The Skinny
It seems like there’s a lot going on with Oklahoma as the second-ranked Sooners prepare to take on fifth-ranked Oklahoma State Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Love’s Field.
Though the Sooners have responded with a pair of series sweeps over Central Florida and Houston following a pair of series in which they took losses against Texas and BYU, it still doesn’t feel like the same OU team that entered the Texas series 34-1 and 12-0 in the Big 12 Conference.
That team, for instance, was slashing .396/.518/.801. Yet, the Sooners on their way to meet the Cowgirls are slashing .372/.480/.673.
Still great numbers, yet not what they’ve been.
Topping UCF in Orlando last weekend, no victory came by run-rule; between games one, two and the first inning of game three, the Sooners scored runs in just 4 of 15 innings; and in Sunday’s game, all three of the starters in coach Patty Gasso’s rotation — Nicole May, Kelly Maxwell, Kierston Deal — allowed earned runs in what eventually became an 11-7 victory.
It just doesn’t feel like the machine-like operation it’s been for most of the last three seasons as OU enters Bedlam, which precedes the Big 12 tournament, which precedes NCAA regional play, which precedes super regional play.
They’ll enter the series slashing .310/.393/.556, which is not quite in OU’s league, yet still accounts for the 36th best batting average in the nation, the 32nd best on-base percentage in the nation and the ninth best slugging percentage in the nation, which is not bad at all, especially when you’ve got a workhorse like Lexi Kilfoyl — more on her in the notes, too — leading a pitching staff with an 11th-best in the nation 1.92 earned run average.
