Oklahoma’s Getterman Classic Preview
Grace Lyons warming up before facing Stanford. Photo by OU Softball
It's week 2 of the college softball season and this week the Oklahoma Sooners are undoubtedly the feature team in the Getterman Classic in Waco, Tx. The Sooners will be taking on the Longwood Lancers on Friday, then have a double header on Saturday against the Stephen F. Austin LadyJacks and Army Black Knights, then will round out the weekend against the Baylor Bears.
Longwood
The Longwood Lancers opened their season last week by going 1-3 in the JoAnne Graf Classic. It wasn't a great weekend for the Lancers, however they were able to pull out an impressive upset over the then 4th ranked Florida State Seminoles in their first matchup with the 'Noles. Their losses came to Purdue twice and the 'Noles in their second matchup. Longwood was scheduled to play Lipscomb but the schedule was moved around.
Stephen F. Austin
The Stephen F. Austin LadyJacks have had a very busy week, having played in seven different games with a record of 4-3. They competed in the Louisiana Lafayette Tournament this past weekend going 3-2 overall with all three of their wins coming against Lafayette College, and both losses to the 24th ranked Ragin' Cajuns. They then hosted the South Dakota State Jackrabbits for a two game stretch this Wednesday night and split the series.
Army
The Army Black Knights started their campaign in the Jacksonville State season opener and are 2-2 overall. Both of their wins came against the Buffalo Bulls and they dropped both games against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
Baylor
The Baylor Bears opened their season on high note after going 4-1 in the UNLV Tournament. They got two of their wins against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, one against the Weber State Wildcats, and one against the UNLV Rebels. Baylor's one loss of the weekend came from the 5th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks after a fairly competitive game as far as moral victories go. It's important to note that although Baylor is also in the Big 12, the matchup with the Sooners this weekend will not be considered a conference game but an exhibition only.
This weekend we will see a lot of what we saw last weekend from the Sooners as far as rotation goes. We will see a little bit of everyone that is going to be on the active roster this year playing multiple positions throughout the weekend. We will likely see a bit of Jordy Bahl, Nicole May, Alex Storako, and Kierston Deal in the circle.
If you are Sooner fan that likes to see the high scoring games that we are used to seeing early in the season, this weekend will be worth watching. Last week we saw a couple of battles with some well established teams at the Mark Campbell Invitational, but that seemed to be the point. With Patty Gasso having more control over that tournament it was no doubt that's what she wanted, as she believes those battles are what make you better in the post season. With undoubtedly weaker opponents this weekend, returning players and transfers are going to get multiple chances to shine.