Sooners win four games in Southern California
Oklahoma softball made its 14th consecutive appearance in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic over the weekend in Cathedral City, California. Here's how the Sooners fared:
Weekend record: 4-1Overall record: 13-2 Romero, Juarez sweep Big 12 awardsSenior
infielder Sydney Romero and junior pitcher Giselle
Juarez were named Big 12 Player of the Week and Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday. Romero went 8 for 15 at the plate in Southern California, capped by a game winning two-run homer against Arizona on Saturday. It was her second home run of the tournament. Romero leads the Sooners with five home runs and 13 RBI. Her .417 average ranks second on the team. Juarez allowed just one run in two starts over the weekend. She struck out 14 in a six-inning shutout against BYU on Friday. Juarez followed that up by striking out 11 and allowing a single run in OU's win against Arizona. The left-handed transfer from Arizona State is 5-0 with a 2.16 ERA in her Sooner career.
UCLA deals Sooners second loss
Junior pitcher Mariah Lopez allowed six runs, three earned, in OU's 7-1 loss to No. 2 UCLA.
It was just the second loss of her OU career. She's now 37-2. Sooners stay put in rankings Oklahoma remained at No. 4 in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN/USA Softball polls released Tuesday. Florida State, UCLA and Florida — all undefeated — round out the top-3 of the USA Today/NFCA poll. OU's two losses have come against the top-2 teams in the country.
Next up
The Sooners will be home Friday for the first time this season as Oklahoma hosts Oregon State and Louisiana in the Courtyard Marriott Tournament. OU opens play at 3:30 p.m. against Oregon State before facing Louisiana at 6. Louisiana is ranked 11th and Oregon State is 25th in the USA Today/NFCA poll.