Sooners closing in on NCAA record win streak
NORMAN — OU’s run of perfection to start the season continued last week — first in a midweek win over Tulsa and then in dominating fashion in a threegame series at Texas Tech.
The Sooners dominated at the plate and in the circle, and showed some promise in the field as their winning streak reached record heights.
Here’s a look at what we learned about the Sooners after their latest performances:
Winning streak latest
Sunday’s 21-0 win at Texas Tech gave the Sooners a 36-0 start, breaking a tie with 1999 UCLA and 2017 Oregon for the best start in NCAA history.
The Sooners have won 30 of its games by run-rule, including all four last week.
OU’s overall winning streak is now at 38 games, which is creeping up on the NCAA record set by Arizona in 1996-97 with 47.
Though the current streak is tied for the fourth-longest in NCAA softball history, it’s just the third-longest in program history.
The Sooners won 39 consecutive games from March 1, 2020, to April 18, 2021, and 41 consecutive in 2019 from Feb. 24 through May 19.
Barring a schedule change, OU would have a chance to tie the record April 29 in its series-opening game at Kansas and break it the next day against the Jayhawks.
Tough test
After rolling through its opponents last week, 43-0, the Sooners’ upcoming series at Texas figures to be the biggest obstacle in the way of breaking that record.
The Longhorns are 30-10-1 and 6-0 in Big 12 play, the only team besides the Sooners to be undefeated in the conference so far this season.
Texas is averaging 6.71 runs per game, No. 11 in Division I and second-most in the Big 12 behind OU’s 9.83.
Texas is ranked No. 14 by D1Softball as of Monday, but is just 1-8 against current top-25 teams this season.
OU is 3-0 against currently ranked teams this season.
The Sooners have beaten the Longhorns in 21 consecutive meetings, dating back to the finale of their threegame series in 2014.
Alo reaches new heights
Jocelyn Alo has broken plenty of ground during her storied OU career.
But until Friday night in Lubbock, Alo hadn’t hit more than two home runs in a game.
Alo changed that in the Sooners’ 11-0 win, belting three over the fence.
After walking in her first at-bat, Alo blasted a two-run shot out to center in her second at-bat before delivering solo shots in the fourth and fifth over the left-field wall.
Alo added two home runs in Sunday’s finale to give her a nation-best 21 on the season.
The super senior went 8 for 13 last week to move into a tie for the Division-I lead in batting average at .528. Houston Baptist’s Shelby Echols is tied with Alo in the category.
Alo, who set the NCAA career home runs record earlier in the season, now has 109 home runs in her career.
Her eight RBIs last week also moved her into eighth on the career RBIs list with 287, one behind Louisiana’s Christi Orgeron, who had 288 from 2009-12.
Arizona’s Jenny Dalton has the NCAA record with 328.
Short hops
The Sooners have struggled at times in the field but didn’t commit an error in the series at Texas Tech to move their finding percentage to .969. … Lynnsie Elam now has 157 putouts and nine assists without an error and has a career fielding percentage of .993. … The Sooners hit 17 home runs in the series against Texas Tech to reach 100 for the season. OU is averaging 2.78 home runs per game, ahead of its record-breaking pace last season when the Sooners set the Division I mark with 2.68 per game and 161 for the season. … The Sooners have outscored opponents 354-27, with just 17 of their runs allowed being earned. … Jordy Bahl and Nicole May combined for a five-inning no-hitter Sunday, the Sooners’ sixth no-hitter of the season. Two of those have been perfect games. The six no-hitters is tied for the most in a singleseason in program history, joining the 2013, 2015 and 2019 teams.