Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma softball: Sooners seeking 4th Big 12 Tournament title in last 5 tries

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings (23) scores a run as Jayda Coleman (24) celebrates in the second inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Monday, March 13, 2023. Oklahoma won 8-0 in five innings.Ou Sotfball
Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings (23) scores a run as Jayda Coleman (24) celebrates in the second inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Monday, March 13, 2023. Oklahoma won 8-0 in five innings.Ou Sotfball /
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No. 1 seeded and top-ranked Oklahoma softball goes after its fourth Big 12 Tournament championship in the last five years (the tournament was not played in 2020) this weekend as prelude to what the Sooners hope will be a three-peat of their NCAA women’s softball national championship reign.

The Sooners take a 49-1 record into their Big 12 semifinal matchup on Friday with the winner of the quarterfinal round game between No. 4 Baylor and No. 5 Iowa State. OU swept the regular-season series with both teams, but Baylor handed the Sooners their only loss of the season in a 4-3 victory on Feb. 19 as part of a nonconference tournament hosted by Baylor.

Oklahoma defeated Iowa State by scores of 3-0, 13-3 and 10-0 in a weekend series in late March at Iowa State and shut out Baylor 7-0, 4-0 and 2-0 in three straight games played in Waco a month later.

There is a high probability that No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Oklahoma State will face each other in the other semifinal contest on Friday and that the winner of that game will get a rematch with the Sooners in the Big 12 Tournament championship game on Saturday. When Texas and Oklahoma State met three weeks ago in Austin, Texas won all three games in low-scoring affairs (1-0, 3-2 and 5-2).

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Oklahoma leads the Big 12 as well as all NCAA Division I teams this season in scoring (8.16 runs per game), batting average (.368), on-base-percentage (.462), slugging percentage (.664), staff ERA (0.87) and fielding percentage (.988, with just 15 errors in 50 games) and ranks second nationally in total home runs (91), one behind the leader Virginia Tech. This is the second straight season the Sooners have led the country in those categories.

Oklahoma has won a nation-best 29 games by shutout and 22 by run rule and has outscored its opponents 408 to 43.

Four of the top five hitters in the Big 12 — Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen and Alyssa Brito — based on batting average are Oklahoma Sooners, all own season averages above .400, led by Coleman’s .439 average. And if they aren’t beating you with their high-potency offense, the Sooners do so with outstanding pitching. OU starters Nicole May (0.55), Alex Storako (0.77) and Jordy Bahl (1.19) rank one-two-three in the Big 12 in earned run average.

In the 18 years in which the Big 12 has held a conference tournament in softball, the Sooners have won seven times. The next closest team in Texas with four.

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