WEEK 8 SOONER SOFTBALL REPORT: Strong opponent alert, Kansas may be for real
The Skinny
Here’s what appears to be the case.
There are four strong Big 12 softball teams and there’s everybody else and the Sooners are about to meet two of the good ones in their next two conference series: Kansas, then Texas.
Though they fell 3-2 to 12th-ranked Missouri in the mid-week last week, Kansas is still 7-2 in conference play, tied with Oklahoma State, thanks to sweeps of Baylor and Houston.
What Kansas appears to be very good at, is winning, though how it’s winning so often may be a slight mystery. The Jayhawks are light-hitting to be sure, slashing .278/.369/.397 compared to OU’s .394/.493/.733. Additionally, their defense isn’t the greatest either, having already committed 30 errors, leading to 16 unearned runs.
Kansas’ strength appears to be in the circle, where Katie Brooks has already thrown 74 innings and Kasey Hamilton’s thrown a whopping 101 1/3. Hamilton’s innings count is more than Oklahoma’s two busiest pitchers, Kelly Maxwell and Nicole May, combined.
Brooks’ mostly has the better numbers, with a better earned run average (1.89) and win-loss record (10-2) than Hamilton (2.28, 9-5). Still, Hamilton’s the workhorse, having tossed 13 complete games, popping in for two saves, while her batting average against, .207, is much better than Brooks’ .246.
Kansas will also have the advantage of playing at home.
Indeed, the Sooners might be running into a very rowdy crowd, because not only are the Jayhawks a surprise this season — and likely still underrated in the polls; Softball America, which updated Monday, has them 18th — but they’ve hardly played at home. Their series with the Sooners will be just their eighth, ninth and 10th of the season at Arrocha Ballpark.
OU, which doesn’t play in the mid-week this week, will arrive in Lawrence off a sweep of what may have been a vastly overrated Baylor team. The Bears, once in the top 10, are now 1-8 against Big 12 foes.
Also in the Softball America poll this week, Texas (28-3, 8-1 Big 12) is ranked No. 2 and OSU (26-5, 7-2) is ranked seventh.
The rest of the top five includes No. 3 Georgia (27-4), No. 4 Duke (26-3) and No. 5 Stanford (25-4).
The Sooners, of course, remain on top.
The Schedule
Last week
— def. Texas-Arlington 12-1 (5 innings)
— def. Baylor 8-1
— def. Baylor 12-3 (5 innings)
— def. Baylor 7-4
This week
— at Kansas, 5 p.m. Thursday
— at Kansas, 5 p.m. Friday
— at Kansas, noon Saturday
Record: 31-1
Conference record: 9-0
Streak: Won 13
Numbers
Entering last week
Games: 28
Batting average: .394
On-base percentage: .491
Slugging percentage: .718
Earned run average: 1.26
Strikeouts/innings pitched: 180/167
Fielding percentage: .985
Errors: 10
Unearned runs allowed: 6
Entering this week
Games: 32
Batting average: .394
On-base percentage: .493
Slugging percentage: .733
Earned run average: 1.39
Strikeouts/innings pitched: 195/191
Fielding percentage: .983
Errors: 13
Unearned runs allowed: 7
Leaders
Batting average: Rylie Boone .463 (Tiare Jennings .438)
On-base percentage: Jayda Coleman .545 (Cydney Sanders .540)
Slugging percentage: Tiare Jennings .966 (Alyssa Brito .943)
Runs batted in: Tiare Jennings 41 (Alyssa Brito .33)
Home runs: Tiare Jennings 12, Alyssa Brito 12 (Cydney Sanders 10)
Triples: Rylie Boone 1, Alyssa Brito 1, Avery Hodge 1
Doubles: Tiare Jennings 11 (Rylie Boone 8)
Hits: Tiare Jennings 39 (Alyssa Brito 38)
Earned run average: S.J. Guerin 0.00; 7 2/3 IP (Paytn Monticelli 0.46; 15 1/3 IP)
Wins: Nicole May 10-0 (Kelly Maxwell 9-0)
Innings pitched: Kelly Maxwell 54 2/3 (Nicole May 46)
Strikeouts; innings pitched: Kelly Maxwell 60; 54 2/3 (Nicole May 56; 46)
Inside the numbers
• Boone explodes: The fact she plays the outfield aside, maybe start thinking of Rylie Boone as Oklahoma’s version of Rod Carew. She bats lefty like Carew. She hits a bunch of doubles like Carew. And just as Carew chased .400 in 1977, ultimately finishing at .388, Boone may be chasing her own mark, only it’s .500. This past week Boone went 7 for 10, lashed two doubles and bumped her batting average from .429 to .463. Momentarily, she’s three hits short of .500, collecting 37 in 80 at bats.
• Along comes Alynah: Nobody bashed like Alynah Torres bashed this past week. She began the week with two home runs and finished with six, clubbing two against Texas-Arlington and two during the Sooners’ three-game set with Baylor. The dingers accounted for 80 percent of her hits during the week, and going 5 of 8 at the plate over the four games, she raised her batting average from .385 to .417
• To err is human: It only cost a single unearned run, but OU committed its 11th, 12th and 13th errors of the season this past week, bringing the squad’s error count to six short of last season’s total of 19. Also, that lone unearned run? It was the Sooners’ seventh this season. Last season, they suffered only 6.
Diamond Notes
Gasso at work
You know how Patty Gasso tries to keep her bench involved, bringing players in to run, to hit, to do things to remain involved despite not starting? Last week’s mid-week victory over Texas-Arlington was a good example. Though Jayda Coleman began the game in center field and Alynah Torres at second base, Gasso eventually inserted Hannah Coor into center and Quincee Lilio at second. At the plate, each responded with a double. Gasso can also go the other way. In the opener against Baylor, she gave Avery Hodge the start at second base. Hodge was 0 for 2 when the bottom of the fifth arrived, the game tied 1-1. Her turn to bat again, Gasso brought Torres into the game to pinch hit. Torres’ grand slam was the big blow in the Sooners’ seven-run frame.
Circle stumbles
• May, Maxwell struggle: Kelly Maxwell and Nicole May continue to get the most work on the Sooner staff, combining to start 20 of OU’s 32 games, while throwing 100 2/3 innings of the Sooners’ 191. They also carry the two highest earned run averages on OU’s six-pitcher staff and those numbers climbed against light-hitting Baylor. May allowed five hits and three runs, netting the win in the Sooners’ 12-3 victory over the Bears. And while Maxwell was effective in OU’s 8-1 series opening victory, allowing three hits and a run over 5 1/3 innings, she wasn’t remotely when sent out to get the last four outs of the series. OU led 7-1 when she arrived in the sixth inning but just 7-4 when it ended, Maxwell allowing three runs on three hits, not walking anybody but also not striking out anybody. Maxwell’s ERA climbed to 1.66 and May’s to 1.83. Also on the staff, S.J. Geurin’s ERA remains a perfect 0.00 over 7 2/3 innings, Paytn Monticelli’s is 0.46 over 15 1/3, Karlie Keeney’s is 1.19 over 35 1/3 and Kierston Deal’s is 1.31 over 32.
Let’s talk offense
• OU has managed to raised or keep static its batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage each of the last four weeks, which is kind of amazing given how high those numbers were to begin each week. How do those numbers stand up across the nation?
Pretty good.
The Sooners’ .394 batting average leads the nation, better than second-place Texas’ .391. Their .493 on-base percentage also leads the nation, better than second-place Florida’s .490. And their .733 slugging percentage trails only Miami’s (Ohio) .737. Additionally, OU’s 2.12 home runs per game trails only Miami’s 2.75 and Virginia Tech’s 2.16 and its 9.12 runs per game trails only Miami’s 9.21.
Miami may be legit.
The RedHawks and Sooners have played once this season, opening up Love’s Field in the first game of the OU Tournament. The Sooners prevailed 9-7.
Until next time …