Tulsa Softball Hosts #2 Oklahoma State, Opens Conference Play Against Memphis in Packed Week

Tulsa Game Notes (PDF) | UCA (ESPN+) | OSU (ESPN+) | Memphis G1(ESPN+) | Memphis G2 (ESPN+) | Memphis G3 (ESPN+) | Live Stats

TULSA, Okla. – After poor weather and a conference bye limited The University of Tulsa softball team to three games in the past 14 days, the Golden Hurricane has a busy schedule this week as TU will play Central Arkansas and the No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowgirls in the midweek before finishing with its American Athletic Conference opener against Memphis over the weekend.

Tulsa will begin the week against the Bears with a 5 p.m. game on Tuesday. It's a quick turnaround as Oklahoma State will head to the Collins Family Softball Complex for a 5 p.m. game on Wednesday. Then, the Hurricane welcomes Memphis to Collins for a weekend conference series. First pitch for Friday's opener is set for 5 p.m. The teams will meet again on Saturday at 2 p.m. before a noon finale on Sunday.

Wednesday's game against the second-ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls is officially sold out and no more tickets are available. April 26th's showdown against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners is also sold out.

All games this week will air on ESPN+. Bruce Howard and John Holcomb will bring fans the broadcast for Wednesday's action against Oklahoma State. Howard will also have the call for Friday evening against Memphis before Brandon Hart takes over for Saturday and Sunday.

The Golden Hurricane enters the five-game slate with a 14-14 record after dropping its previous three games. Tulsa played Missouri State in its lone game last week, falling to the Bears 5-2.

Haley Morgan has continued to be a consistent batter for Tulsa, slashing .409/.413/.557. She ranks in the top 10 in multiple categories in the conference, including fourth in batting average, fifth in hits with 36, sixth in on-base percentage and for her 27 runs scored and she leads the league with six sacrifice flies.

As a team, Tulsa is batting .285 while holding opponents to a .246 batting average. Maura Moore and Kylee Nash are responsible for opponents lack of strong hitting against the Hurricane. Moore has pitched 83.0 innings and opposing batters hit just .215 against her. The Sophomore holds a 2.78 ERA with 51 strikeouts and nine complete games. Against Nash, teams are hitting .261 while the junior has struck out 56 this season.

Another opportunity to take down a team with a Bear mascot arrives on Tuesday as Tulsa heads to Conway, Ark. to take on Central Arkansas in the 11th meeting between the two schools. TU leads the series 7-3 and is 2-1 in games played in Conway. The Bears are 20-8 on the season with two of the losses coming against a ranked LSU program. The Bears also pulled a 2-1 upset over No. 6 Arkansas earlier in March.

Oklahoma State will bring a 29-2 record to Tulsa. The Cowgirls are dangerous on both sides of the diamond with a pitching staff which includes pitchers with 10, eight and seven wins. At the plate, Rachel Becker is batting an incredible .518 with 10 doubles. Kiley Naomi and Micaela Wark have combined for 68 RBI.

The Cowgirls lead the all-time series 33-22 against Tulsa, including each of the past six games, most of which were played in Stillwater. TU fell to OSU in both matchups last season but hold an overall 12-10 record in games played in Tulsa.

Memphis will be Tulsa's first AAC opponent of the year. The Golden Hurricane is 84-51-1 in conference games as a member of The American.

Tulsa took two of three from the Tigers in Memphis, Tenn. last season. Memphis' lone win came in the second game, snapping a nine-game winning streak in the series for the Hurricane. Overall, the Golden Hurricane holds a 39-10 advantage in the series and have won 22-3 at home, including each of the past eight games.

The Tigers enter the week with a 5-26 record under first year head coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro. The UofM has dropped nine of its past 10 games, with a 6-1 win over Arkansas Pine Bluff in their midweek matchup a week ago breaking up the losing streak.

Following the weekend's action, Tulsa won't have a midweek game before returning to conference play. The Hurricane will travel to Tampa, Fla. to take on the South Florida Bulls in a weekend series that will start a little earlier. First pitch for the series opener is set for Thursday at 3 p.m. The teams will meet again for a Friday afternoon battle at 4:30 before an early 10 a.m. start on Saturday.

Tulsa Softball Hosts #2 Oklahoma State, Opens Conference Play Against Memphis in Packed Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maura Moore

Haley Morgan

Kylee Nash