It's tough to beat a team two times in the same season, let alone three times. The Oklahoma softball crew will have the chance to do it four times when the 1-seeded Sooners take on No. 5 Arkansas in the semifinals of the SEC Softball Tournament on Friday.
Oklahoma (44-7) defeated No. 9 LSU 4-1 on Thursday behind a one-hit gem from Sooner pitching ace Sam Landry in one of the four quarterfinal games played on Thursday at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
Arkansas (40-11) earned its way into the SEC semifinals by beating No. 4 Tennessee and the stingiest pitcher in the SEC, based on ERA, in Tennessee's Karlyn Pickens, who started game with an 0.96 ERA. The Razorbacks broke open a close game with four insurance runs in the seventh inning, stretching a 2-1 advantage to 6-1 and eliminating the Vols.
Before facing Tennessee, however, Arkansas had to get by No. 12 Georgia in a second-round matchup, which it did, 5-1.
The Sooners are 28-2 all-time against the Razorbacks in softball, including a three-game series sweep in Fayetteville in March. OU has won the last 14 games played between the two teams.
When the two teams last met in mid-March, Oklahoma outscored Arkansas 23-11 in the three games, but a couple of games were close to the end.
Both teams are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 5 Arkansas will play at 3 p.m. CT on Friday. The game will be ESPN2. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 3 Texas on Saturday for the SEC tournament championship and a probable top-3 national seed in the NCAA Tournament.
What fans need to know about Oklahoma vs. Arkansas
Oklahoma
- The top two hitters in the Oklahoma lineup are sophomores Kasidi Pickering and Ella Parker, hitting .418 and .416, respectively, including 24 combined home runs and 88 runs batted in. The pair usually bat one-two in the lineup.
- The Sooners lead the SEC in slugging percentage (.627), on-base percentage (.451), and are second in home runs (95) and third in runs scored (7.2 per game).
- Oklahoma will likely start junior left-hander Kierston Deal or senior right-hander Isabella Smith against Arkansas. Both pitched against the Razorbacks in the earlier regular-season series. Deal (9-2) worked 6.2 innings in two appearances against Arkansas in March and gave up eight runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and six walks. Smith (9-1) worked two innings against the Razorbacks, allowing three runs on three hits.
- Arkansas is No. 6 this week in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings and No. 1 in the Softball America poll. Oklahoma is 9-4 this season against top-10 teams.
Arkansas
- The Razorbacks are likely to start freshman right-handed pitcher Payton Burnham against Oklahoma on Friday. Burnham worked 5.1 innings in a 6-4 loss to OU on March 15. She allowed four runs on five hits, but was not the pitcher of record. She also was the starter in the 5-1 win over Georgia on Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits in four innings.
- Since being swept by the Sooners in mid-March, Arkansas has gone 20-6 and 15-6 against SEC opponents.
- The Razorbacks have arguably the best offensive player in the SEC in senior first baseman Bri Ellis. She leads the SEC in batting average (.491), slugging percentage (1.246), on-base percentage (.667) and home runs (26), and is second in runs batted in (72). In the earlier series with Oklahoma, Ellis was 5-for-10 at the plate with four runs, four RBI and two home runs.
- In the past two games, Arkansas has hit grand slams in the seventh inning. Raigan Kramer hit one with two outs against Tennessee on Wednesday, and Bri Ellis did the same in the win against Georgia on Thursday.
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