OKLAHOMA SOFTBALL BEGINS REGIONAL PLAY ON FRIDAY

PRESS RELEASE: OKLAHOMA ATHLETICS

• The defending national champion Oklahoma softball team has been tabbed the No. 1 overall seed in the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship and plays host to the NCAA Norman Regional at Marita Hynes Field, May 20-22.

• It marks the third straight season the Sooners (49-2, 17-1 Big 12) have been the No. 1 seed. The program has been a national seed for each of the past 15 seasons, hosting a regional for the 11th year in a row.

• This is the fourth time in program history that the Sooners have been the top-seeded team, also earning the No. 1 spot in 2013, 2019 and 2021.

• The four-team, three-day event features Texas A&M (29-26, 6-18 SEC) facing Minnesota (26-24-1, 11-12 Big 10) at 4 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN2 before the Sooners take on Prairie View A&M (20-27, 16-8 SWAC) at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN+.

• Friday’s winners will square off in the first of three games Saturday, while Friday’s losing teams will face off in an elimination game for game two of Saturday’s tripleheader. The loser of Saturday’s first game will take on the winner of the day’s second game in an elimination game later Saturday night. The winner of Saturday’s final game will take on the winner of the day’s first game on Sunday with an if-necessary rematch scheduled for later on Sunday. 

• The winner of this weekend’s regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round against the winner of the Orlando regional, hosted by 16-seed Central Florida, the following weekend with the ultimate goal of reaching the 2022 Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

• All the games will be shown on the ESPN family of networks and can be heard on 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity app with OU play-by-play announcer Chris Plank on the call.

• After 51 games played, the Sooners are batting .367 as a team with a nation-leading 125 home runs, 463 runs scored on 459 hits and 437 RBIs. They are outscoring opponents 463-45 with only 34 runs given up being earned. The team is slugging .726, holds a .474 on-base clip and has swiped 53 bases on 68 attempts.

• The pitching staff holds a nation-best 0.81 ERA and has 411 strikeouts, allowing opponents to bat just .143.

• The Sooners have won by run-rule in 35 of their 51 games (69% of games). 

MAYHEM

• Oklahoma has made the NCAA Tournament 28 straight seasons overall and every year of head coach Patty Gasso‘s tenure since 1995 (tournament was not played in 2020). Only Arizona has a longer streak (34 straight), while the Sooners are tied with Washington for second-longest run.

• Oklahoma has been a national seed for each of the past 15 seasons. This is the third fourth in program history that the Sooners have been the top-seeded team, also earning the No. 1 spot in 2013, 2019 and 2021.

• In 2021, OU reached its 14th WCWS in program history, culminating in the program’s fifth national championship. The Sooners have won three of the past five WCWS crowns. 

• With five national titles (2000, ’13, ’16, ’17, ’21) Oklahoma trails only UCLA (12) and Arizona (8) for most in NCAA history, and no other team has more than two. 

• This marks OU’s 11th straight year hosting a regional. Overall, Oklahoma is 77-20 (.783) in NCAA Regional play with 19 Regional championships. In 2021, OU won the NCAA Norman Regional championship over Wichita State.

• The Sooners are looking to make their 12th straight appearance in the Super Regionals and 15th overall since the format was introduced in 2005. All-time, OU has competed in 14 Women’s College World Series and earned five national championships.

A LOOK THE REGIONAL FOES

• The Sooners and Aggies last met at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in 2020, with OU winning 2-1 in walk-off fashion on an RBI double from Grace Lyons. OU holds the all-time record over A&M, 50-30, with a 24-8 mark in Norman. The Aggies were a part of the 2021 NCAA Norman Regional but the teams did not meet.

• OU has met Texas A&M more times in program history than any other opponent in NCAA Regional play. The Sooners are undefeated against the Aggies in regional history, holding a 6-0 mark with the teams last meeting in 2015. The Sooners beat A&M twice in the Norman Regional, 7-5 and 2-0 to advance to Super Regionals.

• The Sooners and Gophers have already met in 2022, with OU beating Minnesota in the home opener on March 7 by a final of 9-1 in five innings. The Sooners hold a 4-8 record all-time versus Minnesota, including a 3-3 tie in Norman. The teams have never met in the postseason.

• Prairie View A&M, the automatic qualifier as the winner of the SWAC, made a historical run to win the conference tournament after starting conference play 0-19 in 2022. Friday’s matchup between the Sooners and Panthers will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 1 ranked and top-seed Oklahoma Softball dropped its second game of the season in the Big 12 Championship game last Saturday, losing 4-3 in eight innings to two-seed and No. 7/8 Oklahoma State.

• It marks the Sooners first loss in the Big 12 tournament title game since 2009 and the first time OU has not been both the regular season and tourney champs since 2012.

• Jocelyn Alo tied the game 3-3 in the 5th inning before Oklahoma State drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to score the eventual game-winning run.

• Oklahoma won its semifinal matchup at the tourney over fourth-seeded Iowa State on Friday, 5-0. Redshirt senior Hope Trautwein struck out 14 in a complete-game shutout while fellow redshirt senior Lynnsie Elam blasted her second career grand slam.

LOVING THE LONG BALL

• In 2022, the Sooners pace the NCAA with 125 home runs and a 2.4 HR/game average.

• Three Sooners occupy the top-15 in the country in home runs: Alo is third in the NCAA with 25 blasts while Jennings (22) ranks fifth and Lyons (18) sits at 19th.

• 13 Sooners have went yard already in 2022 with 11 hitting multiple blasts and eight hitting four-plus.

• As a team, Oklahoma has hit homers in 45 of its 51 contests, including hitting two or more in 32 games, three-plus in 23 games, four-plus in 15 games, five-plus five times, six or more in four games and seven once. 

• The team has hit two-plus home runs in one inning 23 times, three in one inning three times and four in one inning once.

• They have hit back-to-back home runs nine times on the year. 

• 18 times this season a Sooner has hit two or more homers in one game. Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings lead the way with five games of 2+ HRs, Alyssa Brito has done so three times, while Grace Lyons and Lynnsie Elam have done so twice and Jana Johns once. Alo, Elam and Lyons each have one game of three homers a piece.       

PITCHING PACING THE NATION

• Oklahoma’s pitching staff is not to be overlooked by the potent offense. The OU staff of Jordy BahlNicole MayHope Trautwein and Macy McAdoo leads the country with a 0.81 ERA, allowing just 34 earned runs (45 R) in OU’s 51 games. Additionally, the staff holds a nation-best 29 shutouts on the season, one shy of tying the program record.

• OU is the only school with three pitchers in the top-ten nationally in ERA: Trautwein ranks second in the country with her 0.31, while Bahl (0.95) holds fifth and May (1.11) sits at eighth.

• The staff have a combined 411 strikeouts in 294.0 innings pitched, a product of OU’s 35 run-rules.

• Freshman Jordy Bahl leads the group with 199 strikeouts in 132.1 IP, while Trautwein (91.1 IP) and May (69.2 IP) have 135 and 76 K’s, respectively.

• Bahl has six games with double-digit strikeouts, including a 16-K performance vs. Tennessee and 15-K showing at Texas. Trautwein holds four double-digit K games while May has two.

• The staff has thrown two perfect games and four no-hitters. Bahl, May and Trautwein combined on a perfect game in the season opener, Trautwein threw a no-no vs. McNeese on Feb. 19 and Bahl tossed her first career perfect game Feb. 25 vs. CSU-Fullerton. May and Bahl combined on a no-hitter at Hawaii on March 12, Bahl threw a no-hitter in OU’s 20-0 win over Iowa on March 20 and Bahl and May combined on a no-no at Texas Tech on April 10.

• The six no-hitters on the year is tied for the most in a single season in program history, matching 2013, 2015 and 2019’s mark.

ALO NAMED TOP 3 FINALIST FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

• Oklahoma Softball redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo has been named a top three finalist for the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the organization announced the three finalists Wednesday. 

• Alo was joined by South Florida fifth-year senior pitcher Georgina Corrick and Washington senior infielder Baylee Klingler. 

• The reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Alo, has had another season for the record books in 2022. She broke the NCAA career home run record in early March in her home state of Hawaii, hitting career No. 96 vs. Hawaii on March 12. The Hauula, Hawaii, product now has 113 career home runs and 25 on the season to go with 62 RBIs and 11 doubles. She leads the nation with a 1.128 slugging percentage and .622 on-base clip, while her 25 blasts rank third. She has five multi-homer games on the year, including one game with three.

• Recently collecting her second straight Big 12 Player of the Year honor, Alo also claimed All-Big 12 First Team accolades for the fourth time of her career. 

• It marks the fourth season in a row OU has had a top three finalist and eighth time in the award’s history. 

• Alo looks to become the fifth player to win the award in consecutive seasons. In 2021, she joined Keilani Ricketts as the only Sooner to win the award, with Ricketts winning the prestigious trophy back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013.

• The 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced on May 31st prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series.

• Four Sooners (Alo, Jordy BahlJayda ColemanGrace Lyons) made the initial Top 25 cut for POTY before three (Alo, Bahl, Lyons) made the top-10 list. The Sooners had twice as many players make the top 25 list as the next closest program.

EIGHT SOONERS NAMED ALL-REGION

• Oklahoma paced the country by placing seven student-athletes on the Division I All-Region First Team. All eight of OU’s nominees were named Central All-Region selections. The NFCA announced the honors Thursday.

• Redshirt seniors Jocelyn Alo and Lynnsie Elam, senior Grace Lyons, junior Rylie Boone, sophomores Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings and freshman Jordy Bahl were all selected for the All-Central Region First Team. Sophomore Alyssa Brito received second team honors.

• The eight selections tied with Arkansas, Boston and Virginia Tech for most in the country, while its seven first-team selections lead the country by one over the Razorbacks and Hokies. It marks the third consecutive season OU has put seven members on the first team.

• Overall, this marks the seventh time in eight seasons that OU has had eight nominees be selected.

• The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third teams selected for each region. The all-region teams were voted on by NFCA member coaches from each respective region, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to one of three 2022 NFCA Division I All-American teams.

• The 2022 NFCA Division I All-America teams, voted on by the NFCA DI All-American Committee, will be announced on Wednesday, June 1.

BAHL NAMED TOP 10 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR FINALIST

• Freshman Jordy Bahl has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award, the NFCA announced the 10 finalists Thursday. 

• Bahl is the ninth Sooner to make the top 10 cut since the inaugural season of the award in 2014. Oklahoma has had at least one finalist represented every year since 2015, with a Sooner winning the award three times in its eight-year history: Paige Parker (2015), Jocelyn Alo (2018) and Tiare Jennings (2021). Last season OU had two of the final three finalists for the award in eventual-winner Tiare Jennings and classmate Jayda Coleman

• Additionally, Oklahoma looks to become the first program to produce consecutive winners of the award.

• The list will be trimmed down three finalists will be released on May 26. The 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced on May 31. The list of 25 was selected by the NFCA. The top 10, top three and winner are voted on by the NFCA Division I All-America Committee.

TOP RANKS

• Oklahoma holds the No. 1 ranking in nine major national categories as a team:

    • Batting Average: .367

    • Earned Run Average: 0.81

    • Home Runs: 125

    • Home Runs per game: 2.45

    • Slugging Percentage: .727

    • Scoring: 9.08 runs/game

    • On Base Percentage: .474

    • W-L Percentage: .961

    • Shutouts: 29

• Individual Ranks

    • Batting Average:

        • Jocelyn Alo – 2nd (.481)

        • Grace Lyons – 26th (.415)

        • Jayda Coleman – 47th (.405)

    • ERA:

        • Hope Trautwein – 2nd (0.31)

        • Jordy Bahl – 5th (0.95)

        • Nicole May – 8th (1.11)

    • Slugging Percentage:

        • Jocelyn Alo – 1st – (1.128)

        • Tiare Jennings – 8th (.883)

        • Grace Lyons – 11th (.873)

    • On Base Percentage:

        • Jocelyn Alo – 1st (.622)

        • Jayda Coleman – 4th (.576)

    • Home Runs

        • Jocelyn Alo – 3rd (25)

        • Tiare Jennings – 5th (22)

        • Grace Lyons – 19th (18)

    • RBIs

        • Tiare Jennings – 3rd (68)

        • Jocelyn Alo – 8th (62)

        • Grace Lyons – 27th (53)

MORE NOTES & NUMBERS

• Oklahoma has won 105 of its last 111 games dating back to the start of the 2021 season.

• Of those 111 games, 70 have been run-rule victories (63%).

• The Sooners have gone on consecutive run-rule stretches of nine games (Feb. 13-26) and 13 games (Feb. 27-March 26).

• The top-ranked Sooners have six top-10 and nine top-25 wins on the season and rank first in the NCAA DI RPI.

• Of their six top-10 wins, two have been by run-rule. Three of their nine top-25 W’s have also been mercy-rule wins.

• In their six top-10 wins, the Sooners have outscored opponents 41-8. The margin is 69-21 in OU’s favor in their nine top-25 victories.

• The OU offense has 125 home runs on the year to 129 strikeouts. Eight Sooners hold double-digit strikeouts this season, and none have struck out more than 16 times.

• The Sooners have held opponents to one run or fewer in 43 of 51 games.

• The pitching staff has sacrificed just 45 runs (34 ER) on the season to opponents. Individually, four Sooners have 45 or more runs scored.

• OU has 191 extra-base hits on the season to opponents’ 38. Jocelyn Alo has 36 extra-base hits on the season by herself.

SOONERS DOMINATE BIG 12 AWARDS

• Oklahoma softball collected or earned a share of all five end-of-the-year Big 12 awards and placed seven across the All-Big 12 First and Second Teams, including a league-best six on the first team. The conference announced the honors Wednesday.

• Redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo was named Big 12 Player of the Year for the second straight season in unanimous fashion, while senior Grace Lyons earned Defensive Player of the Year accolades for the second consecutive year. Garnering Freshman of the Year honors was pitcher Jordy Bahl. Bahl was also named the league’s Co-Pitcher of the Year, sharing the honor with OSU’s Kelly Maxwell. OU head coach Patty Gasso was the unanimous choice for Coach of the Year, her 10th straight Big 12 Coach of the Year honor.

• Alo collects OU’s 15th Big 12 Player of the Year award and sixth in the last seven seasons. She was chosen unanimously as the conference player of the year and is the first repeat winner since OU alum Amber Flores (2009-10) went back-to-back. She joins Flores and Shelby Pendley (2013, ’15) as the only Sooners to claim two Big 12 Player of the Year awards.

• OU’s defensive anchor, Lyons, wins her second consecutive Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award and OU’s fourth in the last five years. Lyons joins Heather Scaglione (2004-05) and Kelsey Arnold (2016, ’18) as repeat winners in program history.

• The freshman phenom and finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year and USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Bahl, collects her first career conference awards in Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Her pitcher of the year honor is OU’s eighth in school annals, while her unanimous freshman of the year accolade is OU’s seventh consecutive.

• The NFCA Hall of Fame head coach, Gasso, wins an unprecedented 10th consecutive Big 12 Coach of the Year award and 14th overall in her 28 seasons at the helm in Norman.

• Of the 12 student-athletes that made up the All-Big 12 First Team, six of the selections are Sooners: Jocelyn AloJordy BahlJayda ColemanTiare JenningsGrace Lyons and Hope Trautwein. OU’s league-best six selections tie a program-best and outpaces the next-highest school by three.

• Alo collects her fourth career First Team honor, while Coleman, Jennings and Lyons all earn their second and Bahl and Trautwein were named First Team honorees for the first time of their Big 12 careers. Alo, Bahl, Jennings and Lyons were all unanimous choices. Bahl was also named to the All-Freshman Team.

• Sophomore Alyssa Brito brings OU’s All-Big 12 Team total to seven Sooners as the outfielder was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, her first career Big 12 all-conference team accolade.

HOME RUN QUEEN

• Jocelyn Alo is the new home run queen of college softball. In front of the home crowd of friends of family in Honolulu on March 12, Alo hit career home run No. 96 to break the tie with OU alum Lauren Chamberlain to be the NCAA career home run leader.

• After an eight-game stretch that saw Alo walk a combined 16 times including three intentional walks, the Hauula, Hawaii, native left no doubt when she finally saw the pitch she wanted.

• The historic homer came in the top of the sixth inning versus Hawaii, a two-run blast to right center on a 2-1 count. Alo went 3-for-3 in the game with three RBIs.

• Alo hit the 96 mark in 224 games and 651 at-bats, she hit the record-tying No. 95 in 215 games, less games than Chamberlain (220) and anyone else in the all-time top 10. Chamberlain registered 607 at-bats in her career, hitting home run No. 95 in her last career at-bat.

NO. 1

• OU has been the top-ranked squad since March 2, 2021, or 63 weeks, or 443 days.

• The Sooners have held the top spot in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 for 28 straight polls.

• OU has been the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in 2022 and has spent a school-record 14 straight weeks at No. 1 in the 2022 season, recently breaking the tie with the 2021 team’s run of 13 weeks.

• Oklahoma was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 in both the NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25 and has held the top spot for all 14 weeks of the 2022 season.

• Oklahoma’s No. 1 spot in the NFCA preseason poll marked the third time the Sooners enter a season in the top spot (2017, ’18) and just the second time OU has been the unanimous choice in the coaches poll, joining the 2017 squad.

• Additionally, it’s the 11th straight year the Sooners have started in the NFCA’s top 10, good for the nation’s longest active streak. OU has been ranked in the top five nine of the past 10 years, the most over that stretch.

• Overall, the Sooners rank third with 22 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll, trailing only Arizona (24) and UCLA (23).

• Oklahoma, Michigan, UCLA and Washington are the only programs to be ranked in every NFCA preseason poll, which dates back to 1995. OU also extended its streak of being the only program ranked every week in the 28-year existence of the NFCA’s poll (392 straight).

• It’s the 15th straight season and 18th in the 20-year history of the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll that Oklahoma is ranked in the preseason top 10.

ALO WRECKING THE NCAA RECORD BOOK

• Along with her new title as the all-time NCAA Home Run Queen, Jocelyn Alo is in rare air with numerous other all-time softball records:

    • Total Bases: 1st – 711 (Passed UCLA’s Stacy Nuveman (1997-2002) total of 653)

    • SLG %: 1st – .962 (Above Lauren Chamberlain’s career .960)

    • Consecutive Games with a HR: T1st – 7 games (3/7-26/21)

    • Consecutive Game Hit Streak: 3rd – 40 games (2/21/20-4/3/21)

    • RBIs: 5th – 300 (1st – Jenny Dalton [Arizona, 1993-96] 328)


THE TROPHY CLUB

• The Oklahoma softball program has announced the launch of its restructured booster club under a new name, The Trophy Club.

• The Trophy Club replaces the former Diamond Club as the program’s premier booster initiative to continue to enhance the student-athlete experience at Oklahoma, both on and off the field.

• Softball fans can join now and take part in exclusive events, including the annual golf tournament, coaches luncheon and more.

For membership details and how donations will be utilized, visit The Trophy Club landing page on SoonerSports.com.

• Gifts to the Trophy Club and Oklahoma softball will be utilized for: resources for the development of our student-athletes, facility upgrades to enhance recruiting and student-athlete experiences and improved quality of travel to increase academic participation by our student-athletes.

#LAUNCHPAD

• The #LaunchPad is back in 2022! Cheer on your Sooners and support our student-athletes in a fun, new and creative way by joining the #LaunchPad. The #LaunchPad is all about #homers. Pledge to donate your own customized dollar amount for every #homer that OU Softball hits in 2022!

 • All donations are 100% tax deductible and will be directed to help fund the facility project of your choice – the new Love’s Field – OU Softball Stadium Project and/or the OU Baseball Stadium Renovation Project. 

How It Works

• Donate an amount to be charged per home run for softball for the 2022 season.

• Include if you’d like to make a gift for every home run hit in the 2022 season or start your pledge as of today.

• Watch the Sooners and cheer us on to victory while supporting future OU facility projects for baseball and softball. 

• #Homers hit prior to your gift date will be included in your pledge. Monthly updates on the Pledge Per Home Run Campaign and other important Sooner Club information will be shared throughout the season. 

• All donations from the Pledge Per Home Run Campaign will be treated as charitable donations supporting either the OU Softball Stadium Project or the OU Baseball Stadium Renovation Project and are tax-deductible.

Payment Dates

• Each month, we will charge your card on the first business day of the proceeding month for the amount you have elected to pledge per home run multiplied by the number of home runs in that month. For example, if OU Softball hits 20 home runs in March after you pledged $10 per #Homer, on April 1 we will charge your card $200.

Monthly Payment Dates:

  • Tuesday, March 1, 2022 
  • Friday, April 1, 2022
  • Monday, May 2, 2022
  • Wednesday, June 1, 2022

• Have fun along the way by interacting with @OU_Baseball & @OU_Softball on social media with your favorite term to use for #homers!  Some of our favorites include #dingers #taters #bombs #ruthianblast #yack #fourbagger #jimmyjack


For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.

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