Tag: Nicole May

Sooners complete the Friday sweep with 8-0 shutout of Texas A&M

The Oklahoma Sooners got another strong performance from Nicole May in their 8-0 win over the Texas A&M Aggies on Friday.

The Oklahoma Sooners started the [autotag]Mary Nutter Classic[/autotag] off with a bang on Friday, completing the two-game sweep with an 8-0 win over Texas A&M. It was the second run-rule win of the day after defeating Cal State Fullerton 8-0 in the early game.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] continued her scoreless streak to start the 2023 season with four shutout innings against the Aggies. Though she allowed five hits, a walk, and hit a batter, she was able to work around some jams with five strikeouts. May’s pitched 19.1 innings without allowing a run in 2023.

May had to go to work in the top of the first as the Aggies picked up three straight hits to open the game. And then May shut them down. With the bases loaded and no outs, she struck out the next three batters she faced to end the threat.

Oklahoma took control of the game in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of a wild pitch and a couple of two-out errors by the Aggies defense.

[autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], who got her first start behind the plate, opened the scoring, with an RBI fielder’s choice to drive in [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag]. It was her second RBI of the day after making her debut as a pinch hitter against Cal State Fullerton. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] reached on an error before [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] drove Hansen in to make it 2-0. Oklahoma then put two more across the plate as [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] reached on an error to make it 4-0.

Though May had to work around a couple of jams in the third and fourth, the Sooners’ offense provided enough offense to take care of their starter.

Oklahoma added four more runs in the bottom of the third, powered by [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag]’s fifth home run of the season. She came in to pinch-hit for [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and launched a three-run home run to make it 8-0.

Erickson leads Oklahoma with her five home runs, 17 RBIs, and a batting average of .579. Only two other Sooners have multiple home runs through the first 11 games, [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Sophia Nugent[/autotag]. Erickson’s proving the moment isn’t too big for her in her young career and will continue to get opportunities to make an impact in a deep Oklahoma Sooners’ lineup.

Now 10-1 on the season with seven run-rule wins, the Sooners will face Loyola Marymount and Utah on Saturday. Then comes the clash of the titans with the Sooners facing the No. 1 UCLA Bruins on Sunday.

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How to Watch No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners softball vs. Baylor Bears on Sunday

The No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners will take on the Baylor Bears in the Getterman Classic on Sunday, and here’s how you can tune in to the action.

The No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners look to continue their hot start to the season on Sunday against the Baylor Bears in their finale of the Getterman Classic.

Oklahoma is 8-0 on the season and has outscored its opponents, 70-5. The Sooners have recorded six shutouts and haven’t allowed a run in their last four games. They have run-rule wins in five of their last six games, including their last four.

In the Getterman Classic, Oklahoma is 3-0 and is winning by an average of 13.67-0.

After a tough opening weekend where Patty Gasso’s crew recorded three top-25 wins and had to battle against Liberty and Washington. This weekend has been a different story, jumping on teams early and running away with run-rule win.

True freshman Jocelyn Erickson has been the story of the weekend in Waco. She’s hit three home runs and recorded 12 RBIs in the Sooners’ three games, including a 5-for-5 performance against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. In the win over the Lady Jacks, she had a home run and eight RBIs.

Erickson leads the Sooners with a .643 batting average, four home runs, and 14 RBIs.

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:

  • Date: Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023
  • Time: 12:00 p.m. CT
  • Live Stream: ESPN+ (Subscription Required)
  • Listen: Chris Plan on the Call on 107.7 The Franchise

Players to Watch

Oklahoma

[autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag], UTIL: .643 average, 4 home runs, 14 RBIs

[autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], 3B: .381 average, 2 home runs, 5 doubles, 11 RBIs

[autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], SS: . 500 average, 8 RBIs.

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], CF: .333 average, .556 OBP, 8 walks, 9 runs scored.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag], P: 15.1 IP, 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 28 strikeouts

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag], P: 15.2 IP, 3-0, 1.79 ERA, 22 strikeouts

[autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag], P: 10.2 IP, 2-0, 0.66 ERA, 15 strikeouts

Baylor

Aliyah Binford, 3B: .529 average, 1 home run, 5 RBIs

Shaylon Govan, 1B: .455 average, 1 home run, 13 RBIs

Amber Toven, SS: .500 average, 1 home run, 7 RBIs

RyLee Crandall, P: 8.1 IP, 1-0, 0.84 ERA, 12 strikeouts

Dariana Orme, P: 13 IP, 2-1, 1.08 ERA, 15 strikeouts

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Nicole May continues hot start to the season with scoreless performance in win vs. Army

Nicole May didn’t allow a hit, striking out 10 in four innings, and Jocelyn Erickson hit her third home run of the weekend in the Oklahoma Sooners’ 9-0 win over Army.

The Oklahoma Sooners followed their 22-0 win over Stephen F. Austin in the first of two games on Saturday with a 9-0 win over Army in the nightcap.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] got the start in the circle and was phenomenal. In four innings pitched, May recorded 10 strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit. She allowed a walk to the second batter she faced and retired 11 straight to close her stellar performance.

May received more run support than she received in her first start of the season, a 1-0 extra-innings win over Liberty. Again, the Sooners jumped on their opponent early with three runs in the first and two in the second to build a 5-0 lead.

In the first, [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] opened the game with a lead-off double. After [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] lined out, Coleman stole third. [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] drew a walk on a full count. When Lyons stole second, Jayda Coleman stole home on the throw to open the scoring.

[autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] drew a second consecutive full-count walk, and she and Lyons move up a base on a passed ball before [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] doubled to make it 2-0. With Erickson on third base after the Brito double, [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] drove the true freshman across home plate with a sacrifice fly.

After May retired Army in order in the second, [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] blasted a two-run home run, her first of the season, to give Oklahoma a 5-0 lead.

The Sooners scored four runs in the fourth to give them the run-rule margin and the win after [autotag]Riley Boone[/autotag] singled to lead off the inning and stole second. Lyons reached on an error, and Boone moved around to third for Erickson. The freshman phenom jumped on the second pitch of the at-bat and homered to right field for her second home run of the day and fourth of the season.

Erickson leads the Sooners in batting average (.643), home runs (4), and RBIs (14).

Alyssa Brito also continued her hot weekend in Waco, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. She now has five doubles on the season and leads the Sooners with seven extra-base hits. She’s 6-for-8 in Waco with six RBIs.

Nicole May hasn’t allowed a run in 15.1 innings pitched in 2023. She leads the Sooners’ stellar pitching staff with 28 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .102.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 8-0 and outscoring opponents, 70-5, ahead of their Sunday matchup with the Baylor Bears to close the weekend.

The game against Baylor will start at noon CT and can be seen on ESPN+.

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5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s 5-0 weekend at the Mark Campbell Invitational

The Oklahoma Sooners went 5-0 in the Mark Campbell Invitational with three ranked wins, two shutouts, and two run-rule wins. Here are 5 takeaways.

The Oklahoma Sooners got things started with a bang in the Mark Campbell Invitational over the weekend, going 5-0 to open the season.

They were challenged in two of their five matchups, winning one-run ball games against Liberty and Washington, but also picked up a pair of run-rule wins over Stanford and San Jose State.

Oklahoma beat three top 25 teams, including a 4-0 shutout of Duke, a 10-1 win over Stanford, and the 5-4 nailbiter against the Huskies.

It was a productive start to the season that saw the Oklahoma Sooners deploy a lot of players. 15 players registered an at-bat, and four pitchers threw four or more innings pitched. And here’s a breakdown of the weekend from Seth Oliveras.

Oklahoma Sooners pitching dominant in opening day doubleheader sweep

Jordy Bahl and Nicole May combined for 15 shutout innings and 18 strikeouts to lead the Sooners to a 2-0 record on opening day of the 2023 season.

The Oklahoma Sooners opened the 2023 season with wins over No. 16/19 Duke and Liberty in a Thursday doubleheader. They beat the Blue Devils 4-0 and Liberty 1-0.

Shutting out their opponents to start the season isn’t all that different. The Sooners blanked their first three opponents of the season a year ago. The difference, however, is Oklahoma’s offense powered them to two run-rule wins in those first three shutouts.

On opening day, it was pitching and defense that helped the Sooners start 2023 on a high note.

[autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] threw a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits and a pair of walks across seven innings. Bahl struck out eight Blue Devils and drove in a pair of runs from the plate.

In the nightcap, [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] followed up a stellar performance from Bahl with one of her own, striking out 10 in an extra-inning complete game shutout of Liberty. Like Bahl, May only allowed six baserunners (four hits and two walks) but didn’t get much run support from an offense that’s starting off slower than they have in recent years.

But with how deep the Sooners are in the circle, the Oklahoma offense isn’t under the same pressure to score that they’ve had in recent years. But they’re going to score, and they’re going to score a lot. Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, and Cydney Sanders aren’t going to go a combined 4 for 20 like they did in the two wins on opening day.

The Sooners offense will get going, but so far it’s been the pitching that’s carried them. And they haven’t even deployed all of their arms yet. With No. No. 17/14 Stanford on Friday night, it’s likely that we’ll see Michigan transfer [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag]. Storako threw 300 strikeouts in 200 innings last year for the Wolverines.

Oklahoma plays No. 14/16 Washington on Saturday and San Jose State. on Sunday. And this is where things get interesting. Will head coach Patty Gasso use a strict rotation and go with Storako on Friday night and then true freshman [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] on Saturday? Or will she go back to Jordy Bahl against a top-25 opponent and let Deal get her feet wet against San Jose State on Sunday?

After relying on the offense to bully teams over the last several years, in 2023 the pitching staff is going to be as dangerous as Oklahoma’s vaunted lineup. That was on full display on Thursday on the first day of the season.

This Oklahoma Sooners team is going to be challenged every outing, but the pitching has shown on the first day of the season that they’re willing to duel it out with the opposition.

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Pair of Oklahoma Sooners among Softball America’s freshmen to watch for 2023

Pair of Oklahoma Sooners’ freshmen among Softball America’s players to watch for the 2023 season.

What [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] has created in Norman is nothing short of extraordinary. Not only do they have an incredible lineup returning to defend their back-to-back national championships, but they brought in an incredible recruiting class as well.

The Sooners have one of the best pitchers in the game with [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag]. They also have a pair of pitchers that were third-team preseason All-American selections in [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag]. Then they added the No. 1 player in the country, left-hander [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag].

Deal and Jocelyn Erickson were mentioned by Softball America’s Breanna Bryant as true freshmen to watch for the 2023 season.

Deal is a left-handed pitcher for Oklahoma. She was originally committed to the University of South Carolina, but decided to decommit during her recruiting process. Deal had a very successful high school and travel ball career. She was named the Gatorade North Carolina Softball Player of the Year as a senior after posting a 23-3 record with a 0.79 ERA and 305 strikeouts in 150.1 innings pitched. – Bryant, Softball America

The Sooners have a tremendous rotation even if they don’t utilize Deal much in 2023. However, she’ll get opportunities to contribute, which will not only serve her well in the future but take some of the workload off of the shoulders of the Sooners’ top three pitchers. Throwing from the left side gives Gasso and assistant head coach Jennifer Rocha the ability to play matchups if they want to.

Like Deal can be for the Sooners’ pitching rotation, Jocelyn Erickson’s hitting ability adds another powerful option for Patty Gasso and J.T. Gasso.

Erickson is a catcher and first baseman for Oklahoma. About Erickson, Sooners head coach Patty Gasso said, “She can do special things for us.” Erickson is going to help an already dominant lineup at Oklahoma. She led the state of Arizona with 25 home runs and batted .624 with 58 RBIs during her senior season at Sandra Day O’Connor High School. Erickson was also named the Gatorade Arizona Softball Player of the Year. – Bryant Softball America

Patty Gasso hasn’t been shy about inserting freshmen into the lineup if they prove to be ready for big-time at-bats. That was the case with Jocelyn Alo, Jayda Coleman, and Tiare Jennings, and it sounds like Jocelyn Erickson could be the next great true freshman in Oklahoma’s lineup.

She has a shot to be involved at first base, to spell Kinzie Hansen behind the plate, and hit in the designated player role vacated by Alo.

The Oklahoma Sooners are easily the deepest team in the country. From the circle and at the plate they feature a host of preseason All-American selections and some of the top players from the 2022 signing class.

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10 Oklahoma Sooners named to Softball America’s Preseason All-American teams

Led by five first-team selections, 10 Oklahoma Sooners were named to Softball America’s preseason All-American teams.

The Oklahoma Sooners begin their quest for a third-straight national championship at the Mark Campbell Invitational on Thursday, February 9, against Duke.

The unanimous preseason No. 1 team in the country, and back-to-back national champions, the Sooners, are expected to make another run despite the loss of Jocelyn Alo and Hope Trautwein. Patty Gasso has assembled another talented group to take on all comers in the 2023 season.

It won’t be easy, it never is, but the Oklahoma Sooners will be the team to beat for the 2023 national title. With the season under two weeks away, Softball America released their preseason All-American teams. 10 Sooners were selected, including five to the first team. UCLA was the only other team with multiple first-team selections with three and they had just five total selections to the three All-American squads.

Here’s a look at the Sooners’ selections.

Projected lineup for the Oklahoma Sooners as they prepare for national title defense

What could the Oklahoma Sooners lineup look like when they begin their 2023 NCAA title defense?

The Oklahoma Sooners will begin their quest for three-straight national championships in 16 days when they face off with the No. 19 Duke Blue Devils for the first of five games in the opener of the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, California.

The Sooners lost key pieces to their 2022 squad, like [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag], [autotag]Hope Trautwein[/autotag], [autotag]Lynnsie Elam[/autotag], and [autotag]Taylon Snow[/autotag], but they looked locked and loaded for 2023. With transfer additions like [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag], Cydney Sanders, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag], and [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag], the Sooners could be as good or better than they were a year ago.

They have a deep lineup that features seven players with a season of 14 home runs or more and four players with a 20-home run season in their careers. You can’t replace a Jocelyn Alo, but the Sooners lineup looks incredibly deep heading into 2023. Are there enough at-bats for the talented hitters that Patty Gasso has assembled?

Are the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners the greatest softball team ever? ESPN analysts think so

5 of 7 ESPN Analysts say the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners are the greatest softball team of all time.

Closing out the 2022 college softball season, ESPN gathered their group of analysts to discuss a host of things from 2022 and provide a look ahead to the 2023 season.

The first question they asked their panel of experts was, “Where does this year’s Oklahoma team rank among the best ever?”

Five of the seven analysts on the panel answered with a pretty emphatic yes. “First. The best team of all time. No. 1,” Kayla Braud said on the panel. “They probably overtake … the team from last year. I think that there are some incredible teams who have played, but I don’t remember a time when we’ve seen 1-9 be as good offensively. We’ve seen pitchers that are better and have better performances, but not a whole team like this one. I think you can go back to some of the UCLA and Arizona greats, but in this era of competition, to have somebody come through and dominate this much is pretty rare.”

And she wasn’t alone in saying the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners were the greatest of all-time. Jess Mendoza, Madison Shipman, Amanda Scarborough, and Michele Smith agreed that the Sooners 2022 run was the greatest.

Beth Mowins, who said Tiare Jennings is the frontrunner for 2023 collegiate player of the year, and Jenny Dalton-Hill hedged a little, including former UCLA and Arizona teams from the 90s alongside the Sooners.

Mowins argued, “I think this year’s team and last year’s team are very comparable. You have to go back to those ’90s Arizona teams that could have won five championships in a row — and that lineup was just a monster. I think those two belong with the ’92 UCLA team that lost only twice all year.”

The “greatest of all-time discussions” are always a difficult one, but what feels different about the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners and the great teams of the 90s is the parity in the sport of college softball in today’s game. While Oklahoma has been dominant for the last couple of seasons, the game has a much better depth of teams and talent today as the game has grown over the last thirty years, thanks in large part to the UCLA and Arizona teams of the past.

Not only were they dominant offensively, but the Sooners led the nation in ERA and won 67% of their games in run-rule fashion. [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag] was the headliner, but as Shipman put it, “It’s amazing how many times, when they swing, they are perfectly on time and they hit the ball so solid, at such a consistent clip 1-9 throughout their offense.” And it’s the 1-9 aspect of the Oklahoma Sooners that has made them so good the last several seasons.

As much as the top of the order can hurt you, even when they’re not on (which is rare) the bottom half of the lineup can win Oklahoma a lot of games.

The depth in the lineup, the pitching rotation of [autotag]Hope Trautwein[/autotag], [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag], and [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] held sub-1.00 ERA’s for much of the 2022 season and made shutouts the norm.

While winning has become the norm for Oklahoma Softball, how they won in 2022 was a sight to behold. They were dominant at just about every turn on their way to back-to-back national championships. The No. 1 team in the country during the preseason, carried that title through Oklahoma City and went the distance as the No. 1 team in the country. Patty Gasso and Oklahoma have set the standard that everyone’s chasing and there’s no reason to believe they’re going to slow down anytime soon.

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By the Numbers: A look at the Oklahoma Sooners’ addition of Michigan transfer P Alex Storako

Not slowing down after a national title, the Oklahoma Sooners added grad transfer Alex Storako, let’s by the numbers look at her career.

Fresh off the heels of their 2022 national championship, the Oklahoma Sooners made a splash in the transfer portal with the addition of Michigan transfer Alex Storako. Storako joins arguably the best pitching rotation in the country from 2022 to replace Hope Trautwein, the big-time transfer addition from a year ago.

Storako, like Trautwein, comes in having had a lot of success in her time with the Michigan Wolverines. She’s won 69 career games and thrown over 900 strikeouts against the Big 10.

It’s a step-up in competition for Storako, coming to a Big 12 conference that sent all three NCAA tournament qualifiers to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma, Texas, and Oklahoma State. At the same time, she’s joining the back-to-back national champions, so the talent around her has improved from a Wolverines squad that was 38-18 and finished fourth in the Big 10.

The Wolverines were eliminated in the Orlando regional, dropping both games to Regional champ UCF, who the Sooners eliminated in the Super Regionals. Storako pitched 11 innings in three games, including a complete game 4-1 win over South Dakota State. The 25-game-winner pitched in relief in both appearances against UCF, allowing three runs in 4.2 innings, all three coming in the 9-4 loss that knocked them out of the tournament.

Storako is an electric pitcher, recording 300 strikeouts, which was sixth in the nation in 2022. She averaged 10.5 strikeouts per seven innings. However, if there’s an area where she can improve, it’s in home runs allowed and walks allowed. Her strikeout to walk ratio of 4.69 was 49th in the country in 2022.

In 2022, she allowed 22 home runs. By comparison, the Oklahoma Sooners allowed just 15 as a staff last season.

As the Oklahoma Sooners transition into the post-Jocelyn Alo era, it’ll be important not to allow free base runners or many home runs. The Sooners’ offense will still be dynamic, but one can’t deny that the loss of the NCAA all-time home run leader will impact the Oklahoma Sooners’ run production.

However, with Jordy Bahl leading the way, Oklahoma won’t need Storako to be the ace in the rotation. And like Tratuwein experienced, perhaps a lighter workload will allow her to be an even more efficient and dynamic pitcher for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.

Let’s take a by-the-numbers look at Alex Storako’s career thus far with the  Michigan Wolverines.