Oklahoma softball: Have fun finding a weakness in this Sooner squad

By Chip Rouse | May 30, 2019

CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 12: Keilani Johanna Ricketts #10 of United States pitches against Japan during their World Championship Final match at ZOZO Marine Stadium on day eleven of the WBSC Women's Softball World Championship on August 12, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images) /

If you go by statistics alone, Oklahoma softball is the best team in this year’s Women’s College World Series, and it should be their championship to lose.

Unfortunately, statistics are a reflection of past performance and not necessarily a predictor of what will happen going forward. And the history of the WCWS is littered with examples of the top-seeded team not making it to the finish line.

A year ago, for example, No. 6 Florida State won the national championship, eliminating top-seeded Oregon in a third-round game and going on to defeat No. 3 Washington for the title.

In Oklahoma’s back-to-back national championship seasons in 2016-17, the Sooners were a No. 3 and No. 10 seed, respectively.

So what does this mean for head coach Patty Gasso’s 2019 Sooner squad? Perhaps nothing if they play up to their capability and expectations. After all, the last time OU was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Softball Championship, in 2013, the Sooners finished out exactly how they were expected to: Hoisting the WCWS national championship trophy.

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It seems the only way to beat this 2019 Sooner team is if they beat themselves. With just three losses in 57 games this season, Oklahoma doesn’t open the door for scoring opportunities by its opponents. The Sooners are much more likely to take advantage of their opponents’ mistakes as added fuel for a high-powered offense that doesn’t need any extra help.

Oklahoma is No. 1 in NCAA Division I softball in at least four major offensive categories: batting average (.355), home runs per game (1.89), on-base percentage (.447) and slugging percentage (.660). If you don’t think that is impressive, consider that none of the other seven teams in this year’s WCWS rank in the top 10 in all four of those categories.

If the Sooners don’t out-hit or out-slug their opponent, they have as good a pitching staff as you will find in college softball this season, which means getting on base and scoring against Oklahoma is at a high premium. Translation: Teams don’t get many scoring opportunities against a Sooner pitching staff that leads the nation with a 1.06 ERA.

If Oklahoma doesn’t shut you down with stellar pitching, the defensive play is likely to take care of the job. The Sooners also are the nation’s best defensive team (.987 fielding percentage), committing just 17 errors in 57 games.

So how do you beat this Oklahoma team. The Sooners like to score early and keep their foot on the gas pedal. If you are going to beat OU, you best get runs on the board early and often and force OU to play from behind. Only a couple of teams have been able to do that all season.

OU’s lineup is pretty lethal top to bottom. The Sooners hit for average and they also pack plenty of power, averaging close to two home runs per game. When the home runs come with runners on base, it is extremely difficult to stay in the game with this group.

Teams that are patient in the batter’s box and force the OU pitchers to throw strikes stand a better chance of getting on base and creating scoring opportunities. Hitters that are aggressive and swing at balls out of the strike zone generally do not fare as well against the two main OU starting pitchers (“G” Juarez and Mariah Lopez; between them, they are a combined 44-2 with a 1.05 ERA).

If there is a weakness on this OU team, it may be the final three spots in the batting order. The last three hitters in the Oklahoma lineup were a combined 2 for 18 in the Sooners’ Super Regional series with Northwestern. Conversely, limiting the production of the first six hitters in the Sooner lineup is a key to having success against this Oklahoma softball juggernaut.

Lady luck will also have something to say about which team makes it through the WCWS gauntlet.

If Oklahoma is one of the final two teams standing, I don’t see them making the 30-minute drive down I-35 empty-handed.

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