Week 12 OU Softball Report: Sooners back where they started, at No. 1
The Skinny
There’s no question, Oklahoma’s not been the same dominant team it’s been.
The SEC’s been a difficult conference in which the Sooners have lost five games, coach Patty Gasso’s still looking for pitchers she can trust beyond Sam Landry, nor does the roster carry the same “been-there, done-that” experience of the program’s last two or three national championship teams.
Nonetheless, here they are.
At 42-5 overall and 16-5 in the SEC, the Sooners are not only atop their conference after sweeping Texas and Texas A&M losing two of three to Arkansas in College Station, but also back to being No. 1 in all the polls and being forecast the No. 1 national seed were NCAA regional play to open up today.
Were it up to Softball America, part of the On3 network, OU, the No. 1 national seed, would play host to Oklahoma State, Southern Illinois and Prairie View A&M in the Norman Regional, matched with No. 16 national seed Texas Tech in a potential super regional.
Were it up to College Sports Madness, OU, the No. 1 national seed, would play host to Washington, Nevada and Long Island University in the Norman Regional, matched with No. 16 national seed Duke in a potential super regional.
But the Sooners are not there yet.
Three regular season games remain before SEC tournament play begins May 6 at Jack Turner Softball Stadium, Georgia’s home diamond, and they should not be easy.
The Sooners are at Florida (41-11, 12-8 SEC) for a three-game set beginning Thursday. The Gators, who even after losing two of three at LSU last are still No. 2 in the RPI, one spot in front of OU and one spot behind Texas A&M.
At this point in might be worth pointing out that not every OU national championship team has been dominant throughout the regular season.
The Sooners’ 2000 title team lost eight games, the 2016 team lost eight games and the 2017 team lost nine.
The pitching may not be settled, though Kierston Deal, Isabella Smith and Landry are all coming off strong appearances. The hitting, since SEC play began, hasn’t been off the charts, but OU just cracked 30 hits and scored 23 runs in three games against Texas.
Sometimes it’s enough just to be the best team at the end and OU, right now, is heading that direction.
The Schedule
Last week
— def. Texas 7-6
— def. Texas 7-2
— def. Texas 9-8
This week
— at Florida, 5 p.m. Thursday
— at Florida, 5 p.m. Friday
— at Florida, 4 p.m. Saturday
Record: 42-5 (16-5 SEC)
Streak: Won 6
Team numbers
Entering last week
Games: 44
Batting avg: .330
On-base pct: .451
Slugging pct: .632
Home runs: 84
Triples: 7
Doubles: 72
Stolen bases: 53
Caught stealing: 12
ERA: 2.53
SO/IP: 260/280
Fielding pct: .979
Errors: 25
Unearned runs allowed: 16
Entering this week
Games: 47
Batting avg: .334
On-base pct: .453
Slugging pct: .637
Home runs: 90
Triples: 7
Doubles: 78
Stolen bases: 53
Caught stealing: 13
ERA: 2.63
SO/IP: 274/301
Fielding pct: .978
Errors: 28
Unearned runs allowed: 20
Individual leaders
Batting average: Kasidi Pickering .431, Ella Parker .392
On-base pct: Kasidi Pickering .579, Ella Parker .519
Slugging pct: Kasidi Pickering .862, Gabbie Garcia .773
RBIs: Nelly McErnoe-Marinas 45, Kasidi Pickering 44
Home runs: Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 14, Gabbie Garcia 14
Triples: Sydney Barker 2, Kasidi Pickering 1, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 1, Gabbie Garcia 1, Dayton Abigale 1, Ailana Agbayani 1
Doubles: Ella Parker 14, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 14
Hits: Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 54, Kasidi Pickering 53
Runs: Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 55, Kasidi Pickering 46
Stolen bases: Abigale Dayton 12, Ailana Agbayani 10
ERA: Sam Landry 1.95, Isabella Smith 2.57
Wins: Sam Landry 15-3, Isabella Smith 9-1
Innings pitched: Sam Landry 129 1/3, Kierston Deal 65 2/3
Strikeouts: Sam Landry 136, Isabella Smith 44
Inside the numbers
• Agbayani’s emergence: The junior transfer from BYU has been doing a fine job since arriving in Norman, but may be settling in even more now. Against Texas, Agbayani went 6 for 8 at the plate, drove in five runs, scored three runs, hit her second home run of the season and her eighth double, raising her batting average 29 points to .339. OU could not have won the opener without her third inning grand slam.
• Pickering’s process: Kasidi Pickering may not have appeared to have a big series against Texas, finishing with three hits, total, and one RBI. Then again, she logged just seven at bats against the Longhorns because she also walked three times and got hit by a pitch, thus reaching base 7 of 11 trips to the plate, which is fabulous. Though she may have knocked only one in, she also scored three runs, which happens when you’re always on base.
• Random stat: Among 11 Sooners to have started double-digit games, seven have walked more than struck out this season, which is impressive given how unusual it is to find a pitcher who walks more batters than she strikes out. Those seven are Pickering (44 walks, 20 strikeouts), Ella Parker (34-11), Gabbie Garcia (13-12), Agbayani (23-12), Abigale Dayton (26-17), Cydney Sanders (35-18) and Sydney Barker (8-5)
Notes of note
A rematch in Oklahoma City?
Because the Longhorns are competitors and the Sooners are their rivals, Texas might like the idea of facing Oklahoma a second straight year for softball’s national championship. Maybe.
Whatever, the Sooners should want the rematch and not just because they swept the Longhorns, but also because they shelled Texas starting pitching for three straight days. Kavan Teagan entered with a sub-2 earned run average, yet didn’t make it through three innings in either of her two starts against the Sooners.
In all, she tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowed 12 hits, 14 earned runs, struck out four and walked six.
In between Teagan’s starts, Citlaly Gutierrez got the call and, though she came within an out of pitching five full innings, she still allowed seven hits and five earned runs.
Texas has more pitchers, but none better than those two.
The curious case of Kierston Deal
Sooner pitcher Kierston Deal has been all over the place his season.
She’s been up, she been down, she’s been up again and she’s been down again. Indeed, she may be the only pitcher on any team this season to both immaculately handle Texas but also be chased out of the circle by Wichita State. Nevertheless, she’s up now after a firing a complete game at the Longhorns last Saturday, allowing four hits and no runs until Texas got two from her in the top of the seventh after the Sooners had established a 7-0 lead.
Her earned run average dropped from 2.98 to 2.88.
The wild thing about Deal is she’s not a strikeout pitcher, which is unique for a successful pitcher in the college game. This season, she’s struck out 39 in 65 2/3 innings. The remaining Sooner staff has struck out about one per inning.
It’s odd, but when Deal’s on, it it works.
Until next time …