WEEK 4 SOONER SOFTBALL REPORT: Jennings, Parker, Deal rising up
WEEK 4 SOONER SOFTBALL REPORT: Jennings, Parker, Deal rising up
The Skinny
The Sooners imposed themselves over five games last weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, near Palm Springs, Calif., having very little trouble against a field that included just one ranked team in Mississippi State.
To the extent Oklahoma faced any adversity, this was it:
Facing Wisconsin, OU found itself tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, Yet, that was when the Sooners, with the help of some shaky Wisconsin defense, hung an eight-spot on the Badgers.
Five Sooner runs were not earned.
Playing Mississippi State, the Bulldogs led the Sooners 2-0 after a half inning and 3-2 after 1 1/2 innings, Nicole May having a tough time of it in the circle. However, OU did not trail after any full inning, scoring runs in each of the first five frames.
So, adversity?
Maybe a little.
Some cool things happened along the way, like Ella Parker clubbing two home runs against Seattle, Kierston Deal tossing the Sooners’ first seven-inning complete game of the season at San Diego State and freshman Kasidi Pickering reemerging as OU’s leading hitter, at least where batting average remains the metric.
Next up, the Sooners host their own tournament, though again the field offers a fair amount to be desired.
A year ago, a ranked Kentucky team was one of the entrants and played OU twice.
This time, we’ll see who offers the Sooners the best test.
Miami (Ohio) has only lost twice and carries a .334 team batting average, though its losses are to Clemson and Ole Miss, the only two Power 5 conference foes it’s faced and none of it’s pitchers appears too formidable.
Louisiana has real tradition, but has won just 7 of 16 games to begin the season.
If you’re looking for one game to lock into, circle Friday’s 5 p.m. matchup with Liberty, presuming the Flames throw Elena Escobar, who’ll bring a 3-0 record and a 0.86 earned run average into Norman, having struck out 33 batters over 32 2/3 innings.
The Schedule
Last week
— def. Mississippi State 9-3
— def. Wisconsin 10-2 (5 innings)
— def. San Diego State 7-0
— def. Seattle 8-0 (6 innings)
— def. Loyola-Marymount 9-0 (5 innings)
This week
— vs. Miami (Ohio) (9-2), 2 p.m. Friday
— vs. Liberty (7-7), 5 p.m. Friday
— vs. Louisiana (7-9), 11 a.m. Saturday
— vs. Liberty, 1:45 p.m. Saturday
— vs. Louisiana, 12:30 p.m. Sunday
Record: 14-0
Winning streak: 67
Numbers
Entering last week
Games: 9
Batting average: .346
On-base percentage: .441
Slugging percentage: .581
Earned run average: 0.50
Strikeouts/innings pitched: 56/56
Fielding percentage: .991
Entering this week
Games: 14
Batting average: .357
On-base percentage: .447
Slugging percentage: .601
Earned run average: 0.73
Strikeouts/innings pitched: 88/86
Fielding percentage: .989
Leaders
Batting average: Kasidi Pickering .471
On-base percentage: Kasidi Pickering .513
Slugging percentage: Tiare Jennings .902
Runs batted in: Tiare Jennings 17
Home runs: Tiare Jennings 5, Alyssa Brito 5
Triples: Rylie Boone 1, Alyssa Brito 1, Avery Hodge 1
Doubles: Tiare Jennings 4
Hits: Tiare Jennings 18
Earned run average: Karlie Keeney 0.00 (17 1/3 IP); Paytn Monticelli 0.00 (7 1/3 IP); S.J. Guerin 0.00 (5 IP)
Wins: Nicole May 5-0
Innings pitched: Nicole May 21 1/3
Strikeouts: Nicole May 28
Notes on numbers
• Kasidi rising: Kasidi Pickering is wildly interesting. Just a freshman, she went 8 for 12 at the Nutter Classic, raising her batting average from .364 to .471 and is literally one hit from hitting .500. She is, however, almost exclusively hitting singles, 14 of them to go with one double and one home run. That’s why Tiare Jennings (.902), Alyssa Brito (.900), Ella Parker (.706) and Kinzie Hansen (.704) are all slugging at higher clips.
Pickering has power in her past, hitting 14 home runs in a single high school season. She has a base stealing past, too, and has swiped three thus far this season. Perhaps there’s a spot waiting for her at the top of the order.
• Appreciating Jennings: Jocelyn Alo played five Sooner seasons and wound up the most prolific home run hitter in NCAA softball history with 122. Of those 122, 54 were in the books by the end of her third season and 88 by the end of her fourth.
Well, Tiare Jennings entered this, her fourth season, having already hit 73 and would appear to have a much better than even shot of eclipsing Alo’s four-year total, too.
Already popping five this season, she’s at 78 for her career with dozens of games remaining. Jennings is also hitting .439, slugging a team-high .902, has driven in a team-high 18 runs and nine of her 18 hits have been for extra bases, a quartet of doubles to go with the homers.
She’s ridiculous.
• Considering Cydney: One Sooner you won’t find among the leaders listed above is Cydney Sanders. She hit .425 as an Arizona State freshman in 2022 and that was just the half of it. She also hit 21 home runs, drove in an amazing 63, got on base at a .566 pace and slugged .952. Upon transferring to OU prior to last season, she hit .284 with nine home runs.
Right now, she’s hitting .250, though she’s already connected on two home runs and, despite her batting average, is carrying an on-base percentage of .455, having drawn seven walks, the same number of times she’s struck out, both of which lead the team. It feels like her season could go either way.
Want somebody to root for? Maybe pick her.
Diamond Notes
Gauging pitchers
If tomorrow were opening day of the Women’s College World Series, or just the Big 12 Conference season, which pitcher would Patty Gasso call upon? Until this past weekend, Kelly Maxwell may have been an ever-slight favorite over Nicole May. Only now, perhaps, it’s a three-horse race.
Enter Kierston Deal.
Thanks to a rough opening weekend, Deal’s 1.43 earned run average trails well behind May’s 0.98 and Maxwell’s 1.03. The late returns, however, are something.
Gaining a complete game shutout over San Diego last weekend, Deal allowed just three hits, walked nobody, hit one batter and struck out six.
Meanwhile, May was mortal against Mississippi State, allowing three runs over four innings, while Maxwell was just plain wild, walking four in four innings, contributing to two runs allowed against Wisconsin; coming in for the last four outs against Mississippi State only to walk two more batters (and get all her outs on strikes); throwing one inning against Loyola-Marymount and perhaps trying too hard to keep everything in the strike zone, walking nobody, but striking out nobody either, while allowing two hits.
Previous to facing the Aztecs, Deal tossed five strong innings against Lamar, allowing one hit, no runs, walking two, striking out 10.
Hello Ella
Ella Parker won everybody’s attention over the weekend with a two home-run, five-RBI outburst against Seattle, though those numbers weren’t all of her Nutter Classic highlights. She got at least one hit in each game, going 7 of 15 on the trip, raising her batting average to .412.
Just a freshman, she was either a top-five or top-20 national prospect, depending on your recruiting service of choice. She also has a diamond pedigree, with a sister, Mia, who plays at George Washington, and an uncle, the great Dave Roberts, who in addition to stealing the most important base in Boston baseball history, is the longtime manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Poll madness
OU, at No. 1, is one of four Big 12 programs among D1Softball.com’s top 10, with Texas at No. 2, Oklahoma State No. 6 and Baylor No. 10. In the Softball America top 25, which also updates Monday, Texas and OSU are in the same spots and Baylor’s No. 12.
Just two Power 5 conference programs beyond OU have yet to lose a game. LSU, No. 3 by D1Softball.com and No. 5 by Softball America, is 13-0 and Alabama, No. 12 and No. 16, is 16-0.
It’s a crime the top 25s belonging to ESPN.com/USA Softball and USAToday/NFCA Coaches wait until Tuesday to update.
Oh, well.
Until later …