7 takeaways as Sooners open defense of SEC crown with series sweep of Auburn

Anyone who thought Oklahoma's extraordinary softball power numbers would drop off once more competitive SEC play commenced may want to reevaluate that position.

Oklahoma (28-2, 3-0) steamrolled Auburn (19-10, 2-4) after completing a three-game series sweep of the Tigers on Sunday with a 14-2 run-rule victory. That was one of two wins by run-rule in the series.

OU opened the series on Friday at Love's Field with a 13-5 victory in five innings. The two run-rule wins bookended a come-from-behind 8-5 Sooner win on Saturday.

The No. 4 Sooners now have 21 run-rule victories this season to lead all of Division-I softball. Oklahoma came into its conference-opening series averaging 13 runs per game. Against an Auburn pitching staff that notably has the highest ERA in the SEC, the Sooners outscored their weekend opponent 35-12 and won by an average score of 11.6-4.

The two teams battled chilly temperatures and dust swirls fueled by sustained winds of 30 miles per hour, and sometimes more, in the series finale on Sunday. The difficult weather conditions did not deter the fans from showing up, however, at the softball version of the Palace of the Prairie. A crowd of 3,914 braved the elements at Love's Field, the country's largest softball-only college venue.

The Sooners are 14-0 at home this season and 65-6 in the three years they have played at Love's Field.

Next up for Patty Gasso's crew is a seven-game road swing, beginning with a midweek game on Wednesday at Memphis (7-19) before traveling to Oxford, Mississippi, for a three-game weekend series against Ole Miss that will run Saturday through Monday. The Rebels are 19-11 overall, but have failed to win a conference game (0-6) in two conference series so far.

Of note from Oklahoma's opening SEC series

• Sooner sophomore pitcher Audrey Lowry appeared in two of the three games and was the pitcher of record in two. The left-hander recorded her 12th and 13th wins of the season to go with one loss. Lowry's 13 wins are the second most in the SEC.

• Oklahoma added to its nation-best home-run total, hitting seven in the three games with Auburn. Freshman catcher Kendall Wells hit two on Sunday to add to her nation-leading total of 21.

• The Sooners have hit 115 home runs in 30 games, an average of 3.8 per game. OU is well ahead of the pace needed to blow away the NCAA all-time record of 161 home runs by a team in a season, which ironically was set the Oklahoma in 2021. The Sooners have homered in 29 of their 30 games this season.

• OU's nine runs in the fourth inning of Sunday's game was the ninth time this season the Sooners have scored as many as nine runs in an inning. They accomplished that two different times over the weekend against Auburn.

• Nine is also the number of comeback wins Oklahoma has this season. The Sooners came from behind to win the middle game of the Auburn series by score of 8-5.

• Oklahoma leads the nation in both runs (386) and hits (379). What's significant about that is how incredibly efficient the Sooner offense has been this season, with a differential of just six between the two categories. The weekend series with Auburn -- with the offense producing 35 runs on 33 hits -- mirrored that efficiency.

• The Sooners are 25-5 in conference openers since the 1996 season (first year of the Big 12) and have swept swept their SEC opening series in each of the two seasons OU has been a member of the conference.