What to know about the Sooners
Record | Seed: 50-2, 16-1 Big 12 | No. 1 seed
Key pitchers: Shannon Saile (17-0, 1.68 ERA, 1.03 WHIP), Giselle Juarez (18-1, 3.35 ERA, 0.84 WHIP), Nicole May (13-1, 2.25 ERA, 0.96 WHIP)
Key hitters: ~Everyone, but most notably~ Jocelyn Alo (.487 AVG, 30 HRs, 82 RBIs), Tiare Jennings (.485 AVG, 25 HRs, 84 RBIs)
Reason to be optimistic: Digging under the surface of the obvious that the Sooners’ hitting is out of this world, they’re absolutely crushing it in key situations. Yes, they lead the country by a wide margin in team batting average (.421 compared to second-best .349), home runs (146 compared to second-best 103), and runs per game (11.33 compared to second-best 7.62). They’ve also knocked needed homers late in tight affairs, like the early-season battle against Arizona State and the NCAA Regional showdown with Wichita State, and put up the necessary runs in shootouts, like the 11-8 Big 12-clincher over Oklahoma State. If USA Softball National Player of the Year Jocelyn Alo and National Freshman of the Year Tiare Jennings keep up this pace, there may not be a team that can hang with the Sooners.
Concerns: Since 2009, the only team to win the national title without a current-year NFCA All-American pitcher is the 2014 Florida team, which posted a 1.27 NCAA Tournament ERA and starred 2015 USA Softball National Player of the Year Lauren Haeger. So, dominant pitching tends to be key to a run in Oklahoma City. At this stage, there are so many pitchers’ duels and the Oklahoma pitching staff hasn’t been the most consistent against top competition. The long ball has been the killer, with the Sooners conceding 17 home runs in the last 11 games.
Inside Softball 