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Oklahoma softball: What fans need to know about OU’s weekend outside of the Big 12

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Haley Lee celebrates a home run in the third inning during the college softball game between Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at the Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April, 8, 2023.Ou Tech Tech Softball
Oklahoma's Haley Lee celebrates a home run in the third inning during the college softball game between Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at the Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April, 8, 2023.Ou Tech Tech Softball /
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No. 1-ranked Oklahoma softball takes a rare midseason trek outside of the Big 12 competition this weekend for a three-day tournament hosted by Miami of Ohio in Oxford, Ohio.

The trip to the Miami (Ohio) Invitational will be the first time the Sooners — 37-1 and fresh off of a nonconference game earlier in the week at 12th-ranked LSU — have played in the state of Ohio in program history. OU will face Louisville and Oakland (Michigan) University in a doubleheader on Saturday and end the weekend with a Sunday contest against Miami.

The opening game on Saturday between the Sooners and Oakland (12-12, 8-4 in the Horizon League) marks the first ever matchup between the two schools. The Sooners second game on Saturday, versus the University of Louisville, will be the 10th all-time meeting between OU and Louisville (25-13, 10-4 in the ACC). The Sooners are 6-3 in the series and 3-1 against the Cardinals on a neutral field.

Miami of Ohio (23-14, 11-6 in the Mid-American Conference) and Oklahoma have met just one previous time on the softball diamond. Miami won that game 3-2, played in 1992 in Tampa, Florida.

Seven Sooner softball storylines for the weekend

  • Oklahoma is riding a current 29-game winning streak, the longest active streak in Division I softball. The Sooners have won 152 of their last 160 games, dating back to the start of the 2021 season. Ninety-five of those 160 games (60 percent) have been won by run-rule.
  • The OU pitching staff has not allowed a run and given up just 15 hits in the past 32 2/3 innings, posting four consecutive shutouts in the last four games. The staff has already thrown three no-hitters this season.
  • The Sooners have led the nation in team batting average in each of the past three seasons and leads again in 2023 with a .373 average. OU also leads the country this season in runs per game (8.39), on-base-percentage (.461), slugging percentage (.680), shutouts (23) and fielding percentage (.988) with just 11 errors in 38 games.
  • After leading the country in home runs the past two years, the Sooners are No. 2 in that category this year with 70. Thirteen different OU players have left the yard at least once this season.
  • OU has outscored its opponents this season by the combined score of 319-33.
  • The Sooners have scored 40 percent of their runs this season (127 of 316) with two outs. Their most productive inning has been the second, outscoring opponents 90-1 in the second frame.
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