Softball Preview | Here’s What You Need To Know About #2 Oklahoma At Utah

After sweeping the Texas Tech Red Raiders to open Big 12 play, the Oklahoma Sooners are stepping back out of conference to visit Utah for a two-game series this weekend.

Streaks On The Line

• The Sooners are heading west riding a 20-game winning streak.
• Oklahoma has hit four home runs in three consecutive games.
• OU has won nine consecutive games over the Utes and have a 16-5 overall record against Utah.

Offense To Back Up The Defense

• The Sooners have scored eight runs or more in ten of their last eleven games.
• After last weekend, Oklahoma leads the nation in batting average (.368) while ranking second in on-base percentage (.458) and slugging percentage (.654) and third in scoring (7.74 runs per game) and home runs per game (1.77).
• During the 20-game win streak, OU has scored a total of 160 runs while only surrendering 14.
• The Sooners have run-ruled 15 opponents and shut out 14 this season.
• Entering this week, Oklahoma’s defense ranked third nationally with a fielding percentage of .984. The Sooners have only committed 12 errors in 2019, including a 13-game error-free streak from March 1-22.

At Home On The Road

In 2019 the Sooners will play 38 of their 51 games on the road or at neutral sites. Oklahoma will play just 13 games at Marita Hynes Field this season.

Domination From The Circle

• After last weekend’s games, all three of Oklahoma’s primary pitchers rank in the top 20 nationally in strikeouts per seven innings pitched.
• Shannon Saile leads the country in the category, averaging 13.3 K/7IP, while Mariah Lopez ranks fifth with 10.4 K/7IP. Giselle Juarez sits in 18th (9.5 K/7IP).
• Saile is also in the top five in strikeout-to-walk ratio, ranking third with 9.88 K/BB. Lopez is 28th in the country with 5.59 K/BB, while Juarez is just behind in 30th place with 5.56 strikeouts per walk.
• The Sooner pitching staff leads Division I softball with an ERA of 1.13, led by Lopez’s individual ERA of 0.88 (No. 6 in country) and Saile’s ERA of 1.01 (No. 7). Oklahoma also ranks third nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.28).