2007 BIG 12 POSTSEASON CHAMPIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 THE PROGRAM 39 PLAYERS 73 OPPONENTS 89 HISTORY Tradition _____________________2 Lauren Eckermann ___________40 Opponents __________________74 All-Americans _______________90 Postseason Pride _____________4 Savannah Long ______________42 Big 12 Championship Bracket ___78 All-Midwest Region ___________91 2000 National Championship ____6 Susan Ogden ________________44 Individual Honors _____________92 Big 12 Supremacy _____________8 Jadyn Smith _________________46 Team Records _______________95 Individual Honors _____________10 Traci Dickenson ______________48 Career Records ______________96 USA Infl uence _______________12 Jeannie Douglas _____________49 REVIEW Single Season Records ________98 Sooner Pipeline ______________13 Morgan Hudsonpillar __________50 79 Letterwinners _______________100 2007 Season Review __________80 Media Attention ______________14 Jessica Legendre ____________51 Year-By-Year Results ________101 2007 Results ________________82 Head Coach Patty Gasso ______16 D.J. Mathis __________________52 All-Time Series Records ______102 Hitting Game-by-Game ________83 OU Coaching Staff ____________18 Samantha Rickets ____________53 Series Records _____________103 Pitching Game-by-Game _______84 OU Softball Complex __________20 Amber Flores ________________54 Yearly Results ______________112 Overall Stats ________________85 Sooner Power _______________22 Iver McDonald _______________55 Summer Camp/Diamond Club __123 Big 12 Stats _________________86 Sports Medicine ______________23 Lindsey Vandever ____________56 Worth Ad __________________124 Big 12 Honors _______________87 The University _______________24 Haley Anderson/Dani Dobbs ____57 Single Game Highs ___________88 Academic Success ___________26 Krystle Huey/Chana’e Jones ____58 Sooner Success _____________28 Katelyn Rouppet/Wendy Trott ___59 Norman/OKC ________________30 Sooners at a Glance __________60 32 MEDIA 61 STAFF INFORMATION Head Coach Patty Gasso ______62 Roster ____________________ 32 Assoc. Coach Melyssa Lombardi ___66 Schedule __________________ 33 Asst. Coach Tripp MacKay _____67 Season Outlook _____________ 34 Dir. of Ops Kaycee Clark _______68 Media Information ___________ 36 Suppport Staff _______________68 Media Policies ______________ 37 President David Boren _________69 Big 12 Conference ___________ 38 Athletics Director Joe Castiglione _ 70 Athletics Administration ________71 Head Coaches _______________72 2008 MEDIA GUIDE COVERS PHOTOGRAPHY The 2008 softball guide was designed and produced by Scott Matthews Ty Russell, Jerry Laizure, Simon Hurst and Shevaun the Oklahoma Athletics Department in Norman, Okla., Williams of Shevaun Williams and Associates, John using Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. Williamson, Lisa Hall, Jason Matheson and the OU WRITERS Media Relations Files. Additional thanks to The The guide and covers were printed by Transcript Press Jessica Summers, Stephanie Turner, Matt Wilson Oklahoman, Norman Transcript, Washburn University, and distributed at no cost to the taxpayers of Oklahoma University of Temple and the National Pro Fastpitch (January 2008) CONTRIBUTORS league for supplying images and pictures used in this Kellen Coleman, Debbie Copp, Mitch Heckart, Drew guide. Kirtley, Meredith Noonan, Sheridan Samples, Stephanie GUIDE DESIGN Nike is the offi cial sponsor of the Jessica Summers Turner and Matt Wilson. University of Oklahoma softball program. 1 THREE BIG 12 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS THREE BIG 12 POSTSEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS FIVE WCWS APPEARANCES 2008 OKLAHOMA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE THE TRADITION 2007 BIG 12 POSTSEASON CHAMPIONS THE PROGRAM Winning is an attitude that permeates the entire University of Oklahoma athletics program. Championships and postseason play are synonymous with practically every Sooner sport. Over the last 13 years, no OU program has accomplished more than the softball team. The architect - head coach Patty Gasso - needed just fi ve years before she took her team to the pinnacle of the sport. And OU hasn’t dropped from elite territory since. Gasso and company have created a tradition that rivals nearly any program in collegiate softball and it has only taken 13 years. During that span, OU has averaged nearly 50 wins a season and won - on average - 70 percent of its contests. It’s no wonder the Sooners have risen to national prominence so quickly. ALL-AMERICAN LAUREN ECKERMANN 2 2000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 14 STRAIGHT NCAA APPEARANCES 28 ALL-AMERICANS 47 FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG 12 HONOREES 2007 BIG 12 POSTSEASON CHAMPIONS THE ARCHITECT The OU senior woman administrator at the time - Marita Hynes - took a major risk when she chose Patty Gasso to lead the softball program in 1995. Gasso was a successful junior college coach at Long Beach HEAD COACH PATTY GASSO City College without any ties to the Midwest, let alone Oklahoma. Gasso jumped at the opportunity and immediately began attracting top athletes from each coast and everywhere in between. Players like Kansas native Lisa Carey and California native Heather Scaglione were given the chance to shine in the Sooner spotlight and are perfect examples of players from different backgrounds who have become some of the biggest names in the sport. DEFINING MOMENT The program’s defining moment came in its first trip to the Women’s College National Champions World Series in 2000. The Sooners came away victorious. Since then, they 2000 have made appearances in five of the last eight WCWS and have become one of the most recognizable teams in the sport. 28 All-Americans 14 Straight NCAA Appearances 2000 170 Consecutive Weeks in Top 25 6 Big 12 Championships 5 NFCA All-Time Ranking 3 THREE BIG 12 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS THREE BIG 12 POSTSEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS FIVE WCWS APPEARANCES 2008 OKLAHOMA SOFTBALL MEDIA GUIDE POSTSEASON PRIDE FIVE WCWS APPEARANCES IN LAST EIGHT YEARS The numbers tell the story of the Oklahoma softball program’s dramatic rise into elite company. The Sooners have made trips to the Women’s College World Series in fi ve of the last eight seasons. No other team east of Pac 10 country had ever been to fi ve consecutive WCWS until the Sooners did it. OU qualifi ed for the national championship tournament by winning fi ve consecutive NCAA Regional Championships. During that run to fi ve straight WCWS, no team has been more effi cient in its efforts. Patty Gasso’s troops have gone 27-5 in regionals over the last eight seasons. Since current head coach Patty Gasso stepped onto campus in 1995, the Sooners have won three Big 12 Postseason Championships, seven NCAA Regional Championships and qualifi ed for fi ve WCWS. That is a run that is unparalleled by any program east of Arizona and one that can only be matched by a few out west. SOONERS KNOCK OFF UCLA FOR NATIONAL TITLE The Sooners swept through their home Regional as they defeated Harvard, Cal State-Northridge 2000 and beat Oregon State twice to make their fi rst ever appearance in the World Series. The Sooner magic continued in Oklahoma City as Oklahoma opened the series with a 2-1 win over California and NATIONAL CHAMPIONS knocked off Southern Mississippi and perennial powerhouse Arizona to advance to the title game against UCLA. Using a 3-1 win over the Bruins, OU claimed its fi rst national title in program history. OKLAHOMA MAKES IT TWO STRAIGHT A year after winning the national title and becoming only the second non-West Coast team to win a 2001 softball national championship, the Sooners were back in the title hunt again. Once again, OU swept through its home regional after beating Lehigh, North Carolina and No. 12 Washington (twice) to REGIONAL CHAMPIONS advance to its second consecutive College World Series. The Sooners carried the nation’s longest winning streak into the World Sereis, but went 1-2 and were eliminated by LSU in a close 2-1 game. SOONERS KNOCK OFF TOP-SEEDED TEXAS AND OSTERMAN The Sooners faced a tough task as they hosted the top-seeded Texas Longhorns in the Norman 2002 Regional. Oklahoma opened the Regional with victories over Utah and Texas A&M before facing Texas and Olympic pitcher Cat Osterman. The Sooners avenged a loss to the Longhorns in the Big 12 Tourna- REGIONAL CHAMPIONS ment as they scored four runs and advanced to the Regional fi nals with a 4-1 win. Texas A&M knocked off Texas again and OU topped the Aggies 4-1 in the fi nal to advance to its third straight WCWS. OU TAKES GAINESVILLE REGIONAL, MAKES IT FOUR STRAIGHT Different from their fi rst three WCWS appearances, the Sooners had to do it on the road as they were 2003 sent to Gainesville, Fla., for the NCAA Regional. It didn’t phase the Sooners as OU swept through the regional with the closest margin of victory being four runs. Oklahoma knocked off Bethune Cookman, REGIONAL CHAMPIONS South Florida, Texas-Arlington and Oregon State on its way to its fourth consecutive Women’s College World Series appearance. NO. 1 ARIZONA FALLS, SOONERS ADVANCE TO ANOTHER WCWS OU faced another daunting task when it learned of its NCAA Regional schedule as it was headed to 2004 No. 1 Arizona as the No. 2 seed in the toughest regional in the tournament. Oklahoma faced the No. 1 Wildcats in the winner’s bracket and upset Arizona, 3-2. The top-ranked Wildcats were knocked out by REGIONAL CHAMPIONS Louisiana-Lafayette in the loser’s bracket fi nal. The Cajuns, who had to beat the Sooners twice, topped OU in the fi rst game but Oklahoma responded with a 15-0 run rule to advance to its fi fth WCWS. 4 2000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 14 STRAIGHT NCAA APPEARANCES 28 ALL-AMERICANS 47 FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG