Sooner Softball Report: Still perfect, while conference play nears
One could argue what coach Patty Gasso’s still perfect Sooner softball team has in front of it are five big games. Not for who it will be facing this weekend, but for who it will be facing the following weekend:
South Carolina.
Just like the Sooners (14-0), the Gamecocks (15-0) have yet to lose and, more than that, the series will mark Oklahoma’s first foray into Southeastern Conference play, a league that may still include four top-five teams and eight top-10 teams when the Gamecocks arrive.
That’s one way to look at it.
Another way is to understand OU’s unlikely to be tested at Love’s Field this weekend, when Marshall (5-7), Kansas (7-5) and Kansas City (0-9) visit.
The Thundering Herd, whose best showing against a good team was a 2-0 opening-day loss to Texas Tech, will enter slashing .305/.378/.449. The Jayhawks, whose best win was a 2-1 victory over Long Beach State, and who’ve won six of seven, are still slashing a lowly .282/.358/.365. The Kangaroos have yet to win.
The Sooners, even following a week in which each of their slash numbers fell, are still hitting a collective .330, getting on base at a .470 clip and slugging .636.
One player whose numbers did not go down is Kasidi Pickering.
The sophomore outfielder went 5 of 9 at the plate, drew four walks and one of her two home runs was OU’s most important swing of the week, a three-run eighth-inning shot to turn back the challenge of Bowling Green, lifting the Sooners to an 8-5 victory.
All told, Pickering drove in seven, enough to suddenly lead OU with 18 RBIs, while upping her slash numbers to .342/.528/.789.
Cydney Sanders, sort of, kept it going, too.
She only went 3 of 11 at the plate, but two of the hits were home runs, one of them a second-inning grand slam on an 0-2 pitch against Bowling Green. And because she walked four times, her on-base percentage (.596) remains more than 200 points higher than her batting average (.385).
The Sooners know how to find a way.
The Schedule
Last week
— def. Tulsa 8-0 (5 innings)
— def. Wichita State 8-1
— def. Bowling Green 8-5 (8 innings)
— def. Abilene Christian 9-1 (5 innings)
This week
— Marshall at OU, 1:45 p.m. Friday
— Kansas at OU, 4:15 p.m. Friday
— Kansas at OU, 3:15 p.m. Saturday
— Marshall at OU, 6 p.m. Saturday
— Kansas City at OU, 1:45 p.m. Sunday
Record: 14-0
Streak: Won 14
Team numbers
Entering last week
Games: 10
Batting avg: .330
On-base pct: .470
Slugging pct: .636
Home runs: 19
Triples: 3
Doubles: 18
Stolen bases: 12
Caught stealing: 2
ERA: 1.38
SO/IP: 78/66
Fielding pct: .989
Errors: 3
Unearned runs allowed: 2
Entering this week
Games: 14
Batting avg: .323
On-base pct: ..468
Slugging pct: .616
Home runs: 24
Triples: 3
Doubles: 27
Stolen bases: 24
Caught stealing: 3
ERA: 1.38
SO/IP: 113/91
Fielding pct: .984
Errors: 6
Unearned runs allowed: 4
Individual leaders
Batting average: Ella Parker .610 (Cydney Sanders .387)
On-base pct: Ella Parker .696 (Cydney Sanders .596)
Slugging pct: Ella Parker 1.049 (Sydney Barker 1.000)
RBIs: Kasidi Pickering 18 (Ella Parker 17)
Home runs: Cydney Sanders 4, Kasidi Pickering 4
Triples: Sydney Barker 2 (Kasidi Pickering 1)
Doubles: Ella Parker 9 (Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 4)
Hits: Ella Parker 25 (Abigale Dayton 14)
Runs: Ella Parker 21 (Abigale Dayton 17)
Stolen bases: Ella Parker 6, Abigale Dayton 6
ERA: Isabella Smith 0.00 (Kierston Deal 0.95)
Wins: Isabella Smith 4-0, Sam Landry 4-0
Innings pitched: Sam Landry 28 (Kierston Deal 22)
Strikeouts: Sam Landry 46 (Isabella Smith 22)
Inside the numbers
• Appreciating Parker: Ella Parker’s batting average has dropped from .647 to .610. On the other hand … SHE’S HITTING .610. And while she’s lapping her teammates with 25 hits, 11 more than any other Sooner, she’s also walked 13 times, third most on the team, and stolen six bases without getting caught. Where does she rank nationally? Tied for first in doubles (9), third in average (.610), third in on-base percentage (.696), tied for ninth in hits (25), 18th in slugging percentage (1.049).
• It couldn’t last forever: Tia Milloy picked up two hits since last checked upon, neither a home run. Thus, her percentage of hits that are also home runs has fallen from 100 percent (3 of 3) to 60 percent (3 of 5). She’s now hitting .208 with a slugging percentage of .625.
• Weird stat: Abigale Dayton, the Utah transfer, has already been hit by six pitches, three more than any other Sooner. Last year, for the Utes, over about 200 plate appearances, she was hit by one pitch.
Notes of note
Keep on eye on Landry
When did Oklahoma last boast a strikeout pitcher like Sam Landry, who’s averaging 1.64 per inning, or 46 in 28 innings? Well, looking up every pitcher all the way back to Jill Most may be too difficult, but let’s go backward among aces and see what we find.
Kelly Maxwell struck out 164 in 155 1/3 innings last season, so not her; Jordy Bahl struck out 192 in 147 1/3 in 2023, or 1.30 per inning, so not her that season, nor in 2022, when her number was 1.45, or 205 over 141 1/3; Paige Parker topped out at 1.25 when she struck out 262 over 210 1/3 in 2017.
Keilani Ricketts? Close enough.
Ricketts struck out 452 over 284 1/3 innings in 2011, her sophomore season, or 1.59 per frame, logging more innings than any Sooner since or will ever again … except for her junior season when she tossed 292.
Landry's earned run average is also down to 1.50 and she’s only walked three batters, too.
Start the runners
Hard to know if it’s a trend, but OU entered last week with 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts over 10 games and finished it with 24 stolen bases in 27 tries over 14 games.
Its uncharacteristic at least.
A year ago, OU stole 66 bases the whole season.
In 2023 it was 53 and in 2022 it was 60.
The Sooners could reach 34 fairly easily by Sunday.
New at leadoff?
Alaina Agbayani batted in the eight-hole against Tulsa and the five-hole against Wichita State, but was moved to leadoff against Bowling Green and Abilene Christian. She went 1 for 4 in the games she hit leadoff after going 2 for 6 in the others, but she also drew three walks, got hit by a pitch and picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly from the leadoff position.
Not bad.
Until next time …