No. 2 Softball Set for Series at No. 22 Alabama

NORMAN  — No. 2/2 Oklahoma Softball (35-3, 9-3 SEC) begins the second half of its Southeastern Conference slate with a three-game series at No. 22/23 Alabama (28-15, 5-7 SEC) Saturday, April 12 through Monday, April 14.

DATES AND TIMES
Game 1 | Saturday, April 12 at 3 p.m. – ESPN2
Game 2 | Sunday, April 13 at 5 p.m. – SECN
Game 3 | Monday, April 14 at 6 p.m. – SECN

HOW TO FOLLOW
Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN2 while the SEC Network will carry games two and three. A radio broadcast for all three games will be offered on The Franchise 2 (1560 AM and 103.3 FM). Live stats will be available on statbroadcast.com.

AGAINST ALABAMA
Oklahoma and Alabama have played 18 times, with 12 of those either coming in May or June in high leverage games. The Sooners and Crimson Tide have played 10 games against one another in Oklahoma City, as well as three in Tuscaloosa during the 2015 NCAA Super Regionals. 

Alabama paces the all-time series, 10-8, with OU winning the last meeting, 7-3, June 2, 2019 at the Women’s College World Series.

ABOUT ALABAMA
Alabama is 28-15 and 5-7 in SEC play this season, entering the weekend ranked No. 22 in the ESPN.com/USA Today poll and No. 23 in the NFCA poll. The Crimson Tide have gone 17-6 in home games this season, while taking two of three against then No. 15/17 Georgia in their last home series. 

The Crimson Tide rank first in the SEC in double plays turned (25) and first in stolen bases (96). Audrey Vandagriff paces the team with a .432 batting average, while Catelyn Riley’s 2.52 ERA leads the team.

LAST TIME OUT
Oklahoma scored 11 unanswered runs, getting homers from Kasidi Pickering and Maya Bland and five innings of work from Sam Landry in an 11-3 victory against OSU at Devon Park April 9. 

RANKED GAMES
The Sooners have played 12 games against ranked teams this season, going 10-2 in such contests and 7-2 in games against ranked SEC foes. 

9,259
No. 2/2 Oklahoma’s game against No. 18/17 Wednesday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City set an NCAA Softball regular season single game attendance record as 9,259 spectators took in the contest. The total broke the previous record of 8,930 set between Oklahoma and Texas March 31, 2023 in Oklahoma City. 

OH ME OH MAYA
Sophomore Maya Bland hit the eventual game-winning home run in Wednesday’s win against Oklahoma State, launching a three-run shot to left center that put the Sooners ahead, 5-3. She also drew an important leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, just before Kasidi Pickering hit a two-run homer to right field. 

NINE-HOLE PRODUCTION
Maya Bland drove in three runs and Hannah Coor provided another RBI as the nine hole posted four RBIs in OU’s 11-3 win against No. 18 Oklahoma State Wednesday. Bland’s three RBIs set a career high, while Coor has hit safely in a season-best three consecutive games.

KP COVERING THE BASES
Kasidi Pickering went 15 straight at-bats without being retired between March 23 at Missouri and the series finale against No. 10 Tennessee Sunday, March 30. She is currently riding a 14-game hitting streak and is fifth in the nation in walks per game at 1.03.

FRESHIES
Freshman Gabbie Garcia doubled in all three of her at-bats April 1 at UT Arlington, tying an OU single game record. It was just the ninth time in program history that a player recorded that feat. Additionally, OU freshmen combined for nine of the team’s RBIs during the 13-2 win against UTA. Corri Hicks had four, Milloy tallied three and Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and Sydney Barker added one apiece. 

THE GIFT OF GAB
Freshman infielder Gabbie Garcia is tied for eighth among all freshman in Division with 11 home runs. She was named D1Softball Freshman of the Week March 11 and April 8 as well SEC Player of the Week March 18. Earlier this month she became the first OU freshman since Jocelyn Alo to homer in five consecutive games. 

She tallied at least two hits in each of the last four games, including going 3-for-3 in back-to-back games last week. 

LOCKDOWN LANA
Second baseman Ailana Agbayani made a critical play in OU’s win against Oklahoma State, diving to make a catch on a line drive with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fourth inning. She capped the inning off by cleanly fielding a grounder, helping flip the momentum back to OU before the Sooners’ five-run fourth inning. 

Agbayani enters the weekend with a 1.000 percent fielding percentage, making all 111 plays that have come her way this season. She joins third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas as having started all 38 games at their respective infield positions this year.

3X SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Pitcher Sam Landry has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week three times this season, including in back-to-back weeks March 18 and March 25. She ranks in the top 15 in the nation in WHIP (0.88 – 11th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.44 – 9th) and shutouts (4 – 12th).

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK
Oklahoma currently has 12 comeback victories this season, including the latest against No. 18 Oklahoma State Wednesday when OU scored 11 unanswered runs. The Sooners came back in multiple games against South Carolina and Arkansas, as well as once against Missouri.

ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
The Sooners have a number of players in the top ten in the nation (all levels of NCAA softball and DI), particularly between the arms of Isabella Smith and Sam Landry. 

-Wins leaders: Isabella Smith (first in DI and third in the NCAA – .729), Sam Landry (second in DI and seventh in the NCAA – .781) 
-Innings pitched: Isabella Smith (fourth in DI and tenth in the NCAA – 636.7 IP)
-Appearances: Sam Landry (fifth in DI and NCAA – 136), Isabella Smith (sixth in DI and NCAA – 135)
-Strikeouts: Isabella Smith (third in DI and 13th in NCAA – 679) 
-Complete games: Isabella Smith (8th in DI – 54) 
-Home runs: Cydney Sanders (5th in DI and 10th in the NCAA – 54) 
-Walks: Cydney Sanders (4th in DI and 5th in the NCAA – 143)

SEC STANDOUTS
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and Gabbie Garcia have really performed in SEC play, holding down the left side of the infield as well as the middle of the order. McEnroe-Marinas has homered seven times in league play, while scoring 16 runs, seven more than the next most on the OU squad. Garcia’s defense isn’t to be overlooked as she’s made all 36 plays in the field during conference competition, while homering five times. Kasidi Pickering is pacing the team with a .469 batting average in 12 SEC games.

PATIENT AT THE PLATE               
Of the Sooners’ 320 runs, Oklahoma has scored 94 runs via a walk or hit-by-pitch. Oklahoma has scored at least one run per game via a walk or hit by pitch in 35 of 38 games. The Sooners are second in the nation in walks with 203.

NEW BATS, SAME RESULTS    
Of Oklahoma’s 74 home runs, 40 have been hit by an OU newcomer or a Sooner in their first season. Additionally, six different Sooners have had a two-homer performance this year (Gabbie Garcia, Kasidi Pickering, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, Sydney Barker and Isabela Emerling and Ella Parker). A total of 11 different players have homered at least once.

CYDNEY SLAMDERS
Cydney Sanders has played in the most games among active Sooners, logging 211 for her career and 137 for her time at Oklahoma. Sanders’ 54 career homers features 33 during her time in Norman, two of which came in the same inning against St. Thomas April 3. She was the last Sooner to do so since Alynah Torres homered twice in the same frame against UT Arlington March 20, 2024. 

KEEPIN’ IT 100
Oklahoma has seen a number of players surpass the “100 milestone” in a variety of statistical categories this year, including:

–Sam Landry reached 100 strikeouts this season (April 9 vs. OSU)
–Kasidi Pickering reached 100 career hits (April 9 vs. OSU)
–Ella Parker surpassed 100 career hits (February 28 vs. Marshall)
–Isabela Emerling reached 100 career RBIs (March 26 at Wichita State)
–Cydney Sanders eclipsed 100 RBIs at OU (April 3 vs. St. Thomas)

HOMER DAYTA
Abby Dayton hit a game-tying home run in the fifth inning of the series opener against Tennessee Friday, March 28. It was just Dayton’s second home run of the season and first since her first at-bat as a Sooner Feb. 6. She also homered twice across her two seasons at Utah.

DEAL DEALT
Lefty Kierston Deal has been in some big moments and on the biggest stage during her career at OU. Saturday she stepped up in another big game, turning in a complete game in OU’s 4-1 win against No. 10 Tennessee March 29. She retired 12 of the final 13 batters she faced in that game. 

WOAH NELLY
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas has started off SEC play on fire, hitting seven home runs through the first 12 games. She hit one in each game at Missouri and launched two more at Arkansas, including a go-ahead three-run homer in Sunday’s finale. In SEC-opening weekend she hit two three-run home runs in the same game to help defeat South Carolina, 10-9, March 9. She is the first Sooner to hit a pair of three-run homers in the same game since Lynnsie Elam did so against Iowa March 20, 2022. Four of her 10 home runs on the season have been a three-run shot.