Can anyone possibly beat the Oklahoma softball team?
There's the 1927 Murderers' Row Yankees, who steamrolled every team who dared stand in their way. The 1970s Big Red Machine won back-to-back titles with a roster loaded with Hall of Famers in 1975-76. The 2018 Red Sox won 108 regular-season games before barnstorming their way through the postseason for their fourth title in the millennium. These are the game's juggernauts, the ones who stand out even in a sport filled with great players.
It may be time to add another to this collection: The 2022 Oklahoma Sooners softball team.
They're already a dynasty: The team -- ranked first overall with a 55-2 regular-season record, are the reigning champs, defeating Florida State for the Women's College World Series title last season. They were runners-up in 2019 and won back-to-back titles in 2015-16, with another coming in 2013. This year's club, which beat Northwestern, 13-2, in the first round of the CWS, may be their best yet.
They'll need to be careful, though. Just as the 2001 Mariners won 116 games and failed to win the World Series, the same could happen to Oklahoma -- especially since their next opponent is Texas, which beat them, 4-2, for one of the Sooners' two losses this year.
Before they take the field for that game at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, let's break it down by looking at six amazing statistics from this season:
.369
That's Oklahoma's team batting average. Imagine that -- the average player on their roster is performing like a batting champ. These aren't a bunch of slap hitters, either: The team lead all D1 softball in home runs per game at 2.46 and slugging percentage at .731. To put that in perspective, Aaron Judge leads the Major Leagues with a .659 slugging percentage.
Not surprisingly, they also lead all of college softball with an average of 9.2 runs per game, a nearly insurmountable total if you ever fall behind.
117
That's how many career home runs redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo has hit in her college softball career -- a D1 record. She passed Lauren Chamberlain's record of 95 on March 12, before continuing to go yard 21 more times to finish with a team-leading and second-best-in-the-sport total of 29.
There's plenty of pop around her, too. Tiare Jennings hit 25 home runs (4th in D1), Grace Lyons bashed 21 (11th), and three other players were in double digits. The club finished with 140 -- while that may not match last year's record-setting team who hit 161, it's a pretty remarkable total.
0.80
Yes, while its offense is nearly putting up double-digits in every game, the pitching staff is keeping its opposition from even getting on the board! It shut teams out 32 times -- more than half its games this season. It also tossed seven no-hitters, with the last coming against UCF in the super regionals. It was the first time a no-hitter was thrown against a nationally seeded team in super regional history.
3
That's the number of pitchers in their rotation who have posted a sub-1.00 ERA, making them an absolute nightmare for any batter to face.
Hope Trautwein led the way with a 19-1 record and tied Georgina Corrick for the NCAA lead with a 0.51 ERA. Jordy Bahl (21-1, 0.95), and Nicole May (15-0, 0.99) weren't far behind.
39
That's how many times Oklahoma has run-ruled (up by eight-plus runs after five innings) its opposition this season. That includes its first-round CWS victory against Northwestern.
If you're looking for a game, but want to get home early, the Sooners are the team for you.
467
That was the Sooners' run differential this year. Yes, the team scored 515 runs and allowed only 48 -- not too hard to do when your pitching staff limits the opposition to a .139 batting average. If you're wondering how that's possible, well, the pitching staff struck out 442 batters in just 328 innings.