WEEK 15 SOONER SOFTBALL REPORT: Norman Regional preview, schedule and all the numbers
WEEK 15 SOONER SOFTBALL REPORT: Norman Regional preview, schedule and all the numbers
The Skinny
Of course Oklahoma’s a heavy, heavy favorite to advance through the Norman Regional, thereby earning a spot in the Norman Super Regional, most likely to face No. 15 overall seed Florida State, which must survive the Tallahassee Regional against the likes of Auburn, Central Florida and Chattanooga.
The Sooners are the No. 2 national seed behind No. 1 Texas despite topping the Longhorns 5-1 in the Big 12 tournament championship game. The Longhorns reasonably earned the top seed after both claiming the regular season Big 12 championship, one game in front of the Sooners, and winning two of three games from the Sooners in the regular season.
OU is clearly a far better team than it was just two weeks ago when, not playing its best coming in, then lost the first two games of the Bedlam series against Oklahoma State, also in Norman.
Additionally, the idea the Sooners could turn their season right back around after finding themselves in time to knock the Cowgirls off 8-2 on the final day of the regular season continues to hold water after a dominant Big 12 tourney run.
Entering the conference tourney, one question was how Sooner coach Patty Gasso would deploy her pitching staff following a weekend in which Karlie Keeney was easily her most effective arm.
As it happened, Keeney did not throw a pitch at the conference tournament. Instead, Kelly Maxwell started both the first game against Kansas and the title game against Texas, while Kierston Deal, who’d struggled terribly against OSU, tossed the middle game. If that was a surprise, so too was who came out to relieve Maxwell against the Jayhawks despite the game being well in hand. That would be little used Paytn Monticelli, who threw two hitless and scoreless innings.
Deal was effective against BYU, throwing a five-inning complete game, even taking a no-hitter into the fifth, before allowing a single and home run before getting the last out. Maxwell was effective against Texas, allowing one run, two hits, three walks and a hit batter over 5 1/3 innings, before giving way to Nicole May, who was better than she’d been in some time, tossing 1 2/3 perfect innings at the top-ranked Longhorns.
What all that means for the Sooner arms entering regional play is a good question. The only great guess is Maxwell will get the Saturday start, probably against Oregon, yet possibly against a Boston University team that’s won 52 games. Who gets the opening start might be the most telling indication of who Gasso hopes to get rolling alongside Maxwell in time for super regional and World Series play.
The best guess here is Deal, though Keeney may still deserve the shot. As for May, perhaps Gasso now has more confidence in her as a reliever than as a starter. That role’s certainly not Maxwell’s nor Deal’s specialty.
Offensively, OU may not have been in peak form, but was not far off, scoring 28 runs over 19 tournament innings. The Sooners only rapped two home runs, one each from Jayda Coleman and Ella Parker, but also delivered eight doubles from seven different players.
Also, Tiare Jennings continued coming out of her horrendous late-season slump, going 3 of 7 at the plate, one of the hits a double, all after closing the Bedlam series with her 19th home run of the season.
From where they were only recently, the Sooners must believe they’re just getting started again as they enter another NCAA draw, trying to win a fourth straight national championship, their sixth since 2016 and the eighth in program history.
The season begins again on Friday.
For more on the combatants, keep reading.
The Schedule
Last week
Big 12 tournament
— def. Kansas 10-1
— def. BYU 13-2 (5 innings)
— def. Texas 5-1
Record: 49-6
Conference record: 22-5
Conference tournament record: 3-0
Streak: Won 4
This week
NCAA Norman Regional
At Love’s Field
Friday
Game 1: Oregon (28-19) vs. Boston U. (52-4-1), 4:30 p.m.
Game 2: Oklahoma (49-6) vs. Cleveland St. (22-24), 7 p.m.
Saturday
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBA
Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, TBA
Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, TBA
Sunday
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, TBA
Game 7: Game 6 opponents, if necessary TBA
Numbers
Entering last week
Games: 52
Batting average: .364
On-base percentage: .473
Slugging percentage: .656
Earned run average: 1.85
Strikeouts/innings pitched: 304/321
Opponent batting average: .191
Fielding percentage: .981
Errors: 26
Unearned runs allowed: 8
Entering this week
Games: 55
Batting average: .367
On-base percentage: .473
Slugging percentage: .654
Earned run average: 1.84
Strikeouts/walks/innings pitched: 321/109/338
Opponent batting average: .188
Fielding percentage: .980
Errors: 28
Unearned runs allowed: 8
Leaders
Batting average: Kinzie Hansen .421 (Alyssa Brito .416)
On-base percentage: Jayda Coleman .526 (Ella Parker .517)
Slugging percentage: Alyssa Brito .839 (Tiare Jennings .798)
Runs batted in: Tiare Jennings 57 (Alyssa Brito 55)
Home runs: Tiare Jennings 19 (Alyssa Brito 16)
Triples: Alyssa Brito 4 (Rylie Boone 1, Kasidi Pickering 1, Avery Hodge 1)
Doubles: Tiare Jennings 13, Ella Parker 13 (Alyssa Brito 12)
Hits: Alyssa Brito 67 (Rylie Boone 60, Tiare Jennings 60)
Runs scored: Jayda Coleman 62 (Alyssa Brito 59)
Stolen bases: Ella Parker 15 (Maya Bland 8)
Earned run average: S.J. Guerin 0.70; 10 IP (Paytn Monticelli 1.11; 19 IP)
Wins: Kelly Maxwell 18-2 (Nicole May 12-2)
Innings pitched: Kelly Maxwell 114 1/3 (Nicole May 70 2/3)
Strikeouts: Kelly Maxwell 119 (Nicole May 75)
Inside the regional
Oregon
Record: 28-19 (13-10 Pac-12)
Batting average: .308
On-base percentage: .381
Slugging percentage: .492
Earned run average: 3.15
Players to watch: Ariel Carlson (.366/.451/.766, 15 HR, 13 2B, 52 RBI, 40 R); Alyssa Daniell (.308/.346/.629, 10 HR, 10 2B, 38 RBI, 28 R); Kal Luschar (.423/.481/.460, 69 H, 27 SB); Morgan Scott (9-8, 3.45 ERA, 101 1/3 IP, 54 SO); Elise Sokolsky (8-3, 2.41 ERA, 72 2/3 IP, 63 SO)
Notable: The Ducks do not come in hot, having won just one of their last four games, including an opening loss to Utah at the Pac-12 tourney. Their hope is their offense, fueled by Carlson, Daniell and Luschar.
Boston University
Record: 52-4-1 (18-0 Patriot League)
Batting average: .325
On-base percentage: .390
Slugging percentage: .472
Earned run average: 1.26
Players to watch: Lauren Keleher (.407/.480/.649, 8 HR, 17 2B, 41 RBI, 52 R); Caitlin Coker (.406/465/.609, 7 HR, 14 2B, 36 RBI, 48 R, 10 SB); Kasey Ricard (27-3, 1.20 ERA, 204 2/3 IP, 261 SO); Allison Boaz (17-1, 1.41 ERA, 134 1/3 IP, 102 SO).
Notable: Ricard is one of only 13 pitchers in the nation to log more than 200 innings and her 27 wins rank third. As a team, the most dangerous thing about the Terriers may simply be they’re used to winning, having gone 18-0 in conference play against the likes of Lehigh, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross and Lafayette. Though just one game, Boston met one certifiably terrific team this season — Duke — taking a 4-2 loss in Durham on Feb. 24 against the No. 10 national seed Blue Devils.
Cleveland State
Record: 22-24 (15-10 Horizon League)
Batting average: .276
On-base percentage: .331
Slugging percentage: .395
Earned run average: 3.86
Players to watch: Brooke Albaugh (.349/.420/.557, 3 HR, 16 2B, 27 RBI, 36 R); Melissa Holzopfel (.326/.348/.504, 4 HR, 8 2B, 31 RBI, 25 R); Melissa Holzopfel (19-9, 193 1/3 IP, 1.77 ERA, 195 SO)
Notable: No, there are not two different Melissa Holzopfels, yet listing her twice seemed like the best way to represent what she’s done for the Vikings this season, which is pretty much everything. Cleveland State reached the regional draw by winning the Horizon League tournament. The Vikings have also won five of six games, meaning they were 17-23 before getting hot just in time to reach the NCAA bracket.