Norman Regional Breakdown
Coming off its ninth Big 12 title, No. 4 seed Oklahoma will be the odds-on favorite to win NCAA Regional here May 18-20 at Marita Hynes Field on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Besides Oklahoma, also competing in the double elimination event is Patriot League champion Lehigh (40-17), Tulsa (41-12) and Oregon State (34-21).
Play begins on Friday at 5 p.m. with Tulsa facing Oregon State with OU opposing Lehigh in the second game at 7:30 p.m.
This isn’t the first time OU and Lehigh have faced each other in an NCAA Regional. The last time was in 2001 in the Norman Regional with the Sooners having to rally for a 9-2 win. “It’s a place that we know,” said Lehigh coach Fran Troyan.”Oklahoma is a very strong team. They hit it well. They play great defense and (Keilani) Ricketts is a tremendous pitcher. We knew we were going to have our hands full, but we’ll go there and see what we can do.”
The Mountain Hawks earned the Patriot League’s automatic bid into the field of 64 after winning their 12th league championship. Lehigh became the first Patriot League softball team to not allow a run in the league tournament after posting a 2-0 win over Lafayette and 4-0 and 2-0 wins over Army to clinch the program’s eighth NCAA tournament berth.
Lehigh is led on offense by seniors Julie Fernandez (first base) and Jennifer Colquhoun (shortstop). Fernandez is batting .448 and Colquhoun, the Patriot League Player of the Year, is hitting .438 plus leading the team in homers (13) and RBI (48). Junior Rebecca Bliss (19-6, 1.69 ERA) and freshman Emily Bausher (17-10 1.60 ERA) lead the Lehigh pitching staff.
OU, which qualified for the College World Series for the sixth time last year yet didn’t win a game, has one of its best teams in school history, winning 10 of its 12 last games, compiling a .315 team batting average and hitting a record 85 homers. Freshman Laura Chamberlain (.363) leads with a school record 25 homers while catcher Jessica Shults (.360) is second with 16. Ricketts, who is one of the best double threats in college softball, has compiled a 28-7 record on the mound with 344 strikeouts and a 1.10 ERA plus hitting 14 homers and batting .400. Besides having a winning record against Lehigh, OU is 10-2 all-time against Oregon State and 35-10 all-time versus Tulsa.
In the opening game, Tulsa will be making its fifth NCAA Regional appearance and second in a row after winning the Conference USA regular season and Tournament Championship. Oregon State earned an at-large bid from the Pac-12 Conference.
The Hurricane has won 10 of its last 11 games including five in a row. This will be the fifth meeting between Tulsa and Oregon State, and the first since 2001. OSU leads the series 3-1.
The Hurricane has compiled a team batting average of .311 and is led by Jill Barrett who is batting .430. Samantha Cobb is the team’s leading home run hitter with 11 plus is second with 46 RBI. Pitchers Lacey Middlebrooks (20-5) and Aimee Creger (18-5) have combined for 38 of the team’s 41 wins.
This marks Oregon State’s 10th-ever postseason appearance and the first since 2007. The Beavers are only one of 43 softball programs to advance to the postseason at least 10 times. The trip will be OSU’s second to Norman for postseason action. The Beavers last traveled to the Sooner State in 2000. OSU, which has beaten nine ranked opponents this season, is led on offense by junior shortstop Elizabeth Santana (.349, 36 RBI) with four hurlers doing the pitching including Paige Hall (14-3), Marina Demore (8-6), Tina Andreana (9-11) and Aryn Feickert (3-1).
See all 2012 Softball World Series Regional Breakdowns
