Oklahoma softball: There’s nothing magical; these gals are really good

You may think there’s something magical going on this Oklahoma softball season.

After all, the Sooners have won 29 consecutive games, a good number by run rule or shutout, and are off to their best conference start in program history. I can assure you there is no magic behind any of that. These OU gals are really, really good. Period.

Oklahoma (38-2) is off to its best season start since 2013 and ranked No. 2 in the country, behind Washington out of the Pac-12. The Sooners have not lost since Feb. 24, a 2-0 defeat to then-No. 13 Arizona in the Marry Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California.

With two more wins, the Sooners will set a program record for consecutive wins.

Sooner fans are hopeful this season’s near-record start is a good omen. The 2013 Sooner team finished the year 57-4, including 10 straight postseason wins ending in a Women’s College World Series title and the school’s second national championship.

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This is a very dangerous Sooner team. They can beat you in multiple ways. Their lineup is productive from top to bottom; they can outhit and outscore you. If they don’t get the best of their opponents that way, their outstanding pitching takes over. Opponents have scored just 46 runs off OU pitchers through 40 games. Meanwhile, the Sooners’ offense has produced 295 runs.

Oklahoma ranks No. 4 in the country with a team batting average of .343, and the pitching staff owns the nation’s second-best ERA (1.04). And it doesn’t stop there. The Sooners don’t make miscues in the field, either. They lead the nation with a fielding percentage of .989.

Eighteen of the 38 Oklahoma wins this season have been shutouts and 16 games have been shortened to five innings because the Sooners were ahead by eight or more runs at that point.

The bottom line is: This Sooner softball team is extremely difficult to beat. And it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are playing at home or on the road.

This week, the Sooners step outside of the conference, headed first to Tulsa, and after that westward bound to the state of Oregon for a trio of tough nonconference contests against a pair of Pac-12 opponents.

OU will put the nation’s longest active win streak on the line at Tulsa on Tuesday, then will face perhaps its toughest test the remainder on the season when it goes up against the nation’s No. 4-ranked team, the Oregon Ducks, on their home field in Eugene. The Sooners will wind up the West coast road trip with games at Oregon State on Friday and Saturday.

Oklahoma’s current road winning streak is actually better than its consecutive-game streak. The Sooners have won 36 consecutive true road games and have not lost a true road game in over two years.

OU is 42-10 all-time against Tulsa and 13-6 when the game is played at Tulsa. The Sooners are 10-5 all-time against the Oregon Ducks and 13-3 vs. Oregon State. This will mark the first time, however, that Oklahoma has played at Oregon or Oregon State.