Week 5 OU Softball Report: Sooners bash just enough to remain nation's only unbeaten team
Can Oklahoma keep this up?
It’s a great question and “they may have to” could be the right answer given what the Sooners have in front of them.
Somehow, OU (22-0, 3-0 SEC) remains the last unbeaten team in the nation, taking three games from South Carolina (20-3, 0-3) at Love’s Field, all by a single run, though the squads combined for 38 in the first two games and only three in the last.
Crazy.
Nobody should doubt OU’s ability to come back. The Sooners were down 5-1 in the first game against the Gamecocks and 8-6 in the second. The Sooners overcame poor defense and suspect pitching in each of those games, getting huge contributions from new sources.
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and Gabbie Garcia are recent revelations: Garcia knocked in five and clubbed two home runs the series’ first two games, while Marinas, thanks to two three-run home runs, drove in six all by herself in the second. Hannah Coor came up with a two-run double that wound up being the game-winning hit in the opener.
The tight fits appear to prove OU’s mortality, as well as its fantastic ability to not lose.
The Sooners had already won three games in extra innings and now this.
Of course, being the SEC, another huge test awaits and it’s in Fayetteville, where Arkansas (20-3, 1-2) will be waiting to prove itself beginning Friday.
The then-10th ranked Razorbacks fell at then-No. 25 Ole Miss 9-1 and 9-3 last weekend before turning around and crushing the Rebels 20-3.
Arkansas’ slashing .367/.487/.661, very nearly the Sooners’ equal.
The Razorbacks’ staff earned run average is 2.36, though Robyn Herron, who could start two games, carries a 1.30 mark over 43 innings, striking out 56.
Nothing’s easy in OU’s new conference.
The Schedule
Last week
— def. South Carolina 10-9
— def. South Carolina 10-9
— def. South Carolina 2-1
This week
— OU at Tulsa, 5 p.m. Wednesday
— OU at Arkansas, 6 p.m. Friday
— OU at Arkansas, 4 p.m. Saturday
— OU at Arkansas, 11 a.m. Sunday
Record: 22-0
Streak: Won 22
Team numbers
Entering last week
Games: 19
Batting avg: .352
On-base pct: .488
Slugging pct: .684
Home runs: 40
Triples: 3
Doubles: 33
Stolen bases: 36
Caught stealing: 4
ERA: 1.26
SO/IP: 134/117
Fielding pct: .987
Errors: 6
Unearned runs allowed: 4
Entering this week
Games: 22
Batting avg: .344
On-base pct: .481
Slugging pct: .680
Home runs: 46
Triples: 3
Doubles: 38
Stolen bases: 38
Caught stealing: 5
ERA: 1.78
SO/IP: 145/138
Fielding pct: .979
Errors: 12
Unearned runs allowed: 9
Individual leaders
Batting average: Ella Parker .525 (Nelly McEnroe-Marinas .394)
On-base pct: Ella Parker .639 (Kasidi Pickering .557)
Slugging pct: Ella Parker .932 (Kasidi Pickring .870)
RBIs: Kasidi Pickering 27 (Ella Parker 22, Isabela Emerling 22)
Home runs: Kasidi Pickering 7, Isabela Emerling 7
Triples: Sydney Barker 2 (Kasidi Pickering 1)
Doubles: Ella Parker 12 (Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 7)
Hits: Ella Parker 31 (Nelly McEnroe-Marinas 26)
Runs: Ella Parker 28 (Abigale Dayton 24)
Stolen bases: Abigale Dayton 10 (Ailana Agbayani 8)
ERA: Kierston Deal 1.27 (Sam Landry 1.47)
Wins: Isabella Smith 6-0 (Kierston Deal 5-0, Sam Landry 5-0, Audrey Lowry 5-0)
Innings pitched: Sam Landry 33 1/3 (Kierston Deal 33)
Strikeouts: Sam Landry 54 (Isabela Smith 31)
Inside the numbers
• Whoa Nelly: Entering the week, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas was sixth on the Sooner roster with a .364 batting average. She’s now second with a .394 average, having also raised her slugging percentage almost 100 points to .727.
• Gabbie from nowhere: After 14 games, Gabby Garcia was slashing .219/.286/.375, scoring six runs and driving in five with one home run. Since, a span of eight games, she’s gone 11 of 19 at the plate, scored 11 runs, driven in 11, hit five home runs, all in consecutive games, and drawn three walks. She’s now slashing .340/.407/.736 with six home runs and 14 RBIs.
• Defense lets down: The Sooners entered the South Carolina series having committed six errors and exited having committed 12. They allowed five unearned runs to the Gamecocks, one more than they allowed the first 19 games of the season.
Notes of note
Does this mean anything?
It would take too long to go through the entire history of OU softball, but over the last 10 full seasons, the Sooners haven’t done anything remotely close to giving up nine runs in back-to-back games as they did against South Carolina.
In fact, from 2021 to 2023, they didn’t give up nine runs in any games, nor did they in 2014, 2017 or 2018; the last of which they didn’t give up more than six.
A year ago, OU allowed nine runs three times, all losses, but they were spaced out, one during the non-conference schedule to Louisiana, one during conference play to BYU and one in the Women’s College World Series to Florida.
The last time the Sooners gave up double-digit runs came in a 16-3 loss to UCLA in the 2019 WCWS championship series.
Allowing 18 runs over two games seems like a lot.
Where’s the pitching staff now?
Sam Landry was unavailable due to injury against the Gamecocks, yet is expected to be ready for OU’s three-game set at Arkansas, and were she available this past weekend, perhaps OU doesn’t allow nine runs in back-to-back games.
Still, the Sooners did because Kierston Deal allowed six runs (three earned) over four innings in the opener, followed by Isabella Smith allowing three over three innings, walking four and hitting a batter, in relief. And it happened again when Smith, trotted out to start the first of two Sunday games, allowed 10 hits and seven runs (six earned) over just 3 1/3.
Not good.
That Audrey Lowry, a true freshman, came in to close the series and fired off a three-hit complete game, striking out two, walking nobody, allowing a single run — after not pitching the previous two games — lowering her earned run average from 2.37 to 2.02, is kind of a small miracle.
So how many pitchers can OU count on against SEC competition?
One, Landry, who’s yet to face SEC competition? Two, Landry and Lowry, though Lowry appeared to be fourth or fifth on the staff entering last weekend?
None?
Drama awaits.