NORMAN– The Big 12-leading and No. 2-ranked Oklahoma softball team travels to Orlando this weekend for its final road trip of the regular season, visiting UCF for a three-game conference series beginning Friday, April 26.
First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT) followed by a 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) start Saturday and an 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT) Sunday finale. The first two games of the series will be available on ESPN+ with Sunday's finale broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
Radio coverage of all three games can be found on 1560 AM The Franchise 2. Saturday's game will also air on 103.3 FM and 107.7 FM The Franchise while Sunday's finale can be heard on 103.3 FM.
Oklahoma is 2-0 against UCF in the all-time series, sweeping the Knights at the 2022 NCAA Super Regional in Norman. The Sooners outscored UCF 15-1 across the two games, earning an 8-0 run-rule win in the opener then taking the clincher 7-1 behind a gem from Nicole May.
OU enters the weekend in first place with a one-game lead over Texas in the Big 12 standings and a two-game advantage over third-place Oklahoma State.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
UCF enters the series with a 28-18 record on the season and is fifth in the Big 12 standings at 10-11, eight games behind OU. The Knights were swept by Baylor last weekend, snapping a 10-game UCF winning streak, and scored just one run across the three-game series in Waco. They responded with a double-header sweep of Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday and enter the series 2-3 over their last five games.
Johneisha Rowe leads UCF with 19 steals and a .377 average, setting the table with her speed and on-base skills. Jada Cody and Chloe Evans share the home run lead at five each while the latter paces the club with 31 RBIs. UCF has stolen 68 bags on 77 tries for a 88.3% success rate. As a team, UCF bats .309 and reaches base at a .371 clip.
Right-handers Sarah Willis (8-7, 2.47 ERA) and Kaitlyn Felton (10-4, 2.55 ERA) anchor the circle for the Knights, combining to cover 170.1 of the team's 284.0 innings this season. Willis has fanned 87 over 99.0 frames with a .223 batting average against while Felton has 51 strikeouts and just 29 walks across 71.1 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT
Sophom*ore left-hander Kierston Deal matched her career-high of 10 strikeouts as Oklahoma earned a series sweep with a 5-0 blanking of Houston on Sunday afternoon at Love's Field.
The Sooners recorded their 21st shutout of the season with Sunday's win over Houston and registered their sixth series sweep at Love's Field. With the win and a Texas victory in Lawrence, OU will enter the second-to-last week of conference play a full game ahead of the Longhorns in the Big 12 standings.
Deal starred in the circle, fanning 10 while firing her fourth complete-game shutout of the season. The southpaw scattered two hits and a walk over her 7.0 innings of work, carried a no-hitter into the fifth and did not allow a runner to reach second base. She improves to 10-1 on the season and has now won 10 of her last 11 starts.
GASSO NEARS ANOTHER MILESTONE
Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso is two wins away from recording the 1,500th of her career at OU, currently holding a 1,498-349-2 (.810) record with the program. Gasso would become just the third coach in NCAA Softball history to reach 1,500 victories. Carol Hutchins (Michigan) is the all-time leader in career wins with 1,708 while Mike Candrea (Arizona) is second with 1,674. OU's head coach leads all active NCAA coaches in career wins.
TIA TIME
Senior shortstop Tiare Jennings is within striking distance of two significant career milestones, entering the weekend two RBIs away from her 300th run batted in and six hits away from also reaching her 300th.
With one RBI, Jennings would tie Stacey Nuveman for sixth on the NCAA all-time list. A second RBI would make Jennings just the fifth player in NCAA history to record 300 in her career. Jenny Dalton is the NCAA's all-time leader in RBIs with 328, putting Jennings 30 RBIs away from tying the national career record.
Jennings is one home run away from hitting her 90th, which would also tie Nuveman for sixth on the national all-time list.
The senior has reached safely in each of her last 25 games played, batting .403 with 10 home runs and a .516 on-base percentage during that span.
BIG 12 STANDINGS
Oklahoma enters the eighth week of conference play holding a 1.0-game lead over Texas and is 2.0 games ahead of third-place Oklahoma State.
The Sooners' magic number to clinch the outright title is six entering the weekend, meaning OU needs a combined six Oklahoma wins and Texas losses to secure a 12th consecutive Big 12 Championship.
COLE WORLD
Jayda Coleman carries a 32-game on-base streak into the weekend and has slashed .473/.631/.946 for a 1.577 OPS across the stretch. Over her last 32 contests she has scored 40 runs and driven in 27 while producing 35 hits, 10 home runs and five doubles. Her plate discipline has been nothing short of incredible during her 32-game stretch, striking out just once in 113 plate appearances (0.9%) and walking 34 times (30.1%).
SHE'S DEALING
Sophom*ore left-hander Kierston Deal has enjoyed a phenomenal stretch over her last 11 starts, continuing her rise as one of the Big 12's top young talents in the circle. Deal has won 10 of her last 11 starts, going 10-0 with a minuscule 0.42 ERA across 50.0 innings in that span. She has struck out 53 while walking just 10, holding opponents to a .113 average and a meager three extra-base hits.
Deal was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday following a terrific week in the circle. She opened the week by firing her first collegiate no-hitter on April 16 against Tulsa, allowing just two baserunners on a hit batsman and a catcher's interference while striking out four across 6.0 innings of work. The southpaw followed by spinning a complete-game shutout on April 21, securing a sweep of Houston with 7.0 scoreless frames of two-hit, one-walk softball. She matched her career best of 10 strikeouts, earning her second win of the week.
OU's talented sophom*ore threw a combined 13.0 scoreless innings while going 2-0 on the week and striking out 14. Opponents went just 2-for-41 off Deal for a minuscule .049 batting average and managed a meager .142 OPS. Deal worked at a 32.6% strikeout rate and walked just 2.3% of batters faced on the week.
LEADERBOARDS
The Sooners enter the week ranked highly across the national leaderboards in multiple statistical categories. OU leads the nation in batting average (.379), fielding percentage (.985) and on-base percentage (.485), is top-three in slugging percentage (2nd, .681), shutouts (21), OPS (2nd, 1.166), runs per game (2nd, 8.39), home runs (3rd, 87) and ERA (1.56). Senior outfielder Jayda Coleman is fourth in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.556) and sophom*ore left-handed pitcher Kierston Deal is fourth nationally in ERA (1.01).
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