to improve to 8-0 on the season, permitting just two Shockers to reach on a single and a hit batsman. The southpaw set down 13 straight batters after allowing a leadoff single in the bottom of the first, stymieing Wichita State by missing bats and keeping the ball on the ground.
OU handed its starter an early lead with a three-spot in the first. Jayda Coleman drew a walk to open the game, extending her on-base streak to 26 games, advanced to second on a passed ball then scored courtesy of a Brito RBI double. Ella Parker worked a free pass before Hansen doubled into right-center, plating Brito. Kasidi Pickering grounded out to the left side to score Parker, pushing Oklahoma's lead to 3-0.
The Sooners tacked on four more in the second courtesy of some small ball. Hodge began the inning with a bunt single and proceeded to steal both second and third, the latter as part of a double-steal with Rylie Boone, before scoring on a bases-loaded walk issued to Tiare Jennings. Brito scored Boone on a sacrifice fly, then Hansen brought home Coleman and Jennings with a two-run double poked down the right-field line.
Oklahoma's lineup was quieted by the Wichita State bullpen, but the damage had been done as Deal settled in. Karlie Keeney entered in the sixth and closed things out, striking out three over 1.2 innings of work.
A RARE SLUMP
Oklahoma fell in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday in Austin, both 2-1 defeats, for the first time since consecutive losses to Washington and Wisconsin on February 22 and 23, 2020. OU dropped its first conference series since the 2011 season and fell for the first time in a three-game series.
The Sooner lineup produced its second-lowest run output since the Big 12 moved to three-game series in 2012 last weekend, scoring just seven runs across the set. OU batted .247 (19-for-77), adding a .314 on-base percentage and a .364 slugging for a meager .378 OPS. OU also struck out (8) more than it walked (6) in a series for the first time this season. Oklahoma's five extra-base hits stood as a season-low in a series this season, as did its two home runs.
BIG 12 STANDINGS
Oklahoma enters the sixth week of conference play holding a 1.0-game lead over Oklahoma State and is 2.0 games ahead of third-place Texas. Kansas sits 3.0-games back of the Sooners in fourth place.
OU hosts BYU this weekend, Oklahoma State visits Iowa State, Texas travels to Baylor and Kansas heads to Texas Tech.
COLE WORLD
Jayda Coleman carries a 26-game on-base streak into the series and has slashed .536/.682/1.107 for a 1.789 OPS across the stretch. Over her last 26 contests she has scored 37 runs and driven in 23 while producing 30 hits, nine home runs and five doubles. Her plate discipline has been nothing short of incredible during her 25-game stretch, striking out just once in 89 plate appearances (1.1%) and walking 29 times (32.6%).
SHE'S DEALING
Sophom*ore left-hander Kierston Deal has enjoyed a phenomenal stretch over her last nine starts, establishing herself as one of the Big 12's top young talents in the circle. Deal has won eight of her last nine starts, going 8-0 with a miniscule 0.57 ERA across 37.0 innings in that span. She has struck out 39 while walking just nine, holding opponents to a .134 average and a meager three extra-base hits.
WELCOME BACK, K9
Graduate catcher Kinzie Hansen has given the OU lineup a jolt since returning from an injury and enters the series on a seven-game hitting streak. The backstop is 10-for-19 over the stretch, batting .526 with a team-leading 10 hits and two doubles.
LEADERBOARDS
The Sooners enter the week ranked highly across the national leaderboards in multiple statistical categories. OU leads the nation in batting average (.382), OPS (1.185), fielding percentage (.986) and on-base percentage (.482) and is top-three in slugging percentage (2nd, .703), shutouts (2nd, 16), runs per game (3rd, 8.66), home runs (3rd, 80) and ERA (3rd, 1.47). Senior infielder Tiare Jennings (.937) ranks sixth nationally in slugging percentage while senior outfielder Jayda Coleman (46) is seventh in the NCAA in runs scored.
Tiare Jennings enters the week leading the Big 12 in OPS (1.441), slugging percentage (.937), home runs (15) and doubles (11) while landing third in hits (48) and RBIs (48) along with the sixth-best batting average (.432) in the league. Jayda Coleman is second among her conference counterparts in batting average (.449), on-base percentage (.570), runs scored (46) and OPS (1.366). Alyssa Brito owns the second-best slugging percentage (.873), is third in OPS (1.358), home runs (14) and runs scored (44) and has collected the sixth-most hits (45) across the league. Cydney Sanders adds the Big 12's No. 4 marks in OPS (1.305) and slugging (.800) along with the fifth-most home runs (11).
In the circle, the Sooners boast three pitchers in the league's top-six ERA leaders with Karlie Keeney (3rd, 1.08), Kelly Maxwell (5th, 1.72) and Nicole May (6th, 1.79) anchoring one of the nation's top staffs. Maxwell leads the conference with a .159 opponent average while ranking second in wins (11) and third in strikeouts (85). May ties Maxwell for the second-most wins (11), is eighth in batting average against (.211) and has struck out the 10th-most batters across the league with 63.
LET'S GO POLLING
The Sooners remained at No. 1 in the NFCA coaches poll this week, earning 12 first-place votes. OU slid back one spot to No. 2 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, receiving five first-place votes.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter/X and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and likeOklahoma Softballon Facebook.
