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OU Softball: Numbers noteworthy of a Big 12 champion

By Chip Rouse

Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; A general view of an end zone marker prior to the game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Oklahoma Sooners at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; A general view of an end zone marker prior to the game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Oklahoma Sooners at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports /
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OU softball lost one game on its way to a 17-1 record and the Big 12 regular-season championship, three games better than its closest challenger. On Saturday, the Sooners completed a three-game sweep, all shutouts, in steamrolling to yet a second conference championship in a one-week span.

Winners of 27 of their last 28 games, the Sooners took home their fifth Big 12 Softball Championship on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Oklahoma State and second consecutive shutout win over the Cowgirls. The same two teams met one week ago, and freshman Nicole Mendes and Paige Lowary combined for a 1-0 no-hitter in the regular-season Bedlam finale.

Oklahoma did not allow a run in outscoring its three opponents in the 2017 conference postseason tournament by a combined score of 13-0. Saturday’s win in the championship final was the fourth consecutive shutout victory for the Sooners in 2017, two of the four coming against Oklahoma State.

Only one other Big 12 team, Nebraska, has allowed no runs in in the Big 12 Championship.

The Sooners’ win in the championship final was their 17th straight over Oklahoma State and eighth without a loss against the Cowgirls in Big 12 Championship history.

Junior Paige Parker was the winning pitcher in two of OU’s Big 12 Championship wins. She pitched 12 1/3 innings, allowing no runs and striking out 16, and was named the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player

Here are some more notable numbers from Oklahoma’s 2017 championship run and the Sooners’ championship softball history:

5 – Oklahoma’s five Big 12 Championship titles are the most in Big 12 history.

7 – Number of saves this season by junior pitcher Paige Lowary, an OU program record.

13 – Junior Nicole Pendley hit a two-run home run in the championship game with Oklahoma State, accounting for all the Sooner runs in the game. She leads the Sooners with 13 home runs this season

15 – Total number of OU regular-season championships and Big 12 championships, almost twice as many as the next closest team (Texas with eight).

20 – Shutouts by Oklahoma this season; Paige Parker has pitched five of those.

20 – Total number of wins this season by the Sooners’ Paige Parker to go with five losses.

29 – Freshman Nicole Mendes has a 29-game on-base streak

37 – Consecutive innings pitched by Paige Parker without allowing a run.

50 – Number of wins by Oklahoma so far in 2017. The Sooners won 57 a year ago, 49 in 2015 and 51 in 2013.

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