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Oklahoma softball: Sooners seeking 6th NCAA Super Regional title in 11 trips

By Chip Rouse

Nov 12, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Members of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad celebrate a touchdown against the Baylor Bears during the third quarter at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Members of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad celebrate a touchdown against the Baylor Bears during the third quarter at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 64-team field in the NCAA Division I Softball championship is down to 16 and Oklahoma softball is one of the teams still standing.

The college softball version of basketball’s Sweet 16 is called Super Regionals, and the Sooners are making their 11th appearance in the round of 16 since the current format was introduced in 2005.

The No. 10-seeded Sooners are matched up with No. 7 Auburn, the same team Oklahoma defeated to earn its third national championship in last season’s Women’s College World Series. The Sooners and Tigers will play a best-of-three series beginning Friday afternoon on Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field.

Patty Gasso’s squad is 4-2 all-time against Auburn, but the Sooners and Tigers have never played at Auburn, where the home team is 31-4 this season.

OU has been exceptionally good on the road this season, though, winning 26 consecutive road games, dating back to last season. That is the longest active such streak in the nation. During the streak, the Sooners have posted four top-25 wins, nine shutouts and four run-rule victories.

This is the Sooners eighth consecutive Super Regional appearance. Only Alabama (13) has a longer active streak of advancing to Super Regional play than Oklahoma.

Each of the schools remaining in the NCAA Softball Championship have played at least six games against the other Super Regional teams. Auburn has fared better than the Sooners against the teams in this year’s Super Regionals. The Tigers are 9-7 in games with teams in the round of 16, while OU has gone 4-5.

Auburn is led on offense by catcher Carlee Wallace and first baseman Kendall Veach. Wallace is hitting a team-high .351 with seven home runs and 52 runs batted in. Veach has 12 home runs and has knocked in 44 runs. Two of Veach’s dozen home runs this season came against Oklahoma in the season opener for both teams. The Tigers won that game 3-2, avenging a 2-1 loss to the Sooners in the championship game in last season’s Women’s College World Series.

The Sooners are likely to face Auburn starting pitcher Kaylee Carlson in the series opener. Carlson is 27-4 this season with 110 strikeouts and a team-best 1.22 ERA. You can expect Paige Parker to be on the hill for Oklahoma. The junior left-hander, a finalist for National Player of the Year, is 22-5 on the hill this season with a 1.34 ERA.

Oklahoma comes into its Super Regional series with Auburn sporting one of the most potent offenses in NCAA Division I softball. The Sooners rank ninth in the nation, scoring an average of 6.41 runs per game. The Sooner pitching has been equally strong, with a staff ERA of 1.55, 10th best in the country.

OU and Auburn have faced five common opponents this season (BYU, Evansville, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Ole Miss and Washington). The Sooners are 7-2 against those teams, while Auburn went 9-2.

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